Yellowstone Itinerary: One Day, Two Day and Three Days in Yellowstone

How To Tour Yellowstone National Park

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Yellowstone National Park Facts

Before we officially dive in, it’s always nice to know a little about the place you’re visiting. Below are some short and sweet, but interesting facts about Yellowstone.

Which State Is Yellowstone National Park Located | Wyoming (96%), Montana (3%), and Idaho (1%)
Who Founded Yellowstone National Park | President Ulysses S. Grant
How Old is Yellowstone National Park | 600,000 years-ish
When Was Yellowstone Established | March 1, 1872, Yellowstone was the first national park in the U.S
How Was Yellowstone Formed | A massive volcanic eruption by the Yellowstone caldera
How Big Is Yellowstone National Park | 2,221,766 acres
Yellowstone National Park Average Annual Visitors | 4 million

Best Time To Visit Yellowstone National Park

While Yellowstone can be visited all year, Yellowstone National Park is best during the summer months from, mid-may to the beginning-to-mid-September. Summer not only brings the nicest weather, but the park facilities are also open, making summer Yellowstone’s peak season. With peak season being only a few short months, expect lots of crowds, especially if you’re visiting from mid-June to end-of-August.

Late spring and early fall have a chance to bring inclement weather, like snow, making visiting Yellowstone National Park a bit challenging. Especially if you visit from November through mid-April, as many of the park roads will be closed due to snowfall.

Now, this is not to say that visiting Yellowstone in the winter is a no-no. You can book a snowmobile or snow coach guided tours to see the park and its wildlife. It’s worth mentioning that Mammoth Hot Springs and Old Faithful are the only two areas of the park with facilities open during the winter months.

Check out our 14 tips for visiting Yellowstone National Park!

Getting Familiar With Yellowstone National Park’s Entrances & Loops

How To Enter Yellowstone National Park

First when planning your Yellowstone itinerary, understand there are 5 park entrances to Yellowstone National Park. Yes, 5. Three are located in Montana, while the other two are located in Wyoming. So depending on where you’re coming from in the United States, you’ll have plenty of park entrance options to choose from.

Yellowstone Park Entrances from Montana

North Entrance: Located 5 miles from Gardiner, MT, you’ll find the North Entrance, which is the closest entrance to Mammoth Hot Springs
Northeast Entrance: Located about 10 minutes from Cooke City, MT, you’ll find the Northeast Entrance, which is the closest to Lamar Valley
West Entrance: The west entrance is the park’s busiest entrance and for good reason. Taking the west entrance will put you in the heart of Geyser country. Also, the west entrance is the most convenient entrance for those coming from Idaho or Missoula, MT.

Yellowstone Park Entrances from Wyoming

East Entrance: Located about 53 miles from Cody, Wyoming, the East Entrance will take you to Yellowstone Lake.
South Entrance: To get to the south entrance, you’ll drive through Grand Teton National Park. A pretty drive to say the least! The south entrance of Yellowstone is located about 1 hour and 15 minutes from Jackson, Wyoming, and will put you closest to West Thumb Geyser and Old Faithful Geyser.

Yellowstone National Park Loops + Road Map

Another important Yellowstone itinerary planning tip is understanding the park layout. Yellowstone National Park is typically broken up into two sections, the Northern Loop and the Southern Loop.

The Northern Loop, also referred to as the Upper Loop, comprises of popular sights like Mammoth Springs and Lamar Valley. Whereas the Southern Loop, the Lower Loop, comprises of popular sights like Grand Prismatic Spring, Grand Canyon Of Yellowstone and Old Faithful.

When both sections are combined, they make up what is called “The Grand Loop”. The Grand Loop is a 142-mile drive taking visitors to the best places in the park. Given the length of the The Grand Loop, tackling the entire Grand Loop in one day is pretty much impossible. That’s why people will tend to break the loop up into two sections.

