Field Trip to the First National Park: Yellowstone with Kids
The US National Parks System has a huge variety of parks and monuments to visit, but out of all of the parks in the States, none are quite as well-known as Yellowstone. And for good reason!
Among the Yellowstone’s thousands of acres, visitors can find bountiful wildlife, more thermal geological features than any other place in the world, and stunning natural vistas.
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Where is Yellowstone National Park?
Yellowstone National Park covers over 2,221,000 acres spread across the States of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. The park is located inside a massive volcanic caldera, called the Yellowstone Caldera, which is what gives the park its numerous different geothermic features.
Yellowstone National Park
Hours: Entrance gates to the park are usually open 24hrs, but hours for facilities inside the park can vary.
Price: $35/vehicle
You can also get in using the America the Beautiful pass, which I highly recommend if you plan on visiting multiple parks during the year!
Website: Yellowstone National Park
Phone: +1 307-344-7381
A Brief History of Yellowstone National Park
The land that would eventually become Yellowstone National Park was first inhabited by Native American tribes who were drawn to the area by the presence of thermal features and numerous game animals. The first recorded visit to the area by European-Americans was in 1806 when members of the Lewis and Clark expedition came across the Old Faithful geyser.
In 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed an act establishing Yellowstone as the world’s first national park. At the time, the park covered over 3,500 square miles and was home to a wide variety of flora and fauna.
What makes Yellowstone National Park Special?
When President Grant decided to create the first National Park, Yellowstone was the natural choice.
Yellowstone is home to an incredible array of wildlife, including bison, elk, grizzly bears, and wolves. It’s also home to world-famous geothermal features like Old Faithful geyser.
For kids (and adults!), Yellowstone is a true wonderland. There are so many different things to see and explore in the park.
Here are just a few of the highlights:
– Wildlife watching: As mentioned, Yellowstone is home to an incredible array of wildlife. One of the best ways to experience this is to go on a safari-style wildlife tour. You’ll have the chance to see bison, elk, deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, and maybe even bears and wolves!
– Geothermal features: Yellowstone is home to more than half of the world’s geothermal features. They include geysers, hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles. There’s a ton of variety in the different geothermal features in Yellowstone, but they all get their heat from a huge pocket of magma that sits under the Yellowstone Caldera.
– Amazing views: Nature is on full display in Yellowstone, meaning that alongside everything else you can see wide prairie lands, towering cliffs, a huge high-altitude lake, and even waterfalls.
What are the best things to do in Yellowstone with kids?
While visiting Yellowstone can make for a great trip for anyone, the wide expanses and wild feel of the park can be extra special for kids. There’s just so much to explore and to learn!
Here are some of my favorite Yellowstone activities to do with kids!
Note: Yellowstone is an absolutely massive park, which is great for preserving nature, but it does mean that you will spend quite a bit of time in the car getting from place to place. My favorite tip for combatting car ride fatigue is spending that time listening to an audiobook!
Audiobooks allow everyone to enjoy the time by listening to a great story while keeping eyes free to watch out the window for enjoying the scenery and making animal sightings.
You can read more about why audiobooks are great for road trips or sign up for a free trial of Audible (that’s an affiliate link) and choose your book for the trip! I suggest a book that is set in the park for an extra bit of connection.
Try Bring Jade Home: The True Story of a Dog Lost in Yellowstone and the People Who Searched for Her!
Seeing everything
It’s pretty much impossible to see everything, but pretty much anything that you do see in the park can be both interesting and educational.
Learn about geothermal features while watching geysers erupt! Talk about extremophile bacteria while admiring the many-colored bands of Grand Prismatic Spring! Ponder the role that keystone predators have on the environment after spotting a wolf pack on the prowl!
There’s tons of amazing experiences to explore, so you’re sure to find something intriguing.
Yellowstone’s Junior Ranger Program
One of my kids’ favorite parts of the National Parks is the Junior Ranger Programs.
They are a great way for kids to learn about whichever National Park they’re visiting, and Yellowstone is no different!
Kids earn badges by completing different activities, like learning about the wildlife or going on a hike. It’s a fun way for kids to learn more about the park and have an adventure too!
Yellowstone, in particular, has an interesting Junior Ranger Program with varying levels of difficulty based on your kids’ ages and a colorful patch instead of the wooden badges you receive at most parks. This extra touch does cost a few dollars instead of being a free service like other parks have, but it’s still definitely worth it.
You can pick up your Junior Ranger booklets at any of the Park’s Visitors Centers, but we picked ours up at the Old Faithful Visitors Education Center, which also has some outstanding educational exhibits.
Camping
Camping in Yellowstone is a truly unique experience. Not only do you get to enjoy the natural daytime beauty of the park, but you also get to sleep under the stars! There are several different campgrounds in Yellowstone, each with its own set of amenities.
Here are some of the best-rated paid campgrounds in the park:
– Fishing Bridge RV Park: This campground is located near Yellowstone Lake and offers full hookups, a dump station, and a convenience store.
– Grant Village Campground: This campground is located near the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake and offers flush toilets, showers, a grocery store, and a restaurant.
