Yellowstone National ParkYellowstone has a wealth of geysers（间歇喷泉）—more than anyplace else on Earth—but it also hosts the massive waterfalls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, the profuse wildlife of the Hayden and Lamar Valleys, the volcanic peaks of the Absaroka Range, and the scintillating sprawl of Yellowstone Lake, the largest high-elevation lake in North America. There’s a reason this was the world’s first national park. The famed Grand Loop Road runs a figure eight through the park’s best sights.The Route: Grand Teton > Grand Loop Road > Gardiner, MTMAP：North Entrance - Near the gateway community of Gardiner, MTWest Entrance - Adjacent to the town of West Yellowstone, MTSouth Entrance is Jackson, WYEast Entrance is Cody, WYPlease Check the Road Conditons before you travelOn the Way:We will See live wolves and grizzly bears（灰熊）at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone.Stay: Built with lodgepole pines felled in the park and featuring a 500-ton stone fireplace, the historic Old Faithful Inn is a masterwork of rustic “parkitecture.” With seven stories and 327 rooms, it’s the largest log structure in the world. Rooms start at $108 and its namesake geyser erupts just outside. For a more remote experience, Roosevelt Lodge Cabins in the Lamar Valley has wood-burning stoves and offers wagon rides to evening cookouts. Cabins start at $80.Eat: For a taste of colonial elegance, the stately dining room at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel features fine dining with views across Yellowstone Lake. For a budget-friendly, once-in-a-lifetime experience, watch Old Faithful erupt over lunch at the Old Faithful Lodge Cafeteria.Don’t Miss: The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone has two heart-pounding perches. The paved, half-mile Brink of the Lower Falls Trail leads to the precipice of the 308-foot cataract, where the viewing platform actually trembles. Across the canyon, you’ll never hike anything like the 328 metal steps of Uncle Tom’s Trail, ending at a thunderous cliffside platform where you canliterally feel the power of the falls.Viewpoints: Most people miss Lake Butte Overlook, which offers the park’s best car-accessed view of Yellowstone Lake and the surrounding mountains. It sits on the edge of the massive volcanic caldera, the ongoing simmering of which produces the park’s myriad geysers and thermal features. Watch the sunset near Buffalo Ranch in the wide, wild Lamar Valley. This is when the wolf packs and grizzlies are often afoot and when the Absaroka Mountains are gilded with honeyed light.About Walks:1.Easy: For a view of Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin away from the crowds, take the one-mile (round-trip) Observation Point Trail.2.Moderate: If you can only do one hike in the park, take the six-mile (round-trip) jaunt up Mount Washburn, where you’ll cross sloping meadows of wildflowers to summit views across the dynamic expanse of Yellowstone.3.Strenuous: For a true alpine experience, test your quadriceps on the two-and-a-half mile climb up 10,566-foot Avalanche Peak, near the park’s eastern boundary.Seasonal Notes: The Grand Loop Road begins opening on May 1, and all segments of the road but one are closed by November 1. The exception is the Dunraven Pass, which closes in October. May is great for wildlife watching, but rain is common. The sunny days and cool nights of summer are peak season; get early-morning starts to beat the multitudes. The cooler weather and lighter crowds of autumn, when many animals begin gathering in the valleys, can be perfect, though winter can arrive at any time.NEXT are the suggestions and tipsAutumn is the best time to visit because large animals like elk and bison are in their prime and geysers and hot springs seem more powerful in the cool air. The days are warm, but nights are frosty. Biting insects disappear, as do the crowds of summer.Its biggest attraction is Old Faithful and the geysers(间歇喷泉) around it, but a visit isn’t complete without seeing Yellowstone Lake and the Yellowstone River flowing north from it through Hayden Valley.If you could offer one practical tip for optimizing your visit, it would be to get out early in the day. In summer, you avoid the crowds but any time of year, morning is the best for wildlife viewing and gorgeous scenery.My favorite “park secret” is Storm Point Trail, on the north shore of Yellowstone Lake–an easy walk through meadow and forest to an excellent view of the lake and a good chance to see a variety of wildlife.Watch out for fast-changing weather, and be sure to bring sunblock and rain gear when you come for a visit. You’re likely to need both.Fog hovers over the Yellowstone River in Hayden Valley at sunriseFog hovers over the Yellowstone River in Hayden Valley at sunrise.Head to Hayden Valley and Lamar Valley if you want to see wildlife. If you’re really lucky, you’ll spot a wolf, grizzly bear, badger, otter, or mountain lion. You can’t count on seeing one, but you know they are all there.For the best view in the park, head to the top of Mount Washburn. It’s a moderate hike on what was once a vehicle road. Not keen on walking? Lake Butte Overlook, on the east entrance road, offers a fine panorama of Yellowstone Lake and, far in the distance, the Teton Range.Trails that follow the north and south rims of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone are the best easy-to-moderate trails in the park; dizzying views of the canyon at every turn. The road through Lamar Valley to Cooke City is the most scenic drive, especially if you add the jaw-dropping beauty of the Beartooth Highway, just outside the northeast entrance.If you’re up for an adventure/physical challenge, try a backpacking trip to the Thorofare region, in Yellowstone’s most remote southeast corner.To experience the park’s cultural side, take a historic walking tour of old Fort Yellowstone, headquarters of the U.S. Cavalry when it ran the park from 1886 to 1916.Old Faithful Inn, for its historic experience and unique log architecture, is the best place to stay while you’re visiting, and Lake Hotel dining room is the best place to eat dinner; follow that up with a lakeside sunset stroll.If you only have one day to spend in the park, make sure to hit Old Faithful, Yellowstone Lake, and Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.If you’re interested in a guided tour, I recommend Alpen Guides in West Yellowstone, or Off the Beaten Path in Bozeman. For short excursions, try a historic Yellow Bus tour (refurbished touring vehicles produced by the White Motor Company), now operated by Xanterra. I recommend going in the evening.The most peaceful place in the park has to be the Bechler area, in the park’s southwest corner; a roundabout drive to get there.If you have kids (or are a kid at heart), you won’t want to miss the Firehole Canyon swimming hole.Just outside park boundaries, you can visit Grand Teton National Park, to the south; Buffalo Bill Center of the West to the east, in Cody; or Harriman State Park, in the floor of a volcanic caldera, just west of the park in Idaho.If the park had a mascot it would be a grizzly bear cub.The eruption of Steamboat Geyser, the world’s largest, could only happen in this park.。