IMPORTANT: There will be major road construction projects in Yellowstone from 2020-2021. One project will have a complete closure between Tower Fall and Chittenden Road, which will affect eastern travel in the Northern Loop.

How To Get To Yellowstone National Park

When traveling to Yellowstone National Park, you’ll have several airports to choose from, the closest of which is the two small regional airports, Yellowstone Airport (WYS) located in West Yellowstone, 3 miles from the Park, and Yellowstone Regional Airport (COD) located in Cody, Wyoming, 55 miles from the Park.

If you are in search of larger airports to fly into, Jackson Hole Airport in Wyoming and Bozeman Airport in Montana will be your two closest options.

Jackson Hole Airport, Jackson, Wyoming: 70 miles, 1.5 hour
Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport, Montana: 80 miles, 1.5 hours
Idaho Falls Regional Airport, Idaho: 110 miles, 2 hours
Salt Lake City International Airport, Utah: 325 miles, 5 hours
Rapid City Regional Airport, South Dakota: 440 miles, 7.5 hours

How To Get Around Yellowstone National Park?

Regardless of which of the above airports you plan to fly into, you’ll need to rent a car to get to Yellowstone National Park and explore the park’s interior and its surrounding areas. If you’d rather take a tour of the park, there are plenty of options available.

Check the latest car rental prices and options or plan to rent an RV, travel trailer, or van through Outdoorsy!

If you’re coming south, from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, you can book a Lower Loop Full-Day Tour or 2-Day Yellowstone National Park Tour. Heading from the West? You can book a Full-Day Private Tour or a Lower Loop Van Tour from West Yellowstone. If you are coming from Gardiner (north) you can reserve a spot on the Best of Yellowstone Full-Day Private Guided Tour. Lastly, if you’re coming from Cody (west), you can book a upper Yellowstone or Lower Yellowstone tour.

How Many Days Do You Need In Yellowstone?

While a day trip to Yellowstone is 100% doable, you will not be able to see everything the park has to offer. You’ll definitely have to pick and choose what you want to see based on your interests.

In our opinion, two days should be the minimum amount of time you should plan to spend in Yellowstone if you want to explore The Grand Loop in its entirety. If you want to do any hikes or just take your time exploring, plan to spend one additional day (or two) in the park.

Yellowstone National Park Must To Do List

While there is way more to do and see in Yellowstone than just this list below, however, we consider these “the must” see’s when visiting Yellowstone National Park.

Mammoth Hot Springs
Old Faithful
Upper Geyser Basin
Midway Geyser Basin/Grand Prismatic Spring
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Hayden Valley
Lamar Valley
Norris Geyser Basin
West Thumb Basin
Yellowstone Lake

One, Two & Three Day Yellowstone Itinerary

Day Trip Yellowstone Itinerary Overview

If you only have one day to visit Yellowstone, just know you’ll be tight on time and won’t get to see everything the park has to offer. But please don’t let that deter you! You can still see some AMAZING sights and wildlife with just a one-day Yellowstone itinerary.

Most likely, if you only have one day in Yellowstone, you’re on a road trip through the US. Our tip, drive from one end of the Park to the other. For instance, if your coming from Montana, plan to enter the park at Gardiner or West Yellowstone and exit at the southern entrance to explore Grand Teton National Park the following day. If you’re coming from Grand Teton National Park, plan to exit the park at Gardiner or West Yellowstone (for example).

One Day Yellowstone Itinerary

In our opinion, we suggest spending the majority of your time in the lower-loop of the park. Which if you’re coming from or going to Grand Teton National park, you’ll have to drive right through the lower loop. The lower loop has more of the “must-see” sights on our list than the upper loop, so for your one day in Yellowstone, you’ll be spending the majority of your time in the lower loop.

TIP. If you are planning to end in Grand Teton National Park vs starting from there, simply flip our one-day in Yellowstone itinerary to accommodate your route.

