Best of Yellowstone National Park in One Day?

Did you know that Yellowstone was the first established National Park in the US? With 2.2 million acres of varying landscapes such as unique geothermal landmarks, mountains, canyons, waterfalls and lakes, this park has a lot of different things happening within while supporting a rich wildlife. The Yellowstone Caldera is in fact known as a Supervolcano. Most of the park is considered a geothermal zone, many of the hikes here are shorter and more accessible for families with small kids and people with disabilities.

Summer is one of the best times to visit the park for warm temperatures, longer daylight and accessibility around the park. Is it possible to see Yellowstone in one day? Yes it is! Read on to find out how you can optimize your time while you are here.

How to enter the park?

Seeing Yellowstone in one day is possible but the route you take will depend on where you are coming from. There are five entrances to the park and these are the four main ones.

• West Entrance – This is the shortest route to the park if you are driving via Idaho. Also one of the busiest entrances and the closest one to Old Faithful, an iconic geothermal feature of Yellowstone.
• North Entrance – This is closer if you are driving from Montana. North Entrance is closest to Gardiner if you want to go on a white water rafting adventure along Yellowstone River.
• East Entrance – This is conveniently close to the Yellowstone Lake for any family friendly water activities in Wyoming.
• South Entrance – This is the closest entrance to Grand Teton National Park and if you are driving up from Utah etc.

We chose to enter through the South Entrance to minimize crowds as much as possible. Driving counter clockwise around the park also helped us in not getting stuck in traffic. It allowed us to visit almost all the best places in Yellowstone without rushing. We were able to squeeze in a couple of short hikes in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone as well.

Yellowstone in one day – quick tips!

It takes several hours (6+) to drive around Yellowstone so here are some travel tips 💡

• Leave as early as possible in the morning.
• Time box yourself in places.
• Pack your snacks and lunch in advance so that you don’t lose time on figuring out food.
• Go in the summer when the daylight hours are long AND all park roads are open which saves a lot of time!

Here is a rough time estimate so that you can time box yourself to make sure to see all the great places that Yellowstone has to offer.

1. West Thumb Geyser (30 minutes – optional)
2. Grand Canyon of Yellowstone (1.5 hours)
3. Mammoth Hot Springs (1 hour)
4. Old Faithful – this erupts every hour and a half roughly. I have linked the website with timings in the section below so you plan accordingly (45 minutes)
5. Grand Prismatic Spring (30 minutes – overlook view not included)

Here are some of the best spots in Yellowstone to see in a day. This order works best if you enter the park through the south entrance.

1. West Thumb Geyser

The highlight of West Thumb Geyser area is the number of hot springs that you can see in such close proximity – Abyss pool, Thumb Geyser, Fishing Cone, Big Cone to name a few. Abyss Pool was one of my favorites because the steam coming out of it was several feet high. Please stay within marked trails and the boardwalk because the ground in other areas can collapse although it looks deceptively solid.

2. Yellowstone Lake

As you drive along, take in the beautiful views of Yellowstone Lake. You can stop on the side of the road for some quick pictures and make a longer stop here for any water activities such as boating. Plan ahead to stay longer in the park if you are including other activities.

3. Hayden Valley

This is a great place to see beautiful green meadows with Bison, Elk, and sometimes even Bears. Please keep your distance and respect wildlife. Dawn and dusk are the best times to see wildlife so if you are starting early, you can drive to Hayden Valley from the south entrance but we were pretty happy with the wildlife that we saw here mid-morning.

4. Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

There are five beautiful viewpoints in this Canyon area.

• Brink of the Lower Falls – This short hike will get you a gorgeous view of the ferocious Lower Falls with an observation deck at the brink of the waterfall. This steep 0.7 mi out and back hike is worth the view so don’t miss it.
• Uncle Tom’s Trail (Optional) – This climb takes you to the base of the 308 foot Lower Falls through 328 steel steps. Be prepared to climb back up.
• Lookout Point – If you want to skip the hikes, this is a scenic stop to get incredible views of the Lower Falls from a distance without having to walk much at all. This place can accommodate wheelchairs.
• Artist Point – This offers a sweeping valley view with the waterfalls at a distance. To me this was one of the best views in the canyon area with a short walk from the parking lot.
• Inspiration Point (Optional) – This offers beautiful canyon views but you cannot see the waterfalls from here. You can drive to the view point directly.

All the above stops are close by and most of them involve short hiking with options to drive to them directly.

5. Mammoth Hot Springs

Mammoth Hot Springs is definitely one of the coolest places to see in Yellowstone. To me the colors at this place were unique and felt other-worldly. The terraces made out of limestone naturally are worth all the time spent walking around 1.5 miles of boardwalk. This is also a good stop for restroom breaks, snacks or food on your long day.

6. Grand Prismatic Spring

When you Google Yellowstone National Park, this is probably the first picture that would be the most intriguing. This is also the most photographed geo thermal area of the park and the third largest spring in the world owing to its interesting array of vivid colors and the gigantic size of it. The color is due to the microorganisms (thermophile bacteria) that thrive in such heat. Interestingly, the microbes living here helped in the development of PCR test which was used widely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

You can walk around the boardwalk to also see Excelsior Geyser, Turquoise and Opal pools. This place can be dull in the mornings and looks best when the sun is out.

7. Old Faithful

Although Old Faithful is not the largest Geyser in Yellowstone, it is popular due to how reliable the eruption times are. It erupts every hour or hour and a half. Get the predicted times here to plan your visit.

The boardwalk to view the eruption gets super crowded so go at least 30 minutes early to claim a spot. There is a less crowded view from the observation point which is a 1 mile roundtrip hike but I personally loved watching it from up close. It is also a really cool occurrence to experience with a huge crowd because we all clapped after it ended!

Hope you enjoyed reading this post and save this to plan your next Yellowstone in one day trip. Tell me all about it and have a great week!