A First Timer’s Full Guide to Yellowstone National Park
It can be overwhelming to plan a trip to Yellowstone National Park with your family and know what to do, where to stay, how to get around, and more. We’ve put together the best Yellowstone National Park guide with kids including all of our favorite stops and tips to avoid the crowds.
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Yellowstone National Park is enormous, and is the 8th biggest US National Park (bigger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined!)
Both me and my husband grew up visiting Yellowstone National Park regularly, and while we still have a ton of the park to explore, we have seen a LOT of the park!
What’s So Cool About Yellowstone??
If you’re reading this post, I probably don’t have to tell you how cool Yellowstone is. But it’s really one of the coolest and most unique places on Earth and it’s SO WORTH IT!
Yellowstone is the first National Park in the entire world, established in 1872. It’s establishment inspired the entire globe to start setting aside land to be protected for the enjoyment of the people. I love this fact about Yellowstone so much!
Yellowstone is so incredibly unique, and there is nothing else like it out there. While you may find hot springs or geysers elsewhere on Earth, this collection of insane otherworldly features in such a concentrated part of the country is unmatched.
If you want to learn more about the park, we’ve got a list of the best Yellowstone National Park books!
The wildlife, geothermal features, history and scenery are all amazing things to show your kids and teach them about. Additionally, most of the main park features can be reached by a short boardwalk or alongside the road which makes them easily accessible for families with young kids. Yellowstone is a great place for a family vacation.
I will say if you are looking for a relaxing vacation this is not it. There are many hazards in Yellowstone like hot springs, geysers, wildlife, steep drop offs, and more. So it’s important to keep a very close eye on your kids while here (our tips for visiting Yellowstone with babies and toddlers!) But if you’re looking for an adventure with your family, you will have a blast!
How to Get to Yellowstone National Park
As I said before, Yellowstone is a massive National Park. The most common way to get to Yellowstone is to fly into Bozeman, Montana and drive just over an hour to the West entrance of the park.
There are several other entrances and airports you can explore depending on where you are coming from or if you’re looking for cheaper flights.
Closest Airports to Yellowstone National Park
- Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport – Bozeman, Montana – (just over an hour from the West entrance station)
- Yellowstone Regional Airport – Cody, Wyoming – (just over an hour from the East entrance station)
- Jackson Hole Airport – Jackson, Wyoming – (just over an hour from the South entrance station – and you can drive through Grand Teton National Park on the way!)
- Idaho Falls Regional Airport – Idaho Falls, Idaho – (just under 2 hours from the West entrance station)
- Billings Logan International Airport – Billings, Montana – (2.5 hours from the North entrance station)
- Salt Lake City International Airport – Salt Lake City, Utah – (4.5 hours from the West entrance station)
Yellowstone National Park has 5 entrances each with it’s own features and benefits!
- North Entrance: Located in Gardiner, Montana and gives you easy access to Mammoth Hot Springs which has some of the most unique geothermal features in the park – the terraces
- Northeast Entrance: Located near Cooke City, Montana and you can drive the scenic Beartooth Highway on the way to the park. This entrance is more remote than the others, but puts you closest to Lamar Valley (one of the best places to spot wildlife in the park) – but don’t miss our tips for spotting wildlife!
- East Entrance: The closest entrance to Lake Yellowstone and Cody, Wyoming.
- South Entrance: Allows you to hit two National Parks in one day, just North of Grand Teton National Park
- West Entrance: Near West Yellowstone, Montana and gives you the best access to the majority of the geysers and hot springs (also the busiest entrance)
Where to Stay in Yellowstone National Park
I would HIGHLY recommend staying either inside the park or in the towns of West Yellowstone or Gardiner. Anything much farther and you will have a bit of a drive to get into the park which will make it difficult to visit the popular spots early.
Campgrounds:
There are campgrounds all over Yellowstone National Park. All campsites must be reserved in advance, except for Mammoth, which does offer some first come first serve sites.
These sites can be reserved through Yellowstone National Park Lodges 13 months in advance. On the 5th of each month, you can make reservations for the same entire month of the following year. They are the more popular campgrounds in the park because of proximity to major attractions.
- Bridge Bay
- Canyon
- Fishing Bridge RV park
- Grant Village
- Madison
These sites can be reserved through Recreation.gov 6 months in advance
- Indian Creek
- Lewis Lake
- Mammoth
- Norris
- Pebble Creek
- Slough Creek
- Tower Fall
Lodges/Cabins (inside the park!):
Staying outside of the park:
- Under Canvas West Yellowstone – incredible glamping!
