Yellowstone National Park
Bison and calf at Yellowstone National Park,
Photo By Patrice Raplee
By Patrice Raplee
An eagle soars on a warm gentle breeze, its cry echoing off the rocky
hillsides. Buffalo herds amble through a grassy valley of unspoiled
lush beauty in search of tender shoots. Wolves peer out cautiously
from behind tall, Lodge Poll pines trees at the strange visitor traveling
past them. This is Yellowstone National Park, majestic, yet mystic.
Yellowstone borders on Wyoming, Montana, Utah and Colorado and was
established by Congress in 1872 as the world’s first national
park; today more than a million tourists visit the park annually.
Although the park has several entrance points, the most common is in
West Yellowstone, Montana. This small city is the gateway into the
park’s most popular attractions, such as the Old Faithful Geyser,
the Fountain Mud Pots and Mammoth Hot Springs. West Yellowstone is
a small city that provides hotels, restaurants, gift shops, the Oregon
Short Line railcar museum, the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center and
everything else a visitor might need for their expedition into the
national park. (Restaurant and lodging recommendations in West Yellowstone
are mentioned at the conclusion of this article).
Guests visiting Yellowstone will find two seasons that are especially
appealing. The first is in early spring when most of the park roads
and hotels open for the year (around May 2nd-9th). This time of year
affords visitors the opportunity to see baby buffalo, bear cubs and
other various park animals with their young. Road traffic is much lighter
and the average tourist has more time to set a leisurely pace and take
in the fresh mountain air redolent with pine. After Labor Day in September
is also a wonderful time to visit the park. Most of the roads through
the park are still open and the summer crowd has thinned to a trickle.
The temperature drops in the park during early fall, but crisp air
and turning leaves are the perfect inducement to sojourn in front of
a warm fire after a long day’s park expedition.
Yellowstone also provides campsites, RV campgrounds, a marina, cabins,
hotels, restaurants and cottages. In fact, the entire Yellowstone area
is filled with so much to do and see, as well as accommodations, that
the choices seem overwhelming. Avoid unpleasant surprises by researching
and scheduling your vacation plans and itinerary before setting out
to see America’s national treasure. Long drives, long traffic
lines and cranky children can try the savviest of travelers! For additional
information go to http://www.nps.gov/yell/home.htm
There are dozens of activities in Yellowstone available. In warmer
months, walking, hiking, bicycling, fishing, photography and scenic
drives are most common. Winter yields more solitude than summer months,
with skiing. snowshoeing and car visits.
Once you have decided to visit the park, there are a few
important tips! First and foremost, do not get out of your car and
approach or
feed the animals in Yellowstone Park! These fuzzy looking animals may
seem docile and friendly, but they are wild animals and they can seriously
injure or kill a person. Every year visitors are seriously injured
because they thought the animals looked calm and friendly. Even mule
deer have charged and maimed park guests who have approached them on
foot. The buffalo are also dangerous; each year guests are gored by
walking up to these animals just for a photograph!
Make sure you heed the signs and warnings around hot springs, mud pots
and fumaroles. The park has 10,000 thermal features and over 200 active
geysers and awareness of your surroundings, children and pets can prevent
unintended consequences. And finally, if you are a camera buff, make
sure you pack plenty of film, (digital-memory cards) and batteries,
or you’ll pay a steep price in the tourist shops, not to mention
kicking yourself for missing that once-in-a-lifetime shot!
Once you’re inside the park and have mapped out your destinations,
make sure you include a few of the popular, if touristy, sites to visit.
There is something gratifying and unifying about trekking up to old
faithful and waiting with everyone else for the geyser to blow. Another
worthwhile attraction is the Old Faithful Lodge, built in 1903. The
Lodge is an incredible masterpiece of intertwining and twisted logs
gracefully forming a wooden architecture 76 feet-high in the central
lobby. The lodge was designed in harmony with its surroundings and
is a peaceful and beautiful place to stay, or have lunch while vacationing
in Yellowstone.
The unearthly landscape of Mammoth Hot Springs is lined with multi-colored
thermal pools that are unique. The terraced walkways allow visitors
to get within a few feet of the vividly steaming pools for photographs
and walk-bys. Mammoth is also Park Headquarters and offers accommodations,
a few shops and restaurants. It may be hard to imagine civilization
in the middle of nature without clashing. But the designs of Yellowstone’s
tourist businesses have been incorporated into the park with respect
to natural topography and environment.
The bubbling mud pots are a curious sight to first time visitors.
Located in several different areas, the mud pots form colorful
burbling pools
of blues, greens and pinks. Terraced walkways span the circumference
of these pools and then stretch out to geysers that are located close
by.
Yellowstone National Park is unlike any other nature park in the
world. With its wildlife, geology and pristine nature, it truly
is an amazing
American national treasure.
For additional information on West Yellowstone accommodations and
restaurants go to: www.yellowstoneholidayinn.com and http://www.yellowstoneparktraveler.com
HOME
|
