Yellowstone: geysers, canyons and the wildest valleys in America

West Yellowstone: Yellowstone Day Tour Including Entry Fee for US Residents

The most-booked day tour from the gateway town closest to the geyser basins, with hundreds of reviews. A guide drives the big sights of the lower loop — Old Faithful, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the wildlife of Hayden Valley — so you can watch for animals instead of the road. Read the listing for what the entrance fee covers for visitors from abroad.

• Old Faithful, the canyon waterfalls and Hayden Valley
• Park entry included for US residents — check the listing if you are not
• Starts minutes from the West Entrance

From Jackson: Yellowstone National Park Day Trip with Lunch

A long but complete day from Jackson around Yellowstone’s lower loop: the Old Faithful area, Midway Geyser Basin with Grand Prismatic Spring, Fountain Paint Pot, the canyon and Hayden Valley. The drive through Grand Teton on the way is a bonus. Expect an early start and a late return.

• Old Faithful, Midway Geyser Basin and Fountain Paint Pot
• Canyon area and Hayden Valley
• Lunch included

Yellowstone: Old Faithful, Waterfalls, and Wildlife Day Tour

A full-day group tour from Jackson with a perfect five-star average across hundreds of reviews. It focuses on the three things most people come for — Old Faithful, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and wildlife in Hayden Valley — with the guide spotting animals along the way.

• Old Faithful Geyser
• Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
• Wildlife viewing in Hayden Valley

From Jackson: Yellowstone Day Tour Including Entry Fees for U.S. Residents

A local guide takes you from Jackson into the world’s first national park for Old Faithful, the waterfalls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and other geyser areas, watching for bison, elk, bears and wolves on the way. Highly rated, with hundreds of reviews. Visitors from outside the US should check the fee terms.

• Old Faithful and other geyser areas
• Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone waterfalls
• Entry fee included for US residents

Full-Day Yellowstone National Park Tour from Cody, WY

From Cody the road into the park climbs over Sylvan Pass and along Yellowstone Lake. This tour covers the historic Fishing Bridge, the bubbling Mud Volcano, Hayden Valley, Artist Point and Old Faithful in one day — a lot of ground, which is exactly why it helps to let someone else drive.

• Fishing Bridge and Mud Volcano
• Hayden Valley and Artist Point
• Old Faithful

From West Yellowstone: Lamar Valley Wildlife Tour by Van

Lamar Valley is a long drive from West Yellowstone, and this tour makes it worthwhile: a naturalist guide brings spotting scopes and binoculars and knows where to look for wolves, bears, bison and pronghorn. Strong reviews.

• Naturalist guide
• High-powered spotting scopes and binoculars
• Van with large windows

Yellowstone & Grand Tetons: 4-Day/3-Night Wildlife Adventure

A four-day guided trip through both parks with plenty of time for wildlife — bears, wolves, moose and more — and the main landmarks. It is expensive, but the reviews are excellent and the logistics are all handled.

• Grand Teton and Yellowstone
• Frequent wildlife stops: bears, wolves, moose
• Accommodation included

From Jackson: Half-Day Grand Teton National Park Tour

The best-reviewed tour in the area: a half day through Grand Teton National Park, covering its major viewpoints and looking for wildlife. Ideal before or after a Yellowstone day.

• The main viewpoints of Grand Teton
• Wildlife watching
• Easy half day from Jackson

Old Faithful & the Upper Geyser Basin

The world’s greatest concentration of geysers, and its most famous one

Old Faithful erupts roughly every hour and a half, and rangers predict each eruption. Around it, boardwalks and paved trails lead through the Upper Geyser Basin past Castle, Grand, Daisy and Riverside geysers to Morning Glory Pool — the densest cluster of active geysers on Earth.

Grand Prismatic Spring & Midway Geyser Basin

The rainbow hot spring — see it from the boardwalk and from above

The largest hot spring in the United States, ringed with orange, yellow and green bands of heat-loving microbes around a deep blue centre. Walk the Midway Geyser Basin boardwalk beside it, then climb the short Grand Prismatic Overlook Trail from the Fairy Falls trailhead for the famous view from above.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Yellow cliffs, the Lower Falls and the view from Artist Point

The Yellowstone River drops over the Upper and Lower Falls into a canyon of yellow, pink and ochre rock several hundred metres deep. Drives along the North and South Rims lead to overlooks such as Lookout Point, the Brink of the Lower Falls and Artist Point, the classic view down the canyon to the falls.

Hayden Valley

Bison herds, grizzlies and wolves along the Yellowstone River

A broad, treeless valley between Canyon and Lake where the Yellowstone River slides through meadows. It is one of the best places in the park to see large bison herds, and grizzly bears, wolves, elk, coyotes and waterbirds are seen here regularly — especially early and late in the day.

Yellowstone Lake & West Thumb

A vast mountain lake with hot springs on its shore

Yellowstone Lake is the largest high-elevation lake in North America, cold even in August and frozen for much of the year. On its western bay, the West Thumb Geyser Basin sends steam over the water from springs right on the shoreline. Along the north shore are Lake Village, the historic Lake Yellowstone Hotel, Fishing Bridge and Bridge Bay marina.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Travertine terraces, elk on the lawns and the park’s old army fort

Near the North Entrance, hot water rising through limestone has built a staircase of white and orange travertine terraces that shift and change from season to season. Below them sits Fort Yellowstone, the stone barracks from the decades when the US Army ran the park, now the park headquarters — with elk grazing between the buildings.