– Canyon Campground: This campground is located in the heart of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and offers tent sites and RV sites with no hookups. It’s also close to hiking trails and fishing areas.
– Mammoth Campground: This campground is located near the north entrance of the park and offers tent sites, RV sites with partial hookups, and cabins. It’s also close to restaurants and shops.
Or, if you’re looking to save some money, you could also try finding a dispersed camping site. Dispersed camping isn’t allowed inside the park itself, but there are lots of sites outside the park’s boundaries.
I will often use thedyrt.com to find campsites, though they won’t have everything.
Do note that camping in the park is a super-popular activity, so campground availability is often extremely limited. Plus, since Yellowstone is at such a high altitude, it can get quite a bit cooler in the evenings. The weather was cold enough during our visit that we reconsidered tent camping and opted to stay in the Big Bear Motel in nearby Cody, Wyoming. They have horse rides around the motel’s pool area in the evenings, which my kids loved!
Fishing
If you’re looking for a unique and unforgettable fishing experience with your kids, look no further than Yellowstone National Park. Fishing in the park offers a variety of opportunities for both novice and experienced anglers, and there are plenty of kid-friendly activities to keep the little ones entertained.
Fishing has been popular in Yellowstone National Park since its establishment as a national park in 1872. In fact, President Ulysses S. Grant signed an act establishing Yellowstone as the world’s first national park specifically because of its abundance of fish!
Today, fishing is still one of the most popular activities in the park. There are over 1,000 miles of streams and rivers in Yellowstone, as well as dozens of lakes and ponds. The best fishing can be found in the Lamar River Valley and the Madison River Valley.
What are the best places in Yellowstone to visit with kids?
Yellowstone is an absolutely huge National Park, so it isn’t likely that you’ll be able to see and do everything in the park in a single visit.
Yellowstone’s Hot Springs
Hot springs are some of the most common geological features you can find in Yellowstone. A large amount of underground volcanic activity in the park means there are plenty of spots where springs come in contact with the earth’s hot underbelly, and the resulting hot springs are often pretty spectacular.
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Here are some of the best ones to visit with kids:
Grand Prismatic Spring
Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in Yellowstone, and it’s truly a sight to behold. The spring is over 370 feet wide and about 120 feet deep, and it’s filled with water that’s a scalding 160 degrees Fahrenheit. The intense heat creates a unique environment for bacteria, which gives the spring its vibrant colors.
There are two major ways to see Grand Prismatic. The first is via a boardwalk that runs directly beside the hot spring. I enjoyed walking the boardwalk with my kid because it gave us a close-up look at the different color layers, as well as the opportunity to see animal footprints in the mud surrounding it.
The second viewing point is at the end of the Grand Prismatic Overlook trail at the end of the Fairy Falls Trailhead. The trail is just over half a mile with a gradual 105-foot rise in elevation, but from the top, you can get an excellent view of the entirety of the Grand Prismatic Spring.
Mammoth Springs
Mammoth Springs is another great option for hot springs in Yellowstone. The spring originates from a large underground reservoir of water that’s heated by nearby geothermal activity. The water then flows up through cracks in the earth and into the springs, leaving intricate terraces made from mineral build-up in its wake.
You can see quite a bit of Mammoth Springs from inside your car, but if you want the best views, I’d suggest getting out and walking the area’s paths.
The spring is also a common place to spot wildlife, including bison, elk, and pronghorn.
Boiling River
The Boiling River is a great spot to visit if you’re looking to take a dip in one of Yellowstone’s hot springs. The river is created by the joining of two different springs, one cold and one hot. As a result, parts of the river are too hot to touch. However, there is a section of the river that is safe for swimming, and it’s a great place to relax and take in the stunning scenery.
Yellowstone’s Geysers
Geysers may be similar to other hot springs in most ways, but they have one key difference. Underground, geysers have a chamber where the spring water gets super-heated and changed into steam. That steam builds up pressure, which gets released in an explosive burst, throwing hot water into the air in an impressive display!
Some geysers, like Old Faithful, erupt so regularly that you can almost set your watch by it, while others work on a much more unpredictable timeline.
Yellowstone has more than 500 geysers across the length of the park, making up more than half of the known geysers in the entire world!
Old Faithful
Old Faithful is probably the most famous geyser in Yellowstone, and one of the most predictable geysers in the world. It erupts every 94 or 68 minutes, depending on how long its previous eruption lasted.
Old Faithful shoots water anywhere from 100 to 180 feet into the air, and a typical eruption will last between one and a half to five minutes long.
While Old Faithful’s regularity means you will definitely be able to witness an eruption, be aware that there will likely be a crowd. Eruptions occurring earlier in the morning or later in the evening have the smallest crowds, but the viewing area is large enough that you can still get a great view even when the park is full.
Upper Geyser Basin
Old Faithful may be the best-known geyser in the Upper Geyser Basin, but it is far from being the only one. The basin is home to a variety of geysers, hot springs, and fumaroles, many of which are easily accessible via a 4.9-mile network of trails and boardwalks.
Some of the more popular geysers in the Upper Geyser Basin include Castle Geyser, Grand Geyser, and Riverside Geyser. Each one has its own unique characteristics, making it well worth taking the time to explore.
