Eruption of Old Faithful
Maybe its reputation has given me exceedingly high expectations or the constant delays by roadworks irritated me, but let’s start off by saying that Yellowstone is overrated. Yellowstone is really only famous for having multiple geological features within a close distance to one another. The features aren’t really unique to that one place; I can see mountains and trees in Idaho, hot springs by the Appalachians, and picturesque lakes all across Minnesota.
Mammoth springs and its sulphuric streams
To get in a little quicker I’d suggest getting the interagency annual pass valid for all national parks to skip the line. Though inside, you’d still have to bear with the inconsiderate tourists that park on moving lanes and stop to take pictures of wildlife around dangerous bends. I don’t understand why people can’t just put a camera on the windscreen that will capture everything as you drive so you don’t have to stop. All it costs is $10 for a discount smartphone mount and all you have to do is mount it on backwards.
Here’s a top tip: make sure you check Old Faithful’s eruption schedule online so you don’t have to wait for a whole hour to see it erupt. Trust me, the wooden benches are designed to be uncomfortable so you are incentivised to move on as soon as it’s done erupting. The lakes have beautiful viewpoints, but again, I’ve seen better lakes such as Silver Lake in Wyoming.
The US-14 is right on the eastern entrance of the park and I highly recommend entering or leaving via the scenic and winding road. If you’re American that has no experience with mountain roads and driving a rather large car that isn’t used to handling curves, then the I-90 at the north entrance might be more suitable for you.
