Yellowstone National Park

Today Yellowstone gets an average of 4 million annual visitors, making it one of the top 10 most-visited national parks.

People come to see its more than 10,000 thermal features, which include fumaroles, hot springs, mud pots, travertine terraces and geysers. Yellowstone sits atop one of the world’s largest active volcanoes and is home to about 60% (more than 500) of all of the geysers in the world.

While it was the area’s geothermal landscape that initially drew visitors and inspired its protection, today Yellowstone is equally remarkable for its wildlife. The park is one of the few places in the lower 48 states where all the large mammal species that existed prior to the arrival of Europeans still live in the wild. In Yellowstone you can see wolves, grizzly and black bears, mountain lions, bison, moose, elk, and more.

Yellowstone’s seasons are drastically different. In the summer months of July and August, the park’s busiest times, wildflowers are out, more than 1,000 miles of hiking trails are yours to explore, and you can take scenic cruises on Yellowstone Lake or canoe on your own on smaller lakes.

In September and October—fall—wildlife migrates to and from the park, and hiking can be great if it doesn’t snow. Many park roads close to cars starting in November.

The park’s winter season runs from November to early March. During this time a few roads are maintained for over-snow vehicles, including snowmobiles; there’s also Nordic skiing and snowshoeing. Yellowstone’s roads start opening to cars again in April, depending on the winter snowfall.

A spring trip to Yellowstone in April, May, or June means seeing “red dogs,” aka baby bison—so called because when they’re born their coats are red—and low-elevation hiking. Lodging and facilities in Yellowstone are open from April to November and December to March.