This completely made sense to me. Yellowstone is a HUGE park with so many “sights” (and “sites”) to see, but little boys are little boys (and need to move, touch, and actively engage with their world). Here are the highlights of our “seeing things” time in the park. I’ll cover the “doing things” in another post.
DRIVING: The main road through the park is designed in a large figure eight. This road is two lanes with no (or extremely limited) shoulder area. The speed limit is approximately 45 mph. That said, there are frequent pull-outs, small side roads,
and the occasional traffic jam (when a bison or two decide
to claim an entire lane for themselves). My advice: Give
Our Frontier Cabin at Canyon Lodge was described as “rustic.” I took this to mean we had a 50/50 chance that it would be “scary.” However, we found our two double beds/private bath space both clean and comfortable. Since we were out in the
SEEING THINGS: It seems wrong to travel to Yellowstone and NOT see Old Faithful, so we made sure to set aside one full day to see the famous geyser.The area around Old Faithful is fully developed and offers the Inn, the Lodge, a Visitor’s Center, a General Store, Gas Station, Ranger Station, and Medical Clinic. There are miles of trails that lead to many smaller geysers and pools, with little shade and usually a big crowd. This isn’t walking on the wild side – but it does make for a lovely lunch on the shaded porch of the Yellowstone Lodge, a fascinating look at a seven story log cabin, and a quick stop at a quality children’s museum.
With something interesting to see at every turn, I chose just two locations a day as “must see.” This allowed us to stop and discover unknown treasures – some which we preferred to the big-name sites – along the way. By the end of the trip, each family member had a geothermal favorite.
Here’s the final tally:
Mud Volcano Mudpot
(“I love the glub, blub, gurgle, pop.”)
Dad –
Dragon’s Mouth Spring
(“A great combination of sights and sounds!”)
Oldest Boy –
Fountain Geyser in the Fountain Paint Pot Area (“It was unexpected.”)
Youngest Boy –
Old Faithful Geyser
(“I liked it because it went so high and looked so powerful.”)