Yellowstone’s main roads are laid out in a figure eight loop. On our first day in the park, I wanted to see the upper loop including Mammoth Hot Springs, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Yellowstone Falls, and the Artists’ Paintpots.

Knowing we were ending a long 13-day trip in Yellowstone National Park, I chose to pick a hotel closer to the park and pay more. It was well worth it!

Yellowstone National Park
2019 Price: Free due to my Annual Pass (Fee would have been $35 for a 7-day pass)

The hotel was minutes from the west entrance. This was much better than the 45+ minute drive to Glacier National Park when we were there earlier in the month.

Kelly Inn West Yellowstone
2019 Price: $1,236 for four nights

Near the west entrance, we saw a herd of elk including one bull with impressive antlers.

Yellowstone elk herd in morning light
Yellowstone bull elk in the morning light

It is helpful to photograph the sign before an attraction, so you remember what each place is when you review them later.

Gibbon Falls

Our first sight was Gibbon Falls. Gibbon Falls gradually drops 84 feet on the Gibbon River. This was just an appetizer for what was to come later.

Gibbon Falls

Mammoth Hot Springs

Mammoth Hot Springs was the first big sight on my list. I am glad we decided to get here early because they were doing road work and had the lane closed. We were stopped for at least 20 minutes but thankfully since there were so few cars in line, we were able to get through quickly enough.

There are upper and lower terrace boardwalks. We started with the upper boardwalk which includes the Main Terrace, Jupiter Terrace, Mound Terrace, Mound Spring, Minerva Terrace, and Cleopatra Terrace.

White limestone in Mound Terrace in Mammoth Springs
Colorful pools on Mound Terrace in Mammoth
Mound Spring from the side in Mammoth Hot Springs

White surfaces on the travertine terraces are caused by hot water dissolving limestone as it rises through the rock layers. These colorful formations come from thermophiles – heat-eating bacteria and algae.

Mound Spring ground level in Mammoth Hot Springs
Mound Spring
Mound Spring selfie in Mammoth Hot Springs
Cleopatra Terrace in Mammoth Hot Springs
Cleopatra Terrace

The lower boardwalk displays the Liberty Cap, Palette Spring, and Devils Thumb.

Liberty Cap in Mammoth Springs
Liberty Cap
Palette Spring from the side in Mammoth Hot Springs
Palette Spring
Devils Thumb in Mammoth Hot Springs
Devils Thumb

Upper Grand Loop Road

From Mammoth Hot Springs we drove back down and stopped at pull-offs along the way.

Clearwater Springs

Clearwater Springs in Yellowstone

Roaring Mountain

Roaring Mountain was full of fumaroles (steam vents). In the early 1900s, the fumaroles were loud enough to be heard for miles, hence its name.

Roaring Mountain in Yellowstone National Park

Nymph Lake

Nymph Lake in Yellowstone

Frying Pan Spring

Frying Pan Spring in Yellowstone National Park

You never know when you will find a sudden bison. We saw one right next to the road. According to the National Park Service, Yellowstone is the only place in the United States where bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times.

Yellowstone bison in the brush
Bison near Yellowstone Falls

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone was the second big attraction on my list for the day.

First, we took the one-way North Rim Drive. The North Rim has several overlooks of Yellowstone Falls and the canyon.

Brink of the Lower Falls

View of Yellowstone Falls from Brink of the Lower Falls
Yellowstone River from Brink of the Lower Falls

Lookout Point

Lookout Point view for Yellowstone Falls
Valley of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Grand View

View of canyon and river from Grand View

Inspiration Point

Inspiration Point view of Yellowstone River

Artist’s Point

To get to the South Rim we had to go back on Grand Loop Road and pass the North Rim Drive to turn on South Rim Drive. Brink of Upper Falls was closed when we visited. The South Rim offers one of the most popular views of the falls – Artist’s Point.

Artist’s Point view through the trees of Yellowstone Falls
Artist’s Point view of Yellowstone Falls

Hayden Valley

On the loop road we often pulled over to peek at anything that caught our eye – including winding rivers and bison herds. For one herd of bison, we got out of the car and walked partway down a narrow path in Hayden Valley. The bull closest to the camera was keeping an eye on all the tourists so we made sure to stay far enough back.

Hayden Valley close up of bison

As a rule, you should be at least the length of 2 school buses away from bison and up to 8 buses away from bears and wolves.

Sulphur Caldron

Sulphur Caldron is nearly as acidic as battery acid and had an overwhelming sulfur odor we could smell from the road. Even so, we found a lone bison resting in the caldron.

Sulphur Caldron bison and pit
Sulphur Caldron bison

Yellowstone Lake

We continued the middle section of the loop to Yellowstone Lake. The lake is the largest high elevation lake in North America. After getting a quick glimpse of the water, we turned back to the west entrance.

View across Yellowstone Lake landscape
View across Yellowstone Lake

On the way, we saw a pair of trumpeter swans in the river. Yellowstone works to preserve cygnets in the wild. In 1919, the swans in the park were considered the last population in the lower 48 states.

Trumpeter swans in Yellowstone National Park

Artists’ Paintpots

Our last hike was the Artists’ Paintpots which included colorful hot springs and two large mudpots.

Artists' Paintpots white hot spring
Mudpot at Artists' Paintpots in Yellowstone National Park

Artists’ Paintpots has a 1-mile trail on a boardwalk up and around the hot springs including Blood Geyser. The lower portion of the trail is universally accessible, but the upper trail is steep and rough.

Blue hot spring at Artists' Paintpots
Artists' Paintpots cloudy blue hot spring

Blood Geyser gets its name from the concentration of iron in the surrounding rocks.

Artists' Paintpots from the upper trail with Blood Geyser is in the lower right

As the sun started setting in the park, there was a little bit of a traffic backup in Madison Junction. When we finally reached the spot, we realized it was elk relaxing by the river.

Elk next to the Madison River
Bull elk next to the Madison River

We once again dined at Bullwinkle’s. This time I had the Idaho Rainbow Trout which was spectacular!

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