Yellowstone National Park

Greetings!

After visiting the Grand Coulee Dam, we headed southeast towards Montana.  The drive out of Washington was beautiful - cool cloudy sky and endless wheat fields.

We stopped in Missoula, Montana to do some provisioning - Costco, Walmart and the Grocery Store.  It was a quick overnight stop, but very productive and we stayed at Jim & Mary's RV Resort and it was lovely - a perfect place for us - very pretty campground in close proximity to the stores.  And . . . you know you're in Montana when Bear Spray is on the aisle endcap in Costco!

We left Missoula and continued southeast to Island Park, Idaho to stay at the Red Rock RV Resort.  This is a beautiful area that is just 30 minutes from West Yellowstone (which appropriately is the western entrance of Yellowstone National Park!).  For the first time in this trip, we had pretty crappy weather during the drive to Island Park as well as our first day in Yellowstone, but we had a blast anyway!  After a nice evening at the campground, we headed to Yellowstone!  Within 20 minutes to entering the park, we saw a bear (in the distance and mobs of people, so didn't get a photo), a few bison (right next to the road), and a field of elk.  Before we got to Old Faithful, there are several areas you can pull over and walk through the geyser fields and they are beautiful. 

Despite the weather, we had a great visit to Old Faithful and spent time in the Old Faithful Inn - which is an iconic log cabin structure - definitely old school - and we had a quick deli lunch - then went to see the geyser go off as scheduled.  When we first got there, we thought they should have a sign for when the next eruption would be and didn't see it until AFTER we saw Old Faithful.  Because of the weather and enjoying our lunch, we ended up seeing it go off twice.  

After Old Faithful, we went to the Grand Prismatic Spring, which is the largest hot spring in the United States and an incredible blue color.  Due to the weather, we didn't get great photos of the blue part, but it was still pretty cool.  It is an iconic part of Yellowstone and you can learn more and see pictures in better weather here. 

When we returned to the campground, the skies cleared and we were able to enjoy a beautiful sunset and campfire!

After 2 nights in Island Park, we headed into the Yellowstone National Park to camp at the Fishing Bridge RV Park for 2 nights.  We went in the same way as the day before and saw more wildlife. 

The Fishing Bridge Campground is near the Yellowstone River where it flows into Lake Yellowstone - our campsite was great, but we weren't there very much!  The area it's located is fairly central in the park and it was great to be near the river and the lake.  We were at a high altitude and were definitely feeling it!

The next day we spent driving around the North Loop of Yellowstone - we had lovely weather.  The first stop was The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone - the dramatic colors, river, and steep sides of the canyon were really beautiful.

Our next stop was Mammoth Hot Springs - another geological wonder.  There is a small little village there and we enjoyed some lunch and walked the trails. The park service does a great job here with all of the boardwalks and trails in and around the hot springs - so pretty.

From there, we drove east through the Blacktail Plateau drive which is a 6-mile dirt road off the main road and the scenery was breathtaking and not crowded, which was a nice change.  Several bison along the way too.

We then stopped at the Roosevelt Lodge and sat on the front porch and had an ice cream.  This is another iconic old school log cabin structure with a great history - established in 1906 in commemoration of a camping trip to this region by President Theodore Roosevelt accompanied by naturalist John Burroughs, April 1903.  The lodge consists of a small main building, as well as several rustic cabins for lodging.

As we were heading out of Roosevelt Lodge, we ran into a park ranger, who told us to make sure we stop at Calcite Springs before the Tower Falls.  We were so glad we did, as the Calcite Springs are the very end of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and although not as colorful as the part of the Canyon we visited earlier in the day, it was beautiful, as were the Tower Falls!

It was a gorgeous drive back to the campground from Tower Falls and more wildlife along the road.

The next morning, it was time to head south to the Grand Teton National Park, so we left the campground and enjoyed the southern end of Yellowstone as we were driving out - including Lewis Falls and the Lewis River.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Yellowstone and the Grand Teton National Park is also amazing - more on that in our next post!

Thanks so much for following along and for your love and support - XO, Jen & Paul