Yellowstone National Park is the flagship of the National Park Service and a favorite to millions of visitors each year. The park is a major destination for all members of the family. By driving the grand loop road, visitors can view the park from the comfort of their vehicle and also take a rest at one of the many roadside picnic areas. For the active visitor, the park has thousands of miles of trails from dayhikes to backcountry explorations. The main attractions are all located on the grand loop road and here are some of the top reasons to visit the park. This site has a lot of the information you need for your trip and you may also consider our dvd "The Wonders of Yellowstone" to help you plan your visit.

* World's First National Park
* 2,219,789 acres (Larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined)
* Wildlife - 7 species of ungulates (bison, moose, elk, pronghorn), 2 species of bear and 67 other mammals, 322 species of birds, 16 species of fish and of course the gray wolf.
* Plants - There are over 1,100 species of native plants, more than 200 species of exotic plants and over 400 species of thermopholes.
* Geology - The park is home to one of the world's largest calderas with over 10,000 thermal features and more than 300 geysers. It has one of the world's largest petrifiied forests. It has over 290 waterfalls with the 308' Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River as it's showpiece.
* Yellowstone Lake is the largest (132 sq. mi.) high altitude (7,732') lake in north america.
* 9 visitor centers
* 12 campgrounds (over 2,000 campsites)

"The Wonders of Yellowstone" - 98 Minutes - ~Telly Award Winner for Nature and Wildlife~ Two years in the making and just released, "The Wonders of Yellowstone" video has been highly requested, produced in DVD format and is now available. Take a complete tour of Yellowstone National Park as our Narrator Cathy Coan guides you to all the wonders of the park including all the geyser basins, wildlife, waterfalls, camping, maps and much more. "The Perfect Video Trip Planner" More Info or Order Online

Yellowstone Open For Winter Season

Yellowstone National Park begins opening interior park roads for motorized oversnow travel for the 2009-2010 winter season, December 15.

Limited, managed snowmobile and snowcoach travel over groomed, snow-packed park roads will be permitted this season under a new temporary plan, which allows up to 318 commercially guided, Best Available Technology (BAT) snowmobiles, and up to 78 commercially guided snowcoaches per day in Yellowstone.

The road from the South Entrance to West Thumb and on to Old Faithful will open to public travel by commercially guided snowmobiles and snowcoaches on Tuesday at 7:00 a.m., and at 10:00 a.m. from the West Entrance to Madison and on to Old Faithful .As of 7:00 a.m. Wednesday morning, the road from West Thumb through Lake to Canyon and Norris; and from Mammoth Hot Springs through Norris on to Madison will open to the public for travel by commercially guided snowmobiles and snowcoaches ..... More Info

Yellowstone Spring Visitation Up Nearly 11 Percent

After four months of declining or near flat visitation, Yellowstone saw a dramatic increase in visitors in May. Over 260,000 people visited Yellowstone in May, up over 20 percent from last year’s levels. For the first five months of the year, nearly 360,000 people came through the park gates, a nearly 11 percent increase over the same period in 2008. Visitation figures for the first five months of the year are also up compared to the five-year average of just over 340,000 visitors. More ........

"The Wildlife of Yellowstone" - 94 Minutes - The Wildlife of Yellowstone DVD presents to you the most popular and prominent wildlife inhabiting Yellowstone National Park. This dvd, taped in digital format, has the highest quality scenes of grizzlies, black bears, moose, wolves, otters, owls, fox and much more including their young. Inside this dvd you will find · 94 Minutes on the Wildlife of Yellowstone. · Three Chapters : Large Mammals, Small Mammals and Birds · Narrated by Yellowstone Tour Owner and Specialist - Ken Sinay · Where, When and How to Spot the Wildlife of Yellowstone More Info or Order Online

Some Past Events . . .

Spring Happenings. . . . . . . . . .