Be sure to check the list outside the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center for up-to-date estimates of which geysers will be erupting during your visit! (or check the online list, here)
Norris Geyser Basin (Steamboat Geyser)
Norris Geyser Basin is one of the most active geothermal areas in Yellowstone. The basin is home to more than 150 geysers, as well as a variety of hot springs and fumaroles. The most famous of these is Steamboat Geyser, which is the tallest active geyser in the world.
Steamboat can shoot water up to 400 feet into the air, but its irregular eruption schedule means it may not erupt during any specific trip.
Check out Steamboat’s list of Major Eruptions at nps.gov
Excelsior Geyser (Midway Geyser Basin)
Excelsior Geyser is another great geyser to visit in Yellowstone. The geyser is located in the Midway Geyser Basin, and while it was one of the largest and most violent geysers in the park during the late 1800s, today it is largely dormant.
More recent eruptions have been fairly rare, and quite a bit smaller than historic ones.
West Thumb Geyser Basin (West Thumb Paint Pots)
The West Thumb Geyser Basin is a great spot to visit if you’re looking for hot springs. The basin is home to a variety of hot springs, as well as the West Thumb Paint Pots. The Paint Pots are bubbling pools of multi-colored mud caused by colorful bacteria. They’re a truly unique sight, and definitely worth a visit.
Wildlife in Yellowstone
While Yellowstone is most famous for its amazing array of hydrothermal features, it also hosts a wide variety of wild animals.
*Remember that wild animals are wild, and please give them their space! *
Bison and Elk
Bison and elk are two of the most iconic animals in Yellowstone. Both animals are easy to spot, mostly due to their large numbers and huge size. Bison are one of the largest mammals in North America, and they’re a truly impressive sight. Elk are also quite large, and the males have impressive antlers that can span up to six feet across.
Both bison and elk can be found throughout the park, but they tend to congregate around the Lamar Valley in the northeastern section of the park. If you’re lucky, you may be able to see them grazing or crossing the road.
Bears and Wolves
Predators in the park are a less common sight than bison and elk, but they are definitely around! Yellowstone is home to over 100 wolves divided into at least 8 packs, while grizzly bears are slightly more common with over 700 estimated bears in the park! However, even with those numbers, a bear or wolf sighting isn’t guaranteed, and my family went our entire trip without spotting either animal in the wild.
If that’s as disappointing for you as it was for us, I highly recommend taking a trip to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, Montana. It’s a great way to get up close and personal with these magnificent animals!
Otters! And other Wildlife sightings
The park also has a lot of other, smaller animals that you can spot if you’re lucky! My personal favorite sighting was on our way out of the park on our last day there. I glanced out the window at just the right time and spotted a river otter playing in a stream!
You never know what you’ll see if you keep your eyes open!
Scenic Views
Quite apart from the famous geysers and hot springs of Yellowstone, the landscape of the park is still inspiring in its beauty. Large open prairies filled with green and yellow grasses lay framed by tree-covered mountains, while rivers and streams meander through. And if you know where to look, waterfalls and scenic overlooks wait for you to explore.
These are some of my favorite views from our time in the park!
Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is one of the most popular attractions in the park, and for good reason. The canyon is huge, and it’s absolutely stunning. You can explore the canyon via a number of different trails, or you can simply enjoy the views from one of the many scenic overlooks.
Artist Point
Artist Point was one of my family’s favorite scenic lookouts in the park. The viewing point is an easy walk from the parking lot along a paved path, and it offers a stunning view of the Lower Falls.
Yellowstone Lake
Yellowstone Lake is the largest lake in the park, which makes it almost impossible to miss. The lake is located in the caldera of the Yellowstone supervolcano, and it’s surrounded by mountains. You’ll spend a lot of your travel time in the park driving around the edge of Yellowstone Lake, but there are also a number of different trails that you can take to enjoy the views if you prefer.
Yellowstone River
The Yellowstone River is the source of water for the Upper and Lower waterfalls, as well as a major contributor to Yellowstone Lake. From source to mouth, the river flows for 692 miles, making it the longest undammed river in the USA. There are a number of different trails you can take to enjoy views of the river.
Lamar Valley
The Lamar Valley is one of the best places in the park to see wildlife. The valley is home to a wide variety of animals, including bison, elk, deer, and bears. If you’re lucky, you might even spot a wolf! The best way to see the valley is by car, but there are also a number of walking trails you can take if you need to stretch your legs.
Obsidian Cliff
The Obsidian Cliff is a must-see if you’re interested in either geology or history. The cliff is made up of large flows of obsidian, a type of volcanic glass that forms when lava cools fast enough to avoid crystalization. Obsidian glass from Obsidian Cliff has been harvested for centuries, and many of the obsidian tools used by Native Americans were sourced from here.
Conclusion
While each and every National Park in America has its own historical and natural importance, there’s no arguing against the fact that Yellowstone National park is a uniquely special place. Its incredible geology combined with its beautiful and diverse ecology makes it an amazing place to visit with children of all ages.
Learn more about Hot Springs!
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