Yellowstone: tips and what to expect

Those of you that follow my social media accounts know that I just returned from Yellowstone national park. Yellowstone is absolutely beautiful. It’s unlike any other place that I have ever seen. This was my second time visiting. 

I just wanna go over a few things about Yellowstone before getting started.

Just take a look at that last fact, for a second. Over 3 million people visit Yellowstone in a year. 

So when should you go?

Most of those 3 million people visit in the summertime, which means careful planning is a must if you’re going to enjoy your time there. 

The first time I went was in the middle of June and let me tell you it was PACKED!!! And that was even right after the flood last year, in 2022. This year I went at the end of May and it was considerably less busy. The wildlife was so much more plentiful in May as well. The bears are having cubs and out of hibernation. The bison are having calves and are EVERYWHERE. Make sure you go before the memorial day weekend if you can because that is when it really starts to get busy. If you can’t go earlier in the season, just know to expect lots of people and crowds. Thankfully, it’s very large and you can do things to help minimize the crowds.


Now that you know when to go, how do you get there?

Most people are going to fly to Yellowstone. There are a few airport options for getting there:

   I personally always fly Southwest, because I pay with points and have a companion pass, so I fly for essentially free, as does my companion. That  really helps to keep my travel budget as low as possible. (Highly recommend looking into the Southwest Chase credit card that earns points if you live near an airport with lots of Southwest flights.)

Here’s a link to the card I use if you are interested: 

Earn 50,000 bonus points with any Southwest Rapid Rewards personal Credit Card. For a limited time, business owners can earn up to 120,000 bonus points with the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card. They must apply by 9/4/2023.

https://www.referyourchasecard.com/226k/EALJ6MNMSC



Something I want to mention upfront about Yellowstone, Bozeman, and all of the area in general. You will not have reliable cell phone service. No matter what carrier you use. These are very rural areas with lots of mountains. You will lose cell phone service. Make sure that you have good old fashioned maps available or that you’re comfortable driving a long stretch of road without GPS constantly running. The drive from Bozeman down to West Yellowstone is a very straight shot once on the highway  but you will not have GPS service for most of it. You have to be comfortable starting out with GPS and knowing that the last time you had service it said head to continue straight for 85 miles. . When I went with my daughter last year, this was very different for her because she’s only lived a life with cell phones and GPS. Those of us who are a little bit older know how to read a map if we need to. And then there’s always road signs. Just follow the signs and you will find the way.

Along the same lines, please make sure to download some podcasts, music, or whatever you like to listen to in the car. There are very few radio stations and honestly for most of the drive there won’t be any radio signal. Your Internet service will not work so stations like Pandora and Spotify will be useless unless you have things downloaded to your phone.



When I went last year, we were driving from Bozeman, all the way down to Jackson hole, which is just under a 5 Hour drive. I decided to make a whole day out of it and make several scenic stops along the way. 

Our first stop was in Big Sky, Montana, where we did a hike on the Ousel Falls Trail.  It’s a short hike and leads to a beautiful waterfall. https://www.visitmt.com/listings/general/trail/ousel-falls-trail


Our next stop was in Iowa, where we visited the upper Mesa Falls. There are also lower mesa falls, but we did not go to see this because it was getting late in the day. But the upper Falls were spectacular and we didn’t feel like we needed to see more. 

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/ctnf/specialplaces/?cid=stelprdb5196020


Now you have flights where do you stay?

One option is to rent an RV

You could camp at one of the campsites inside the park. 

Stay at a hotel inside the park- These book up very fast and booking opens one year in advance so book early!!

I have never done any of these so my focus will be on staying in a hotel outside the park.

There are two main areas that you can stay outside the park when visiting Yellowstone. The west entrance is West Yellowstone and the north entrance is Gardiner. I have stayed in West Yellowstone both times I went and loved it. When I went this time I did visit Gardiner and the northern entrance. I would not be opposed to staying there in the future.

Since I’ve stayed at West Yellowstone twice, I will go ahead and give you my tips for staying there. 

West Yellowstone sits literally right outside the west entrance of Yellowstone national park. You can physically walk to the entrance if you want to. It is a small town that is primarily visited by tourists during peak Yellowstone season. There are hotels and places to eat, as well as lots of souvenir shops.

I’ll just warn you now that it is not cheap to stay in West Yellowstone. Since it is primarily a tourist town with a very short season, they really do take advantage of that. Hotels are pricey. Always look for a price that offers free breakfast and book what you can comfortably fit into your budget. 

I have stayed at the Crosswinds, as well as a White Buffalo hotel, which are next-door to each other. The Crosswinds was a little more updated and newer feeling than White Buffalo, but both were perfectly acceptable to me as I was only going to sleep there at night anyway. I do not book fancy hotels, just FYI. If that is your thing, you’re gonna struggle to find a very fancy hotel in West Yellowstone because that is just not the vibe of West Yellowstone. Think, rustic, older mountain town.


