The Complete Yellowstone Adventure: 5 day itinerary
- christopherwanstal
- Oct 31, 2022
- 7 min read
Updated: Jan 10
5 day itinerary
The nations first national park, and the foundation for an idea which now welcomes nearly 300 million visits a year across the National Park Service. Yellowstone is a hub of wildlife and geothermal activity. Nowhere in the world is quite like it!
Our website relies on donations and affiliate links. If you click a link taking you to another website, and make a purchase, we may gain a small commission - at absolutely no cost to you. This helps us expand the website, so we can continue doing what we love!
Day 1
Yellowstone has three main entrances, so how you explore the park depends a little on which direction you're arriving from and where you're staying! The most famous entrance is to the north, where Roosevelt Arch impressively greets you.
Keep your eyes peeled as soon as you arrive! Yellowstone is abundant with wildlife, and while many bison will cross the roads in front of you, a careful eye can often see grizzly bears, and with a bit of luck, even wolves - since they were reintroduced in 1995.
Spend the day exploring the northern loop of the park. Mammoth Hot Springs will give you the first taste of geothermal activity, as these warm pools bubble and steam as a result of the magma deep below the park heating the water. Stick to the boardwalks and walk carefully through, and while not neccesarily the prettiest feature of the park, they're pretty cool!
Tower-Roosevelt is next up, with a Tower Falls a short but steep one mile hike away. Enjoy lunch at Roosevelt Lodge, or grab something to eat on the move from the General Store. For the afternoon, take your time driving through the Lamar Valley. This is one of the best areas in the entire park to spot wildlife, so take your time and utilise the many pullouts that line the road!
A word of caution though - visitors every year end up injured and risk the safety of animals by not respecting their space in an attempt to get the 'perfect picture'. Please make sure to stay at least 100 yards from bears and wolves, and at least 25 yards from all other animals, ideally more. These wild animals are unpredictable and always deserve our respect.
Finish the day with a sunset at either Lookout or Artist Point, overlooking the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Lower Yellowstone Fall. This spectacular canyon has been carved by the Yellowstone River, eroding the volcanic rock formed by lava flows following the huge Yellowstone volcanic eruption! You can also get up close and personal with the falls with a short switchback trail to an overlook beside the breaking of the Lower Fall!
Day 2
Head back to Canyon Village to spend much of today in the Mount Washburn area. But also make sure to see the Norris Geyser Basin at some point too! The basin is the hottest, oldest and most dynamic geothermal area of the national park, with numerous small geysers and pools. These features result from two fault lines intersecting with a ring fracture of the Yellowstone Caldera that was formed during the major eruption of Yellowstone 600,000 years ago! Powerful and impressive stuff!
Washburn Hot Springs Overlook lies just south of Mount Washburn, which you can hike along a 6 mile out and back trail starting at Dunraven Pass. The summit offers great views of Yellowstone, including the caldera, where you can see the higher ring of trees on the horizon, lining the rim, and the lower elevation sitting within it. The hike is relatively challenging, gaining around 1,500 ft in elevation. However, the hike isn't recommended in fall as grizzly bears frequent the area looking for pine nuts.
A different nearby hike can be done back at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Seven Mile Hole takes you down to the banks of the Yellowstone River, or you can stay largely on the rim with a group hike that includes lunch!
If you have energy for the afternoon, continue driving around in search of more wildlife encounters, and stop off at a couple of picturesque falls. Firehole Falls and Gibbon Falls are both located close to Madison. Not far from there is West Yellowstone, on the outskirts of the park, and the town has some good places to grab food! Buffalo Bar and Wild West Pizzeria & Saloon both serve good food and usually have a warm and entertaining atmosphere! Perfect for warming up if the weather is a bit gloomy - hardly a rare occurrence in Wyoming!