- Grizzly Lodge – rustic lodge in Cooke City
- 406 Lodge – River view accommodations in Gardiner, Montana
- Kelly Inn – West Yellowstone hotel
Getting Around Yellowstone
We LOVE renting cars from Economy Bookings – we always save tons of money on our car rentals!
The Grand Loop is the main road that connects all major parts of the park. This road is 142 miles long and it’s difficult to estimate driving time around the loop when you factor in traffic, stops, and bison jams (the most common type of traffic jam here!) I would highly recommend NOT trying to drive this loop in a day. If you only have a day in the park, I would recommend choosing an area and exploring that, ESPECIALLY if you are with kids.
If you aren’t part of a tour, you will 100% need a car in Yellowstone to see the things you want to see. All the highlights of the park are a bit spread out and would best be explored over several days at your leisure with your own vehicle.
I personally wouldn’t recommend doing a tour unless you’re doing a tour on the outskirts of the park. The reason for this is that Yellowstone is a very busy place, and tours typically take people to the highlights during the busiest hours of the day.
In my opinion, the Yellowstone experience is vastly different if you explore in the morning and evenings versus mid day. However, I personally haven’t taken any tours in Yellowstone, I’ve just seen hoards of people get off the tour buses and it isn’t my cup of tea.
Map of Yellowstone National Park Highlights
Things to do in Yellowstone with Kids
There are so many things to do in Yellowstone National Park with kids. Here are our favorite family friendly things to do in each section of the park!
- 10 Things to do with Kids Near Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park
- All the Best Things to do Near Old Faithful with Kids
- The 8 Best Things to do Near Yellowstone Lake With Kids
And some of our overall favorite things to do in Yellowstone National Park! We also have a fun 4 day itinerary for families – keep an eye out for shorter itineraries that we are working on :)
Where to Eat & Drink in Yellowstone
Yellowstone has a LOT of options for dining because it’s such a tourist destination. Inside the park, you can eat dinner at one of the National Park hotels (you have to make a reservation for dinner!)
But there are a lot of places to eat that are a bit more family friendly. Here are some good family options:
West Yellowstone Dining:
- Yellowstone Brewing Company
- Beartooth Barbecue
- Wild West Pizzeria
- TR’s Burgers
Gardiner Places to Eat:
- Iron Horse Bar and Grill
- Cowboy’s Lodge and Grill
- Yellowstone Perk
- Wonderland Cafe
Things to Do Near Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone is definitely meant to be explored on it’s own trip, but if you have a long trip and want to explore some other fun things in the area – we’ve got you covered!
Note: Wondering if you should visit Glacier National Park and Yellowstone on the same trip? There are a lot of caveats that you should know before you plan both in the same trip.
Fun Places to Explore Near Yellowstone National Park
- Grand Teton National Park
- Glacier National Park
- Lewis and Clark Caverns
- Bozeman, Montana
- Museum of the Rockies
- Red Lodge, Montana
- The Beartooth Pass
Overall Thoughts on Visiting Yellowstone With Kids
There are a lot of hazards in Yellowstone, but the beauty and uniqueness of this park is overwhelming! Yellowstone is definitely worth visiting with your kids. Just know that you may have to be hypervigilant depending on the age of your children. Lots of the attractions include thermal features and boardwalk trails that are safe from a distance, but you’ll have to watch them very closely to make sure they don’t leave the boardwalks!
Must See:
Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic Spring, Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces, Lamar Valley – I absolutely love the wildlife and the thermal features in Yellowstone! Every time I’ve been to Yellowstone, those are the highlights for me since they are so unique to Yellowstone. You can’t find features like this anywhere else in the world. And I also loved seeing so many Bison in the Lamar Valley! The wildlife in Yellowstone always blows me away.
Would Skip:
I would skip visiting almost anywhere in Yellowstone mid day. I know early mornings or evenings are not always feasible, but Yellowstone can be miserably crowded with tour groups – especially during the busy months June/July/August. Go in the shoulder season, or plan to explore in the mornings or evenings.
We also have WAY more tips for avoiding crowds in Yellowstone!
Next Time:
I am dying to visit Yellowstone in the winter! Yellowstone is already a magical place, but visiting in the winter I hear is INCREDIBLE. We’ll visit as soon as the boys are old enough to ride snowmobiles!
I hope you enjoy your trip to Yellowstone and that this full guide to Yellowstone National Park is helpful! Let me know in the comments how your trip went and what your favorite part was.
