The northern route is open year-round, while the western entrance provides access to more lodging and attractions. The south entrance connects to another national wonder, Grand Teton National Park, while the east entrance provides the best access to Yellowstone Lake.
Yellowstone Entrance PassesFor private, non-commercial vehicles, a 7-day pass to Yellowstone National Park costs $35/vehicle and does not include entrance into nearby Grand Teton National Park.
If the supervolcano underneath Yellowstone National Park ever had another massive eruption, it could spew ash for thousands of miles across the United States, damaging buildings, smothering crops, and shutting down power plants. In fact, it's even possible that Yellowstone might never have an eruption that large again.
Yellowstone National Park is open 24 hours a day when open (see spring opening, fall closing dates above).
Yellowstone National Park's Old Faithful erupting a column of steam and superhot water. The escape of the top layers of water decreases the pressure on the hotter waters below, causing a chain reaction of violent steam explosions that expand the volume of the rising, boiling water by 1,500 times or more.
Typically, water that ejects from the geyser is 244 °F with steam coming out at 350 °F. The heated water and steam is then ejected up to 185 feet into the air providing a spectacular display for visitors and tourists.
When visiting Old Faithful, you can find when next eruption is predicted at the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center, at the lodges, in the NPS Yellowstone Geysers app, or on Yellowstone's geyser prediction Twitter feed.
Yellowstone National Park sits squarely over a giant, active volcano. Yellowstone is capable of eruptions thousands of times more violent than the Mount St. Helens eruption of 1980. The northern Rockies would be buried in multiple feet of ash.
Yellowstone National Park sits on top of a dormant volcano and is home to more geysers and hot springs than any other place on earth. The most famous of all the geysers is Old Faithful, one of the most popular and recognized natural wonders in the United States.
Yellowstone West Entrance
The first area you can swim in Yellowstone is at Boiling River near Mammoth. There's a section of the Gardiner River where hot springs well up, and by adjusting the rocks you can mix the hot and cold water for a pleasant soak. The only other sanctioned swimming spot within the park is on the Firehole River.
Yellowstone is known for its geothermal natural wonders, but Grand Teton offers a more peaceful experience. -The park itself isn't huge, it's only 484 square miles (compared to Yellowstone's 3.5 thousand square miles), but the area around it is also worth exploring.
Yellowstone National Park is open after a brief closure due to COVID-19 this past spring. The park is putting the necessary precautions in place to ensure visitors and staff stay safe, healthy and distanced!
North Cascades National Park
Yellowstone offers very limited opportunities to swim or soak. High-elevation lakes and rivers swollen with snowmelt make for cold water where hypothermia always presents a risk. On the other end of the temperature spectrum, the water in park hot springs often reaches the boiling point.
The Yellowstone supervolcano is a massive source of granitic magma that rests miles under the park's surface. The eruption could be expected to kill as many as 90,000 people immediately and spread a 10-foot (3-meter) layer of molten ash as far as 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) from the park.
Hiking in Yellowstone is relatively safe, especially if you follow the park rules. Out of almost 3.8 million visitors each year, there are generally 0–5 deaths. Most of these fatalities from Yellowstone come from tourists not following park rules or not practicing self awareness.
Water erupting from Yellowstone's geysers is superheated above that boiling point to an average of 204 °F (95.5 °C) as it leaves the vent. The water cools significantly while airborne and is no longer scalding hot by the time it strikes the ground, nearby boardwalks, or even spectators.
This loop connects visitors to every classic gem, from Mammoth Hot Springs near the North Entrance to Fountain Pots and Old Faithful near the West and South Entrances. Simply driving the entire distance, whether going clockwise or counter, could take four to seven hours.
So how frequently do earthquakes occur in Yellowstone? Often, we say that over the long term Yellowstone averages about 1,500–2,000 earthquakes per year.
Old Faithful was named by the first official expedition to Yellowstone, the Washburn Expedition of 1870. They were impressed by its size and frequency. Old Faithful erupts every 35 to 120 minutes for 1 1/2 to 5 minutes. Its maximum height ranges from 90 to 184 feet.
Around mid-December, roads open to limited snowmobile and snowcoach travel. This means the only way to visit Old Faithful, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and other popular destinations during winter is by guided snowmobile or snowcoach, or through the non-commercially guided snowmobile access program.
Pets are allowed in public areas, parking lots and within 100 feet of any road. They must be on a leash that is not longer than 6 feet in length at all times. Pets are not allowed on any boardwalks or trails. Pets are prohibited from all of Yellowstone's backcountry.
