I plan to do one or more of these activities besides the typical touristy sightseeing activities. If any of you want to join, please comment on the activity or contact me via the WhatsApp Group.
Classic Bus Tour
This is a fun way to spend a full day with a tour guide (bus driver) and with a few friends.
We have a choice of three tours:
Similar in nature to our daily bus tour Yellowstone in a Day, this trip will typically include stops such as: Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic, Fountain Paint Pots, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone (including the Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River), Hayden Valley, West Thumb Geyser Basin, Yellowstone Lake, Mammoth Hot Springs, and the Tower/Roosevelt area. We recommend at least 10 hours for this tour (extra hour charges are applied after tour exceeds eight hours).
My 2¢: Since we are staying for five days, this is not my recommendation as we have plenty of time to see most of these in details
Our most requested itinerary, this tour hits the hotspots (no pun intended) of Yellowstone. Similar to the Circle of Fire Tour, stops include Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic, Fountain Paint Pots, Norris Geyser Basin, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone (including the Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River), Hayden Valley, Yellowstone Lake, and the West Thumb Geyser Basin. We recommend at least 8 hours for this tour (extra hour charges are applied after tour exceeds eight hours).
This tour is usually requested by groups who are touring for multiple days and are also taking a Lower Loop Tour, or by groups who have a particular interest in wildlife. This tour typically includes the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone (including the Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River), the Tower/Roosevelt area, Lamar Valley, and Mammoth Hot Springs. We recommend at least 6 hours for this tour (extra hour charges are applied after tour exceeds eight hours).
My 2¢: I think this might be more appropriate for us
Popular bike routes in the Old Faithful Area
It would be wonderful to rent bikes and go on some bike routes while visiting the Old Faithful geyser. Renting a bike at Old Faithful Snow Lodge in the heart of Yellowstone’s geyser country could be quite awesome. The bike shop staff can provide us with expert guidance based on our interests and abilities and offer hybrid bikes for rent to help make our bike riding even more pleasant.
While trail biking is not allowed, there are plenty of paved and unpaved roads and paths that are excellent options for bicycling short rides or longer journeys. Checking with the bike shop staff before our ride will ensure our riding in an appropriate area. Helmets, racks, bike trains, trailers, jackets, gloves, hip packs, are available for rent as well.
Here are some basic information:
Stagecoach Ride from Roosevelt Corral
We can relive the stagecoach experience on board replica Tally-Ho stagecoaches. We will travel an old stagecoach road through the sage-covered meadow of Pleasant Valley.
This adventure is offered from the Roosevelt corral and is approximately 45 minutes long, with a 15 minute safety briefing prior to hitting the trail.
Guests not staying at Roosevelt Lodge must allow ample time to drive to meeting location. Drive time could be significant depending on your starting location and park traffic.
Playmill Theatre in West Yellowstone
This is an amazing couples-night out place if we want to leave the kids in the airbnb with some supervision. Here are the two shows that are playing during the timeframe of our visit:
A hilarious family musical about 1960s small-town America, teenagers, and rock & roll, Bye Bye Birdie remains as fresh and vibrant as ever. Teen heartthrob Conrad Birdie (an Elvis-type) has been drafted, so he chooses All-American girl Kim MacAfee for a very public farewell kiss. Featuring a tuneful high-energy score and a comedic script, Birdie continues to thrill audiences around the world.
A classic, Western musical! Rodgers & Hammerstein’s first collaboration tells a story of a Western territory just after the turn of the 20th century. A high-spirited rivalry between local farmers and cowboys provides a colorful background for Curly, a charming cowboy, and Laurey, a feisty farm girl, to play out their love story. Their romantic journey, as bumpy as a surrey ride down a country road, contrasts with the comic exploits of brazen Ado Annie and hapless Will Parker in a musical adventure embracing hope, determination, and the promise of a new land.
Its about 32 miles from our airbnb:
Popular Hiking Routes
We should possibly consider one or two hiking trips. Here is what I found so far:
This is on the way into the park, one of the first stops and is a quick little pull-off
Est. time ~15 minutes. This is a view of a waterfall on the firestone river about two miles south of old faithful village
Hike in from the north rim trail
There are staircases and railings but it is still a moderate to hike with some serious elevation change
308’ tallest in the par
Northern end of the park
The mud volcano is located southeast of canyon village and is another boardwalk hike around a 0.6 mile loop. In this hike, you will see the famous mud volcano as well as some of the most acidic features in the park, plus dragons mouth spring, sour lake, sizzling cauldron, and more.
This is an easy hike but be warned that it smells bad thanks to the sulfuric gasses rising from the ground.
Yellowstone is a massive volcano, often referred to as the yellowstone supervolcano. Much of the park sits above the yellowstone hotspot, from which hot magma floats toward the surface and heats pockets of water and gas which create the geysers we see in the park. But don’t worry, geologists studying this volcano say it is unlikely we will see any major eruption in the next couple hundred years.
It is easy to get swept away with views of the amazing geysers, but Yellowstone lake is beautiful # in itself. Located at 7700 feet above sea level, Yellowstone Lake is the largest high elevation lake in north america. It is also home to the largest population of cutthroat trout which originated from the pacific ocean. This puzzled scientists for decades, as the lake drains to the atlantic ocean with no streams connecting it to the pacific.
The water remains cold year round, so I don’t recommend trying to swim
There are two main loops in the norris geyser basin; named the porcelain and back basins
Porcelain basin loop is about 1 mile long and is an easy boardwalk hike
Back basin is about 2.5 miles and is an easy boardwalk hike but you can take shortcuts as needed. This is home to the the tallest geyser in the park, Steamboat geyser. Unfortunately, you’ll need some serious luck to see this one erupt, as it can go as much as 50 years between eruptions.
In these pools, you will see rainbows of vibrant colors thanks to the microorganisms living here. Each temperature range is ideal to a different group of organisms and therefore, the colors act as a thermometer
TBR
This is a popular spot for instagram photos, as you get classic yellowstone colors and it is a very short walk from the parking lot. Because of that, it gets really crowded
Off-Road-Vehicle (ORV) Tours in West Yellowstone Area
A wide range of trails are available for riders of all skill levels, from beginner to intermediate to advanced. You can check out the nearby Custer Gallatin and Caribou-Targhee National Forests. Just a couple of popular examples are:
Rental DetailsRental Details
Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center
Wildlife park, adults $16.50. There is no reason to leave Yellowstone without seeing a wolf or bear, even if you don’t see one in the wild! The top notch Discovery Center is the home to rescued bears, wolves, sea otter, birds of prey, and even squirrels.
Dining At Yellowstone
Inside the park the big hotel/lodges have decent dining spaces. I found the following are interesting.
On the Shore of Yellowstone Lake
Here are some I am still researching:
These shownotes, created by mjkabir, might be useful to you.