The Yellowstone area is one of the most beautiful and unique natural places in the United States and home to the oldest national park in the world! Yellowstone sits on a massive supervolcano, which powers thousands of hydrothermal features. You’ll see surreal geysers and hot springs all over the park. The area is also home to bison, bears, elk, moose, pronghorn, coyotes, and wolves.

The national park spans over 2.2 million acres in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, so it can be difficult to visit in just a day or two. However, this was my second time to the park, and I thought we covered a lot of ground in the two days we were here in August 2025! Mike and I spent 10 days in Montana with our friends Ashley and Nat, and this was the very first part of our trip.

Day One

We’d flown into Missoula the night before, which is about four hours from the park. If we had been only traveling to Yellowstone and not the rest of Montana, we probably would’ve flown into Bozeman (1.5 hours from the park) or the Yellowstone Airport (a few miles from the West Entrance).

After we had breakfast at our hotel in Missoula, we drove 3 hours to Bozeman. I was glad we got to see the Bozeman area – it is really beautiful! 

MAP Brewing in Bozeman

Our first stop was for lunch in Bozeman. MAP Brewing is located on the north side of town, with gorgeous views from its patio of Glen Lake and the surrounding mountains. We arrived right after they opened at 11:30am, which I’d suggest if you visit on a Saturday like we were. We got one of the best tables on the patio, and the weather was gorgeous. All the food we got was delicious and we enjoyed our beers as well. The brewery was absolutely packed when we left around 1:30pm!

Rafting with Wild West Rafting 

Next, we drove another 1.5 hours towards the park. Our main activity of the day would be a whitewater rafting trip with Wild West Rafting. We’d booked the 3:30pm two-hour trip ahead of time and arrived around 3pm to check in and change into swimsuits. The office has a beautiful view of the river, as well as restrooms and changing rooms. 

Our guides got us loaded into their bus and drove us roughly five minutes south just past the town of Gardiner to the put-in spot. The bus we were on had about 25 people, and they split us into three rafts. Our group of four was grouped with a family of four and one guide on our raft. Mike and I had rafted once before in Jasper, Canada, so we knew we would love it. The guides gave us the spiel on how to paddle and work safely as a team. They quickly loaded us onto the raft and our journey down the Yellowstone River began! We floated through town and then along the border of the park, just outside of the park boundaries. We paddled eight miles, which took about 2.5 hours. The entire trip had gorgeous scenery, and we all really liked our guide. We went over several smaller rapids, but nothing intense. This is a great option for beginners or families!

Once we finished our rafting trip, the bus met us at the take-out spot, and we drove about 10 minutes back to town. 

Check into Emigrant lodging

After we’d changed and purchased the photo package, we stopped for a quick grocery in town to pick up food for the next two days. Then we headed to our VRBO 30 minutes north, called Little Lodge at Emigrant Peak. We were all in awe when we arrived. This was probably the best VRBO we’d ever stayed in! It had the most gorgeous views, and every amenity you could imagine. The beds were comfortable, and the location was close to Yellowstone. 

Day Two 

Our entire next day was spent in the national park. We left early to try and make it to the park by sunrise. To get to the park entrance at 6:30am, we ended up leaving our VRBO around 5:45am. We wanted to make the most out of our time in the park, avoid long entrance queues that tend to happen mid-morning, and increase our chances of seeing wildlife.

Entrance Sign and Roosevelt Arch

We reached the North Entrance in Gardiner and made sure to get photos with the national park sign and the Roosevelt Arch. The arch is one of the most iconic landmarks in the park and was built in 1903 as the original formal entrance to the park. I thought it was cool that we could drive under it! The entrance to the park had no wait at all, which was a nice incentive to arrive early.

Lamar Valley

Lamar Valley is sometimes called the Serengeti of North America because of its incredible wildlife viewing. The valley is far from the rest of the park’s highlights, so you will have to go a little out of your way to get there. Since Ashley and I had been to Yellowstone before, we knew Lamar Valley was a non-negotiable. The Valley starts around the Tower Roosevelt Junction. We saw Pronghorn sheep immediately, followed by tons of Bison and even a few coyotes! If you can’t visit Lamar Valley around dawn or dusk, you will almost definitely still see tons of bison, but your chances of seeing the more elusive animals decrease. 

Remember to stay at least 25 yards away from wildlife and 100 yards from bears and wolves. Bison really look cute and cuddly, but they are very defensive and can do some serious damage!!

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Next, we drove about one hour south to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Ashley and I hadn’t visited this area on our prior trip, so this was new to me! We parked at the North Rim parking lot, which still had several parking spots open around 10am when we arrived. We did the short hike down to the Brink of the Lower Falls, which is steep but mostly paved. The viewpoint was great – you stand near the top of the falls, looking down at it and the canyon. Very pretty!

From there, we drove down to the next parking lot to see the view from Lookout Point, which looks back at the waterfall we were just standing above. This viewpoint doesn’t require a hike, just a short walk from your car. 

Yellowstone Lake Picnic Lunch

We drove another 30 minutes south to Yellowstone Lake, the largest and highest altitude lake in North America. You’ll drive through Hayden Valley, which is another area famous for its wildlife. This would be another great area to spend dawn or dusk if you can’t make it to Lamar Valley. We stopped at the picnic area near Lake General Store and ate our lunch with a beautiful background view. 

Old Faithful

Driving for one more hour will bring you to Old Faithful, one of the most popular parts of the park. Accurately named, the geyser erupts on a consistent schedule, about every 90 minutes on average. You can plan around it and almost guarantee seeing an eruption while you’re here. The National Park Service app shows the next predicted eruption time, so you’ll know when to plan your stop (if you have service!).

This area is also a good spot to get a meal or snacks if you’re hungry. We went to the Old Faithful General Store for ice cream and to hunt for souvenirs. The Old Faithful Visitor Education Center is located near the geyser as well. Here, you can talk to rangers, learn more about the park, and get your national park passport stamped.

This was my second time seeing Old Faithful, and I probably would’ve skipped it if it was only up to me. I do think it is fun to see once, but there are other parts of the park that are way better and less crowded! 

Grand Prismatic Spring

We continued on to Grand Prismatic Spring, only a few minutes up the road. This is the largest hot spring in the United States and third largest in the world. It is one of the most photographed features in Yellowstone. Its vivid colors really make it special! The park has a boardwalk that allows visitors to see it up close. There are no railings, so be sure to keep an eye on little ones. Falling off the boardwalk can be very dangerous!

If you’re interested in seeing the geyser from above, you can take the 1.6-mile round trip Fairy Falls Trail to a great lookout point. We didn’t have time on this trip, so we stuck to the boardwalk. 

Note that the parking lot is fairly small and will often be full. Fortunately, it is one-way and while we were there, people were just waiting until a spot opened up and then taking the open spot. We only waited about five minutes before getting a spot.

Roaring Mountain 

Our last stop of the day was a quick photo op at Roaring Mountain. The mountain has multiple steam vents that constantly emit steam and gases. The noise from the vents sounds like roaring, which is how the mountain was named. This was a nice quick stop.

From Roaring Mountain, we had about an hour drive back to our VRBO in Emigrant. It was a very long day, but worth it in my opinion!

You may also be interested in:

One Day in Yellowstone National Park
Three Days in Grand Teton National Park
How to Spend a Day in Jackson, WY