6:30am: Make Your Way to Yellowstone National Park

For the purposes of this itinerary, we are assuming you are coming from around the Jackson Hole area. From downtown Jackson, it’ll take you about 1 hour and 15 minutes to reach the southern entrance of Yellowstone. The drive is beautiful as you’ll literally drive through Grand Teton National Park and down John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway to reach the southern entrance of Yellowstone.

Tip: If you can leave even earlier, we highly recommend it. For us, we left our campground at about 5:45am / 6am. A pretty Grand Teton sunrise awaits you if you can muscle up the strength to leave earlier.

8:45am – 9:00am: Arrive at Old Faithful

Your first stop at Yellowstone is a big one – Old Faithful the world-famous erupting geyser. From the southern entrance of Yellowstone, Old Faithful is another hour’s drive. Old Faithful currently erupts around 20 times a day at an hour and a half increments.

You can find the predicted next eruption (plus or minus 10 minutes) by checking out 1) Old Faithful Visitor Education Center upon your arrival or 2) Yellowstone’s geyser prediction Twitter feed.

TIP: The morning is the best time to see the eruption at Old Faithful. Less people gives you a better view.

If you find yourself waiting around for the next eruption, you have a few options 1) Head into Old Faithful Visitor Education Center to learn more about Old Faithful and the souvenir shop 2) Grab some food/coffee at Old Faithful Lodge Cafeteria 3) Consider checking out Geyser Hill where some 30 geysers reside. Most people take around 30 minutes to one hour to explore Geyser Hill and return to Old Faithful.

11:00am: Head To Midway Geyser Basin (Grand Prismatic Spring)

About 10 – 15 minutes away from Old Faithful, Midway Geyser Basin awaits you, specifically Grand Prismatic Spring. Around 11:15am, plan to be pulling into the parking lot of Grand Prismatic Spring and plan to spend around 45 minutes to an hour here.

1:00pm: Explore West Thumb Basin

From Grand Prismatic Spring, you’ll make your way back 24 miles (about 35 minutes) the way you just came, towards Old Faithful, to begin your ascent up the eastern side of the southern loop to West Thumb Basin. At this stop, you get to kill two birds with one stone. At West Thumb Basin, you get to enjoy stunning geysers AND Yellowstone Lake at the same time.

LUNCH: On your way to West Thumb Basin or after your visit, make a pit stop for lunch at one of the pull-offs along the road. If you did not pack lunch, carry on to Canyon Village (after Hayden Valley) where you can purchase some food and drinks from the convenience store.

West Thumb Basin Geysers + Yellowstone Lake

3:00pm: Drive Through Hayden Valley

After leaving West Thumb Basin, you’ll drive through one of the best places to see wildlife in the park, Hayden Valley. If you’re lucky, you’ll see bison grazing, grizzly or black bears walking, elk roaming, and a sneaky little fox or two.

4:30pm: Take in Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

After a pretty drive, you’ll arrive at Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Plan to take in the cascading views of the waterfall from Lookout Point, Grand View, or Inspiration Point. Defiantly a must-stop to take in the cascading Yellowstone River plummeting into the Canyon below.

5:30pm: Head Towards Mammoth Hot Springs (Optional)

From Grand Canyon of Yellowstone of Yellowstone, you’ll officially be heading into the Northern Loop of Yellowstone National Park. The drive from Grand Canyon of Yellowstone of Yellowstone is a long one, 34 miles which will take you about an hour-ish.

Plan to arrive at Mammoth Hot Springs around 6:30pm. Now, since it’s so late in the day, the amount of time you spend here is completely up to you. Our recommendation is to spend about an hour or less exploring the terraces where you can snap some pretty incredible pictures of the hot springs.

OPTIONAL: If you want to skip Mammoth Hot Springs altogether, that’s 100% fine and up to you. It’s your trip! Doing Yellowstone in one day is a lot to take on. If you decide to skip Mammoth Hot Springs, you can keep heading in the direction of the hot springs and stay the night in Gardiner, MT (1h and 15 mins from the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone ) or from the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone head west to West Yellowstone (1 hour and 5 mins) where you can stay the night. If you choose to head to West Yellowstone, you can plan to stop at Norris Geyser Basin on your way out, if you’re feeling up for it.

