Choose Yellowstone Motels To Be Close To It All

By Essie Osborn


The United States has many dramatic landscapes and places that you simply have to explore. For example, the Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon should be on everyone's travel bucket list. The cowboy country of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho is the perfect place to enjoy wide open spaces and bigger than big skies and they're also home to one of the country's other most famous attractions. The many of Yellowstone motels make it possible for you to visit the country's top national park and be right there where the action is.


Founded in 1872, Yellowstone National Park is not only the oldest of its kind in the world but is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It covers an area of almost 3,500 square miles. The park is located mostly in Wyoming but since it's in the northwestern corner of the state, its boundaries cross state boundaries so that Montana and Idaho have their own bits of parkland too.

A must-see attraction in the park is the geyser known as Old Faithful. It got its name from the way that it erupts at intervals so regular that you could almost set your watch to them. Every 91 minutes, hundreds of gallons of water shoot an average of 145 feet into the air, leaving a cloud of steam. If you've always wanted to see a geyser erupt, this is the one to go to since you're guaranteed an eruption.

Old Faithful is only one of more than a thousand geysers in the national park, although most don't erupt that often. Steamboat Geyser is the largest of these. There are many thermal areas here, because Yellowstone is actually the caldera of a huge volcano. When visiting, be sure to walk only along the boardwalks because many of the mud and thermal pools are much, much hotter than they seem and people have died in them.

Yellowstone National Park is not only a place of bubbling pools and geysers. The landscape here is spectacular and you'll definitely want to bring your camera. There are waterfalls, lakes, rivers, a plateau, beautiful mountain scenery and three large canyons. The area is also home to a huge petrified forest.

Hiking is a popular activity, especially in summer. You can also explore on horseback and for one week in spring the entire park is car free, making it a haven for cyclists too. Wildlife abounds and some of the species you may be able to spot are wolves, bears, bison, deer, elk, pronghorn and mountain lions, along with a wide variety of birds.

While there are different accommodation options within park limits, these are often fully booked weeks in advance. It's better to stay at a motel in one of the gateway towns. Your best options are the Montana towns of Gardiner and West Yellowstone. The former lies along the northern park boundary but the latter, being a larger town with an airport and a museum, has a greater selection.

The busiest time to visit is during the summer months and you'll have to book your accommodation well in advance. Fall and winter are less crowded but winter can be very cold. However, visiting during this time means that you can also try snow sports such as skiing.




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