Yellowstone National Park contains some of the strangest and most interesting geological features found anywhere in the world. This vast caldera or volcanic basin is the remnant of a giant volcano that blew its top many millennia ago. The area still sits atop a hot spot in the earth’s crust and provides us with a unique opportunity to view a fascinating assortment of highly active geothermal phenomena. It is one of the few places on our planet where hot water and steam come bubbling, fizzing, gurgling, hissing and even exploding out of the earth at thousands of colorful mineral-encrusted hot springs and vents. Cauldrons of mud bubble and splat their colorful liquid plasters to form large volcanic cones. Hundreds of geysers sleep in placid hot springs for hours or days, then at semi-regular intervals erupt into great plumes of hot water and steam rising hundreds of feet overhead before retiring to their tepid hibernation. You can find geysers in a few other locations around the world, but there are more active geysers in Yellowstone National Park than there are in every other location combined.

Yellowstone was the first National Park created by the US government in 1876 to preserve the natural beauty of this strange and beautiful place. In addition to preserving its multitude of geothermal attractions, Yellowstone National Park serves as a refuge for a wide variety of native American wildlife. The last remaining herd of wild bison (buffalo) in the USA still peacefully roams the meadows of Yellowstone along with vast herds of wild elk, deer, moose, coyotes, eagles, bears and wolves. You can easily spot many of these wild creatures from your car as you drive through the gorgeous scenery of Yellowstone.

Located in northwestern Wyoming
Yellowstone National Park is located in the northwestern corner of Wyoming along the borders of Montana and Idaho. It is not quite in the middle of nowhere, but it comes pretty close. Yellowstone is 75 miles north of Jackson Wyoming, 50 miles west of Cody Wyoming, 75 miles southeast of Bozeman Montana and 100 miles northeast of Idaho Falls Idaho. Each of those cities has an airport that can take you within a few hours drive of the park, but you definitely need a car to see all the attractions. At the western entry to the park, the village of West Yellowstone offers a nice selection of accommodations, stores, service stations and restaurants. At the northern entrance, the tiny town of Gardiner offers a few such amenities. Fortunately, the Park Service has provided a good selection of lodgings, restaurants, convenience stores and service stations at various locations within the park. Aside from that, there are not many signs of civilization in this part of the country.

The roads within the park are laid out as a double loop configuration (like a figure eight) with access roads entering from all major compass points. Each of the two intersecting loops is about 25 miles (40 km) in diameter with roads entering from the north, east, south and west, plus an additional entry from the northwest. There are six villages or service areas located near the intersections of the park roads. Each of the service areas has a park information center, a service station, a convenience store or grocery, a hotel or lodge and one or more restaurants. Some of them also have riding stables or boat launches. There are more than a dozen campgrounds scattered along the roads throughout the park and there are scores of picnic sites.

Sightseeing is the major attraction
Sightseeing is the number one attraction in Yellowstone National Park. As soon as you enter the park, you should slow down and drive carefully, because you will likely encounter other vehicles stopping in the middle of the road as they spot nearby wildlife. It may be a herd of elk grazing beside the road, a coyote prancing through a car park or even a gigantic bull bison meandering down the middle of the highway. The local wild animals are so accustomed to visitors that they no longer fear humans. Unfortunately, this can be dangerous when naïve tourists approach within a few meters of a 2000 pound (1000 kg) bison. Yellowstone National Park is not a zoo and the animals are not tame. You must exercise caution when approaching the wild animals.

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