7:45pm – 8pm: End Your One Day Itinerary In Yellowstone

After a whirlwind day, we bet you’re ready for a meal and a bed! Within the park, the closest accommodation to Mammoth Hot Springs is Mammoth Hot Spring Hotel and Cabin. If you need to stay outside the park, book an accommodation in Gardiner, MT (20 minutes away from Mammoth Hot Springs) where you can grab a late dinner at Mountain Tacos, Antler Pub & Grill, The CORRAL or K Bar which are all open a little later.

TIP: This day, you are driving A LOT, so be sure to bring plenty of snacks and water to keep you fueled up and any hangry-ness at bay.

Beautiful views of Yellowstone National Park

Two Day Yellowstone Itinerary

Alrighty, time for the two-day Yellowstone itinerary. Two days in Yellowstone, in our opinion, is the minimum amount of time you should spend to see both the upper and lower loops of the park. Two days essentially takes our jam-packed, but epic, one-day itinerary and makes it more digestible, while adding a few more sights to see!

Day One – The Southern Loop

Where to begin? You have three options, but in our opinion, the best place to begin is from West Yellowstone. Why? It’s the closest entrance to Yellowstone (for the southern loop) and you can drive the loop without any backtracking.

The second option is to begin from the Southern Entrance (especially if you’re coming from Jackson or Grand Teton National Park). However, the southern entrance will just take you a bit longer to get to. The third option is to stay inside Yellowstone National Park and begin from Old Faithful Inn or Old Faithful Lodge. This option means you’ll need to arrive in Yellowstone the afternoon/evening prior to your two days in Yellowstone.

If you start from West Yellowstone, your route will look like this:

Fountain Paint Pots
Midway Geyser Basin (Grand Prismatic Spring)
Old Faithful / Upper Geyser Basin (Morning Glory Pool)
West Thumb Geyser Basin / Yellowstone Lake
Mud Volcano
Hayden Valley
Norris Geyser Basin

If you start from the Southern Entrance or Old Faithful Inn/Lodge, your route will look like this:

Old Faithful / Upper Geyser Basin (Morning Glory Pool)
Midway Geyser Basin (Grand Prismatic Spring)
Fountain Paint Pots
Norris Geyser Basin
Hayden Valley
Mud Volcano
West Thumb Geyser Basin / Yellowstone Lake

Regardless of which southern-focused entrance you come through, you’ll be visiting and exploring the same Yellowstone points of interest on the below road map.

After your day one of two days Yellowstone itinerary is wrapped and depending on where you end your route, you have a few options for overnight accommodations.

If you started from West Yellowstone, our suggestion is to either stay in West Yellowstone again or book a night at Canyon Lodge & Cabins, located in Yellowstone National Park.
If you started from Old Faithful Inn / Lodge or the Southern Entrance, plan to stay the night at Old Faithful Inn or The Lake Lodge Hotel – both accommodations are located within Yellowstone National Park.

Day Two – The Northern Loop

Regardless of where you laid your head the previous night, your day two of two Yellowstone itinerary will follow the below route.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Tower Falls
Lamar Valley
Blacktail Plateau Drive
Mammoth Hot Springs
Boiling River Hot Springs
Roosevelt Arch

IMPORTANT: With the recent 2020-2022 road construction projects, the road closure between Tower Fall and Chittenden Road will affect any Northern Loop travel.

After your day two in Yellowstone is complete, the most convenient place to stay the night will either be at Mammoth Hot Spring Hotel and Cabin, located in Yellowstone National Park or Gardiner located outside of the park.

Three Day Yellowstone Itinerary

Day One & Day Two

If you have a total of three days in Yellowstone, follow our two-day Yellowstone itinerary (listed just above). As for the third day, there are some great tours and hikes you can take on your third day. Check those out below.