Day 3
Head from Madison to West Thumb today, for one of the most geologically active sections of the park containing some of the major landmarks of Yellowstone. Firehole Lake Drive passes through Lower Geyser Basin, and then arrive at Midway Geyser Basin, home to Grand Prismatic Spring! The most colourful in the park, enjoy the colours created by different species of bacteria from the boardwalk that travels through the steam, or admire them from afar at the overlook.
For those wanting to stretch the legs, carry on from the overlook to Fairy Falls, a largely flat hike to another pretty waterfall, with some wildlife spotting opportunities on the way. The hike is just under 5 miles long out and back, so will probably take a few hours, depending on how much time you spend at the overlook and fall.
Next up is Old Faithful! This geyser, named for its reliability and regularity in erupting, puts on a show every 44 to 120 minutes, with more accurate estimations given in the visitor centre at the time. While being one of the busiest areas of the park, it's still a must see! The Upper Geyser Basin is also home to numerous other geysers that the NPS gives rough times of eruption for if you fancy sticking around these impressive features. Wyoming is the only state in the entire US where they naturally occur!
End the day in West Thumb, with your first look at the massive Yellowstone Lake. This section of the lake was formed about 150,000 years ago following a further eruption, and while not as exciting as the other segments of the day, hopefully the sunset reflecting in the lake will be a spectacular end to the day!
Day 4
Technically today is not about Yellowstone National Park. But if you are visiting, you HAVE to head south to Grand Teton National Park. Connected by the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Highway, the park has some of the most photogenic mountains in the world! There are also numerous delightful lakes to wander around, as well as Mormon Row Historic District, with the famous barns always a popular foreground.
For those looking to get the adrenaline pumping, Grand Teton offers something that Yellowstone doesn't - and thats white water rafting! Snake River is the host, and these rapids are usually perfect in summer for beginners, while not being too comfortable for those with a few runs under their lifejacket either. And if you just want to enjoy the scene, that's also highly recommended! A scenic wildlife float along a different section of the river might be for you?!
Other parts of the park you can check out for the day include Snake River Overlook, Signal Mountain, and the 42-mile scenic loop drive! Jackson Hole is also just south of the park, offering a stunning gondola ride, a rodeo, and plenty of fine dining. Perhaps check out our 1 day Grand Teton NP itinerary for more ways to spend your day?
Day 5
Back in Yellowstone, and about all you have left to fully explore is the lake itself! Consider starting the day with peace and tranquility as you meet in Grant Village Marina and kayak out onto the lake with a guide who also acts as a naturalist, teaching you all about the park! Starting early to avoid the winds, you'll see some of the geological features lining the lake, and an increased chance of wildlife encounters as you find yourselves further from other visitors in the busy sections of the park!
Make your way to the northern side of the lake, where Lake Village and Fishing Bridge have a few options for a late lunch! Down the road is Fishing Bridge, built back in 1902, but ironically fishing in the lake has been banned since 1973 due to the decline in cutthroat population, a trout native to Yellowstone. The population has slightly rebounded, so take a moment to see if you can spot any at the bridge, with them having a generally brown colour, black spots, and redness around their head and jaw.
Again slightly further around the lake lies the viewpoint of Steamboat Point, with a few small steam vents and wildflowers. Stay alert for bears as you are more likely to see them in quieter areas, but they are possible anywhere in the park as you'll probably know by this point! Keep food packed away and sealed where possible to not attract them, and make sure to make a respectful amount of noise when hiking to ensure you don't startle them. If you do encounter one, keep making noise, and back away slowly, continuing to face the bear. Absolutely do not run away as it will only encourage it to chase you.
The final stop of the day is Lake Butte Overlook. This panoramic view of the lake is definitely worth checking out, being a fantastic sunset location for your final night of this amazing trip exploring an American icon!
If you don't have enough time to spend five days in Wyoming, then check out our 1 or 3 day itineraries to help inspire your adventure! Don't forget to check out Grand Teton NP just south too!
And if you are looking to visit Yellowstone as part of a longer adventure, then have a look at our Continental Divide suggested itinerary, to really see all the Rocky Mountains has to offer!
