Yellowstone National Park is our nation's oldest, established in 1872. The park covers 2.2 million acres and lies in three states: Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. It is a wonderland of awesome and unusual sites including geysers, hot springs, and waterfalls. During the past 2 million years, three volcanic eruptions occurred in the Yellowstone area. The last one nearly 600,000 years ago threw up 240 cubic miles of debris and the park's central portion collapsed, forming a caldera. This graphic helps show how the basin was created. Here we are looking down on the caldera.
Of course, Yellowstone is most famous for its geysers and other thermal features. There are more here than all the others in the world combined. As you drive through the park, you see smoke and steam on the horizon. But the main attractions are around Old Faithful. Click here to view pictures of geysers and hot springs.
We got started on wildflowers while we were in Glacier National Park. Yellowstone has over 80 varieties. Click here to see just some of those.
We saw plenty of warnings about bears everywhere including on the trashcans and picnic tables. But we never saw a bear! We did see lots of other wildlife especially when we drove south to Grand Teton National Park, just seven miles from the southern entrance to Yellowstone. Some of these pictures are from Grand Teton. Click here to see our pictures of elk, moose, and sandhill cranes.
Finally, the scenery is just magnificent. I could write on and on about the clear water and towering mountains, but I think I'll just let the pictures do the talking. Click here to see scenery.
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