Day Three

Morning

If you have yet to see any wildlife, we suggest starting your day at sunrise at either Lamar Valley or Hayden Valley to hopefully get your eyes on some moose, bears or wolves. An alternative option is to take a guided wildlife tour.

Afternoon

Take your pick and hit the trails. After spending two days of driving, give your body a little exercise and explore some of the best and most popular hiking trails in Yellowstone.

Fairy Falls Trail: Mile: 4.8 | Elevation Gain: 170ft | Difficulty Level: Easy
Mount Washburn Trail: Mile: 6.8 | Elevation Gain: 1,394ft | Difficulty Level: Moderate

Evening

If you still have some energy after your hike, plan to watch the sunset from Geyser Hill and then head into Old Faithful Inn for a drink at the Bear Pit Lounge. After your drink and dinner, you can bunk up for the night at Old Faithful Inn or drive an hour to West Yellowstone or 2 hours and 15 minutes to Jackson, Wyoming for the night.

If you have more time, consider splitting your time between Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Check out our 4 day Yellowstone and Grand Teton itinerary!

Planning Your Yellowstone Itinerary + Trip

Yellowstone National Park Important Planning Information

Entrance Fee: $35/vehicle, $30/motorcycle, $20/hiking & biking
Park Hours: Open 24 hours, all year. However, not all facilities are sites are accessible year-round
In-Park Bathrooms: Visitor Centers and entrances to popular geyser basins and sites
Park Restaurants: Many, for a full list of Yellowstone restaurants, check out here.
In Park Gas Stations: Old Faithful Service Station, Grant Village Service Station, Fishing Bridge Service Station, Tower/Roosevelt Junction Service Station, and Mammoth Hot Springs Service Station
Yellowstone Cell Phone Reception: Limited to nonexistent

TIP: If you are planning to explore other National Parks on your trip, like the nearby Grand Teton National Park, you should consider buying a National Park Pass to save a little money on Park Entrance fees.

Where To Stay In Yellowstone National Park

Within Yellowstone National Park, you have 9 accommodation options to choose from. For any reservations at the below in park accommodations, visit the Yellowstone National Park website to reserve your stay.

Lake Yellowstone Hotel and Cabins
Mammoth Hot Spring Hotel and Cabin
Old Faithful Inn
Old Faithful Snow Lodge and Cabins
Canyon Lodge and Cabins
Old Faithful Lodge Cabins
Roosevelt Lodge Cabins
Grant Village
Lake Lodge Cabins

Where to Stay Near Yellowstone

Accommodations inside Yellowstone book up fast. So if you find yourself unable to secure anything inside the park, there are places outside the park you can reserve your stay at. By no means will staying outside the park mess up any Yellowstone itinerary plans you have. If you want to stay outside park, the closest accommodation options to Yellowstone will be in Gardiner, Montana (North Park Entrance) or West Yellowstone, Montana (West Park Entrance).

Gardiner, Montana Accommodations

Located just outside the North Entrance of Yellowstone National Park is Gardiner, Montana. An old west-style town, Gardiner is home to restaurants, and souvenir shops and is the only year-round entrance to the park. Below are some popular and great reviewed accommodations. Each accommodation varies in price, but we will say, expect to pay a higher rate per night when staying just outside the park, especially if visiting during peak season (summer months).

For more places to stay in Gardiner, you can check out the latest places and prices here.

West Yellowstone, Montana Accommodations

Located just outside the West Entrance of Yellowstone National Park is West Yellowstone, Montana. Just like Gardiner, West Yellowstone caters to visiting heading into Yellowstone National Park. You’ll find plenty of restaurants, souvenir shops, and tour operators. Below are some popular and great reviewed accommodations for you to check out and book your unforgettable Yellowstone stay!

For more places to stay in West Yellowstone, you can check out the latest places and prices here.