The next thing that you will need to figure out is transportation. You will need a rental car when going to Yellowstone national park. I personally do not like rental cars, but this is one instance where it is a must. Sometimes you just can’t avoid it. I just search online for the best price. 

Before you can head into the park, you need to know the cost of admission. The daily entrance fee is $35 per car. I highly highly recommend getting a national parks pass before you head to the park. The pass is $80 a year and covers all national parks. If you plan to visit Yellowstone for at least three days and trust me, you will need more than that, it is a money saver to just buy the national parks pass ahead of time.

https://store.usgs.gov/recreational-passes



Know what to expect at Yellowstone, this  is a National Park. The whole idea is to get outdoors and enjoy nature. Yellowstone is massive and they try to preserve as much of its natural beauty as possible. Therefore, there are not many restrooms inside the park. There are places, but they are few and far between. And a lot of the restrooms are not “5 star” facilities with running water or flushing toilets but they are maintained and have hand sanitizer.

The same as bathrooms are few and far between so are places to buy food. There are a few places, mostly at the hotels that are within the park. But I will warn you that those places are almost always packed with people. My advice is to pack snacks and food for the day. That way you don’t have to worry about waiting in line at the few places that do have food. Also you can then eat whenever and wherever you want to. I also highly highly recommend bringing refillable water bottles. Anywhere that they sell food,  there will be refill stations for your water bottles. I carried two with me each day and found that by the time I finished those I would be near a refill station.

Another thing that has saved me is bringing flavored packs to add to my water, especially with caffeine for the afternoon. I am 100% a caffeine addict and that caffeine headache is real. There is not really anywhere to get my afternoon cup of coffee so I just add the caffeine flavor packs to my water and it helps curb your headache as well as give me some energy.


I recommend getting to the park as early as possible. Lines will form at the gates, and they can be very long by even 8:30 AM. I recommend getting there as soon as it opens, maybe even a few minutes before.

If you stay in West Yellowstone and come in through that entrance, you’ll be on the lower loop. Most people will be heading one of two places first thing in the morning: Old Faithful, or Grand Prismatic Spring. We got there right when the gates opened and just followed the road heading to Old Faithful and had no problem seeing any of the thermal features with minimal crowds. By the time we got to Old Faithful, it was crowded, but depending on the time it is predicted to erupt, crowds will fluctuate. Plus, there’s also many other geysers in that area that are definitely worth a look, people tend to ignore them because they are so focused on Old Faithful. I personally feel like Old Faithful was very underwhelming. It’s iconic and something to see but I felt like other features in the park were much more spectacular.


I just wanna take a minute to reiterate how very large Yellowstone national park really is. It’s very intimidating because of its massive size. I have personally taken tours through Yellowstone and highly recommend them to everyone. The tours are a great way to see a vast overview of the park and hit a lot of the highlights all in one day. Then you can go back and revisit places that you loved, as well as explore more on your own.

The tours are also great because they break Yellowstone into two main areas, the upper loop and the lower loop. I find that this helped me focus on what areas I wanted to go back and see. 

If you are interested in a tour, I highly recommend the company below. I’ve actually used them both times that I’ve gone and they are fantastic. Their guides truly love their jobs and make the tours great. I also find them very affordable because each tour is a full day, 8 to 9 hours. I also bought the lunch that they offer for an additional charge and  thought  that it was well worth the money that they charge. 

https://www.yellowstonevacations.com/guided-tours



The wildlife in Yellowstone is amazing and everywhere but PLEASE remember, THEY ARE WILD ANIMALS. Please do not get too close to them and never touch them. We saw bison literally walking down the street and holding up traffic twice, it was so cool. Bears, elk and coyotes are also lurking around and you never know what you will see, just be respectful of their space and they will likely leave you alone. But if you are going hiking do not forget bear spray. You will see every ranger and employee with it. It is available at most all of the shops or even on amazon, it is pricey but hopefully you will never need it; but will be really glad you have it if you ever need it. 

West Yellowstone is very much a small town.  It mostly consists of hotels, places to eat and souvenir shops. As far as places to eat, there’s really nowhere fancy to eat, but who wants to get all dressed up after spending all day in the parks anyway. Our favorite place to eat is a Slippery Otter pub. They have your typical bar food, delicious French onion soup as well as an extensive draft beer menu.(try the blueberry, YUMM.) Slippery Otter Pub | West Yellowstone MT - Facebook There is also a delicious BBQ place, Firehole BBQ that's been featured on DDD, highly recommend that as well. BBQ in West Yellowstone | Firehole BBQ Company | 406-641-0020 

Wow, I really got long-winded with this blog! Hopefully these tips and tricks will help you when you decide to travel to Yellowstone. As you can tell by all of this info there is a lot to see and do but it is just beautiful and there is really no other place like it. 

 Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions, I can be reached by email or my social media.