Spring and fall are favorite times of year for wildlife watchers from all over the world. Fewer visitors and lots of wildlife make it a most enjoyable experience and there's always the unpredictable just around the corner as what occured on May 23, 2005. While filming the Gibbon Meadows Alpha Wolf, you could actually feel the ground tremor. While it was tough to decide whether to continue filming the wolf or investigate the possible Steamboat eruption our decision was made when visitors from Norris Geyser basin arrived with their vehicles covered with mineral deposits and confirmation of a Steamboat eruption. The adjoining picture is from the actual video of the Steamboat eruption taken from the base of Gibbon Hill.
Steamboats eruptions make it the world's tallest geyser. Steamboat has erupted in 1989 (3 times), 1990 (1 time), 1991 (1 time), 2000 (1 time), 2002 (2 times) and 2003 (3 times).

New Yellowstone Park wildlife can be seen throughout the park. This years spring attractions are the Slough Creek pack with their 14 new pups. A coyote den with 5 cute pups within easy view of the road and a devoted Great Horned Owl mother tending to her 2 owlets in the Lamar Canyon and as always wolves anytime there is a carcass to feast over. Please be extra cautious for wildlife that can appear out of nowhere to cross the road. It's bad for wildlife and will destroy your vehicle and your vacation. Just because the speed limit reads 45 MPH does not mean an elk or newborn bison won't suddenly cross the road as you're geyser gazing or wildlife watching. Over 100 large mammals are killed by vehicle mortality each year, in 2003 our favorite grizzly #264 Obsidian", was tragically killed by a motorist. Please be extra cautious when driving the park at dawn, dusk and at night.

Bear Activity

The Yellowstone National Park bear management policy strives to ensure a natural and free-ranging population of black and grizzly bears. One important aspect of the management policy is to separate bears from unnatural food sources; it is illegal—and dangerous—to leave food where bears can obtain it. Human foods are the chief culprit in the creation of problem bears and can lead to their becoming increasingly aggressive, requiring their destruction or removal from the area. The National Park Service reminds park visitors that all food and garbage must be stored in a bear-proof manner while camping in the park

Park visitors are asked to report to a park ranger at any ranger station or visitor center, any sightings of a grizzly bear with a bright yellow collar in or near park campgrounds or developed areas....... NPS

One Thousand Consecutive Days Observing Wolves in Yellowstone

An extraordinary benchmark was set in Yellowstone National Park on November 5, 2003. On that day the Slough Creek pack was spotted near Crystal Creek in the northeast portion of the park. With that sighting, it means that at least one person has reportedly observed wolves in Yellowstone National Park every day for the past 1,000 consecutive days. The last time wolves were known not to have been seen anywhere in the park was February 8, 2001. Reports of observations are from park staff as well as park visitors.

This high visibility was an unexpected result of wolf recovery and has generated national and international public interest in coming to Yellowstone to observe wolves. When the original 31 wolves were reintroduced to the park, many expected that the wolves would be wary of people and not visible and/or sightings would be rare. Instead, the wolves have been very visible; about 130,000 people have observed wolves in Yellowstone since their reintroduction in 1995.

The interest in seeing a wolf has become one of the main wildlife attractions for visitors coming to Yellowstone from both around the country and the world. It's not unusual most days in the park to see a crowd gathered along roadsides in hopes of glimpsing one of the rare carnivores. Visitors planning to visit the park to see wolves or Yellowstone's other spectacular wildlife are reminded to use pullouts and remember that the animals are wild. Undisturbed space is among the greatest of their needs. Respect this, and you will be rewarded by seeing more of their natural activities and discovering how they live in the wild. Park regulations require that you must stay at least 100 yards away from bears and at least 25 yards away from all other wildlife, but if wildlife reacts to your presence, you are too close.

Did You Know. . .

No modern technology will ever substitute to actually visiting Yellowstone National Park. For those that have been here, you know the wonders. This website will bring those memories back. For the visitors that are yet to come, YellowstoneNationalPark.com will help you plan your trip so you don't get lost or miss out in the 2.2 million acres of Yellowstone National Park.

Our directories are designed so you can get in touch with any of the businesses that operate throughout Yellowstone National Park. It is the largest resource of its kind. If you need a specific recommendation, email us in the Contact directory.