TIP: As soon as you know the dates you’ll be in Yellowstone National Park, BOOK YOUR HOTEL room. Places will book up fast so in order to secure your desired accommodation type, book well ahead of your planned visit.

If places are booked inside and around Yellowstone, you can look into staying in Cody, Jackson, Cooke City, or Island Park. These cities are the closest accommodations to Yellowstone after Gardiner and West Yellowstone.

A second option if your hotel accommodation options are a little further than your liking, you can camp. Apps like The Dyrt and Campendium are our go-to for finding camping reservations and first come, first serve campgrounds.

Best Places To See Wildlife in Yellowstone

No Yellowstone itinerary is complete without seeing some wildlife. Besides just driving through the park where you’re bound to see fields full of bison and elk, Hayden Valley and Lamar Valley are considered two of the best places in the park to view wildlife.

Lamar Valley: Considered the best place to see Moose and Wolves. Plus don’t be surprised if you see Bison, Grizzly Bears, Bald Eagles, Deer, and Coyotes.
Hayden Valley: Grizzly Bears, Bison, Elk, Black Bears, and Foxes

A little tip. Just because you visit these valleys doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to see something. Timing is truly everything when it comes to viewing wildlife.

However, sunrise and late afternoon/dusk are two prime times animals tend to be the most active, so try and visit these valleys during these time periods. Another option to see some amazing wildlife in Yellowstone is to book a wildlife tour and be escorted through Yellowstone Park by a guide.

Visiting Yellowstone National Park with Pets

Visiting Yellowstone with a dog has its challenges. Dogs have seriously limited access to the park. They are not allowed on any hiking trails, on boardwalks of the hot springs and geysers, in lakes or riverways. Also, if you’re thinking “my pet is a good pet, I’ll just tie them up while I explore the geysers”, think again. Pets are never to be left unattended outside.

The general rule for visiting Yellowstone with dogs is pets must remain within 100 feet of roads and parking lots and on a 6ft (no more length) lease at all times. On our second visit to Yellowstone, we took our pup Huey with us. We were able to visit the following places with him:

Old Faithful – However, we have to stand back a bit and were not able to get up to the fence. We saw the Old Faithful eruption just fine though
Yellowstone Lake – While swimming is prohibited, it’s a nice view and walk along the lake
Inspiration Point – Huey’s a small guy so we picked him up and carried him to the end of Inspiration Point so we could see the upper falls of Yellowstone Grand Canyon.

Other than the three sites listed above, Huey stayed in the car or we took turns visiting the geysers and thermal pools. One of us went in while the other stayed in the parking lot with Huey. Bringing a pet definitely makes it a bit more challenging to visit Yellowstone, but by no means impossible!

If you want to take the hassle out of bringing your pet, you can board him or her for the day while you explore the park. We did this when visiting Grand Tetons National Park. DogJax in Jackson, WY or Yellowstone Pet Boarding in Livingston, MT are two options that are “close” to Yellowstone National Park.

Exploring Yellowstone National Park With An RV

RV’s are definitely welcome in Yellowstone National Park. In fact, when visiting, you’ll see loads of them. Within Yellowstone National Park itself, you have 12 campgrounds that offer RV camping. Of course, each of the 12 has a different restriction on size limits and what amenities they offer such as hook ups or no hook ups.

Of the 12 campgrounds, five require reservations. The rest are first come, first serve.

When driving an RV in Yellowstone, smaller is better. Driving a Class B RV or Van through Yellowstone is much easier than driving a small Class C or Class A RV. Why? Parking can be hard to find if you are in a bigger rig and some roads you’ll encounter are fairly narrow. Not to mention, the side-of-the-road pull-offs can be small or crowded with other vehicles, so if you can, rent a smaller RV to explore Yellowstone with.

If you want to rent an RV or Van to explore Yellowstone, check out Outdoorsy for the latest inventory and pricing!

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Happy Travels,

– Lauren & Jesse Stuart (The Stüs)