How to Explore Yellowstone National Park in 2 Days

Yellowstone National Park is an extremely large and popular recreational park in the USA, stretched across three states Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. The park is widely known for teeming wilderness and miraculous geothermal features, thus visitors try all the possible tricks to explore the every nook and corner of the park within their possible time limits. People visiting the park first time often brood about that how much time would they need to complete the trip, a week, three days, or just two days? They don’t know. Only experienced travellers who have visited it many a time can help them. Frequent visitors express that to relax and revel in the park at your own pace you literally need to have 6-7 days.

                                                                                          Image Credit: boundtoexplore.com

Well, people with limited time frame can also enjoy the natural warmth and beauty of the park without missing much if the things have been planned smartly. First of all, gather that the park is in the shape of a Grand Loop, further segmented into upper and lower loop. Secondly, visitors can enter the park via five different places, so it becomes imperative to know where to start from and where to finish. Let’s see how to explore the entire park when you are bestowed with only two days’ time.

Day 1: Start with Lower Loop

Get up early, start early. Start your Day 1 with lower loop because it covers between 90 to 120 miles road of the Grand Loop and covers five main attractions, means reduced time for dallying and parking hiccups. Enter through the west entrance, one of the popular points, and drive along the Madison River where you can enjoy the sightseeing of the riverside forest and spot the trumpeter swans, ducks, and grazing bison and elk. Head toward Madison Junction and halt at Norris Geyser Basin and take a walk through the larger geyser-packed Back Basin and the smaller, bleached-white Porcelain Basin. If you want to spend time at Norris Museum, be there for some time otherwise get back in the car for the Canyon Village. This village is an ideal spot for a break and snacks.

After the break, move ahead on the South Rim Drive for the peak of Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone that includes heart-stopping Upper Falls and Lower Falls. Further, take a long walk towards the Artist Point to get the splendid picture of the Lower Falls.

Next, if you wish to get the undefiled sightseeing experience of bison and bear along the Yellowstone River, go to Hayden Valley. Beyond the river you can stop for lunch at the Lake Village area. The lake runs parallel to the southwest road until the West Thumb where one can hop around in the lakeside geyser basin.

Upon getting in the west direction, chances are that you will catch Old Faithful, it erupts every 60 to 100 minutes. For the exact information about eruption shows, you can check at the Old Faithful Inn or at the nearest visitor center. In between you can stroll over the boardwalks to see hundreds of other geysers, eruptions and thermal features. This is the place where you should stop your day. Try to get a place in the Old Faithful Inn, otherwise sleeping alfresco doesn’t cause inconvenience. As summer is the best time to visit, you will find people around you preparing for the night stay.

Day 2: Long Driving

Having spent the night around Old Faithful, plan your way north to Norris, en route you can linger a while around Midway Geyser Basin to relish Grand Prismatic Spring. Next, you need to stop at Mammoth Hot Springs, it lies in the north. Park the vehicle and then hike the upper and lower terraces to experience travertine formations being built in front of your eyes. Visit Albright Visitor Center if you are inquisitive to get the details and history of the park. Afterwards, proceed for a self-guided tour of Fort Yellowstone.

Next, get on eastward. For mesmerizing wildlife-spotting opportunities drive on the one-way Blacktail Plateau, then move ahead into the Lamar Valley. This widespread, amusing area is home to most of the major wildlife species of the park. To explore the best wildlife, especially wolves, the preferred time is either dawn or dusk. Go back to Tower-Roosevelt and halt for a while to see Tower Fall from the overlook. The most beautiful spot in the park is Dunraven Pass, located at the height of 8, 859 feet. It offers wide-ranging views way up and down. You will be surprised to find yourself back at the Canyon Village.

With planning and a fixed itinerary, it is possible to explore the whole up and down of the park without losing any major attractive point and geothermal sources.