Frommer's National Parks of the American West - Don Laine [399]
The quickest route to the inner road loops of the park is on the west entrance road, so come in that way, perhaps stopping for a stroll along the banks of the Madison River, where you can see the forest recovering from the 1988 fires. You'll likely spot wildlife: ducks and trumpeter swans on the river, and grazing elk and bison near its banks. Turn north at Madison Junction to Norris Geyser Basin, where there are two boardwalk tours. Take the southern one if you don't have time for both because there you can wait for the Echinus Geyser pool to fill and erupt.
You're now driving the upper loop, which goes north to Mammoth Hot Springs, east to Tower-Roosevelt, south to Canyon Village, and west again to Norris, finally returning to Madison Junction, a circuit of about 85 miles. But don't complete the loop—at Canyon, continue south on the Lower Loop, which will take you to Fishing Bridge and Lake Village, then by West Thumb, west over Craig Pass to Old Faithful, and back to Madison Junction from the south. If you do the entire loop, it covers 96 miles. Our recommendation: Do one loop the day you enter the park, spend the night, then do the second loop and leave the way you came. If this is part of a longer cross-country trip, you can enter one side of the park and leave the other.
The Upper Loop. The Norris Geyser basin is a major concentration of thermal attractions, including Porcelain Basin and the legendary Steamboat Geyser (the park's largest, erupting only about once a decade historically but more often in recent years) and has a nice museum. Mammoth has one of the park's major attractions, the ever-growing terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs. In addition to the natural attraction, the Albright Visitor Center provides excellent historical background for everything you'll see in the park. There is a fine old hotel at Mammoth, and mom-and-pop and chain lodging just north of the park in Gardiner, but we recommend you continue farther around the loop on your first day. From Mammoth, the route winds through forested areas that lead to the edge of the Lamar Valley, a deep, rounded path for the Lamar River that is prime wildlife habitat. You could stop for the night at nearby Roosevelt Lodge, or continue south to Yellowstone's Grand Canyon, one of the most dramatic sights in the park, and on to the Lake Yellowstone Hotel, at the north end of Yellowstone Lake.
The Lower Loop. This is a better way to go, in our opinion. You'll also see the two largest geyser areas in Yellowstone: Norris to the north and the park's signature attraction, Old Faithful, to the south. On the eastern side of this route, you'll find the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Hayden Valley, where you'll often see herds of buffalo. Farther south, the Yellowstone Lake area is a haven for water-lovers, with fishing, boating, and places for picnicking on the shore of the lake.
This circuit is called the "Grand Loop," and it takes you through all the major areas of the park except the road between Norris and Canyon Village. If you have 2 days, then do both loops. You could do it in a day—it's about 150 miles long—but you'd scare a lot of other travelers as you sped by.
If You Have More Time
Stretching your visit to several days will give you time to delve into some of the park's less known but impressive offerings. Since the roads in Yellowstone are organized into a series of connecting loops that you can reach from any of the park's five entrances, it doesn't really matter where you begin your tour. To simplify things, we will discuss attractions and activities going clockwise along each section of the Grand Loop Road, beginning at Madison Junction. But you can enter the loop and pick up our tour at any point as long as you are traveling clockwise. We haven't suggested an optimum amount of time to spend on each leg of the loop; that will depend on your particular interests. Note: Road maintenance is a continual process in the park, so expect delays.
WEST YELLOWSTONE