10 Reasons We Didn’t Love Yellowstone National Park
We spent 11 days exploring America’s first national park. Here’s why it wasn’t for us.
I’m just going to say it.
We didn’t like Yellowstone nearly as much as we thought we would.
And we gave it a fair shot.
We spent 11 days exploring the park from two different home bases. For the first half of our stay, we camped inside Yellowstone at Canyon Campground. For the second half, we moved to Henrys Lake State Park and explored from the West Yellowstone side.
We drove the Upper and Lower Loops. We visited Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic Spring, West Thumb, Mammoth Hot Springs, Mud Volcano, Hayden Valley, Lamar Valley, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. We woke our kids up at 4:00 a.m. to look for wildlife and saw grizzly bears, elk, deer, pronghorn, and more bison than I could possibly count.
We experienced Yellowstone.
And by the end, Jessie and I were ready to leave.
The crowds were miserable. We spent way too much time driving. Old Faithful was underwhelming. The sulfur smell got old quickly. Eventually, the geysers started blending together, and too many days felt like driving from one crowded attraction to another.
That’s simply not how our family likes to experience the outdoors.
Maybe visiting Grand Teton immediately beforehand made it worse. We left the Tetons wanting another hike, another afternoon fishing, and another night beneath those mountains.
We left Yellowstone ready for something different.
So, here are the ten hard truths about why Yellowstone didn’t live up to the hype for our family.
1. Yellowstone Is Way Too Crowded
We knew Yellowstone would be busy in the summer.
We weren’t prepared for just how much the crowds would affect our experience.
We experienced it almost immediately.
We had barely entered Yellowstone from Grand Teton when we stopped at West Thumb Geyser Basin. The brilliant blue pools sitting along Yellowstone Lake were beautiful. Macie looked around and told us it felt like we were in Florida—which was particularly funny considering she’s never actually been to Florida.
But before we could really enjoy it, we were dealing with cars, people, parking, and crowded boardwalks.
And that became a theme.
Old Faithful was packed.
Grand Prismatic was packed.
Parking lots were packed.
Boardwalks were packed.
Wildlife sightings could instantly turn a normal road into a traffic jam.
It often felt like we were trying to experience Yellowstone alongside several thousand of our closest friends.
And for us, that takes something away from the experience.
We travel because we love being outside. We like finding quiet places, letting the kids explore, hiking into the mountains, fishing rivers, and feeling like we’ve escaped everyday life for a while.
Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with people on a boardwalk isn’t really that.
There were quieter parts of Yellowstone, especially early in the morning and later in the evening. But if you want to visit the famous attractions during peak summer season, you’re going to be sharing them with a lot of people.
A lot of people.
2. Old Faithful Was a Letdown
This might be Yellowstone blasphemy, but Old Faithful was one of the most underwhelming famous attractions we visited on this trip.
You fight the traffic.
You find somewhere to park.
You walk into a huge developed visitor area filled with people.
Then you join a giant crowd sitting around waiting for the geyser to erupt.
Eventually it does.
Water shoots into the air for a couple of minutes.
Everyone takes pictures.
And it’s over.
Jessie and I basically looked at each other like:
That’s it?
Maybe our expectations were simply too high.
Old Faithful is so famous that I had built it into something much bigger in my head. I expected this huge Yellowstone moment.
Instead, my reaction was basically:
Well...there it is.
I’m glad we saw it.
I think everyone visiting Yellowstone for the first time should probably see it once.
But I wouldn’t make a special trip back to Yellowstone to see Old Faithful again.
The kids were considerably more impressed with the giant scoops of ice cream we got afterward.
And honestly?
So was I.
3. The Sulfur Smell Gets Old Fast
Yellowstone is beautiful.
Yellowstone also stinks.
Sometimes really badly.
Our first experience with this came at West Thumb.
The water was an unbelievable blue. Yellowstone Lake stretched out behind the thermal features, and with the light-colored shoreline, Macie’s Florida comment actually made a little bit of sense.
Then the smell hit us.
Suddenly, we weren’t in Florida anymore.
Welcome to Yellowstone.
The geothermal activity that makes Yellowstone so unique also creates some pretty memorable smells.
And our family noticed them.
The Mud Volcano area was probably the worst for us.
The bubbling mud itself was actually pretty cool. We followed the boardwalk and stairs around these strange pots of mud that looked like they were boiling directly out of the earth.
But the smell was awful.
Walk farther.
Still stinks.
Turn another corner.
More sulfur.
I understand this is part of experiencing Yellowstone.
But after eleven days?
We were ready to smell pine trees again.
4. You Spend an Absurd Amount of Time in the Car
Yellowstone is huge.
You know that before you go.
But I don’t think you really understand what that means until you try exploring it.
The main Yellowstone road forms a rough figure eight, generally divided into the Upper Loop and Lower Loop. The park’s major attractions are spread across that enormous road system.
During the first half of our stay, we camped at Canyon Campground near Canyon Village and Canyon Junction, which gave us a relatively central base inside Yellowstone. Canyon sits near the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, with Hayden Valley to the south and access toward the northern portions of the park.
For the second half, we moved to Henrys Lake State Park in Idaho, outside the park near the West Yellowstone side.
When my mom came to visit, the one thing she really wanted to see was wildlife.
So we decided to take everyone to Lamar Valley.
That meant waking up around 4:00 a.m., driving from Henrys Lake to meet everyone in West Yellowstone, entering the park before sunrise, and then driving across Yellowstone toward Lamar Valley.
The drive paid off.
We saw a grizzly bear, bison, elk, deer, and pronghorn.
But it also illustrated our problem with Yellowstone perfectly.
You drive everywhere.
Drive to an attraction.
Park.
See it.
Get back in the car.
Drive again.
Then add traffic.
Construction.
Slow vehicles.
Full parking lots.
Wildlife jams.
Bison standing in the road because apparently nobody informed them we had somewhere to be.
By the end of our stay, we felt like we’d experienced an enormous amount of Yellowstone through the windshield.
That isn’t how we like to travel.
5. Too Much of Yellowstone Felt Like Sightseeing Instead of Adventure
This may actually be the biggest reason Yellowstone didn’t connect with us.
We’re not very good sightseers.
Our family wants to do something.
Give us a trail.
Give us a mountain.
Give us a fishing rod.
Give us a lake.
Give the kids rocks to climb.
Give us something that requires a little effort.
We’d rather earn the view.
Yellowstone obviously has an enormous backcountry and plenty of opportunities to hike. You absolutely could plan a very different Yellowstone trip centered around trails and getting away from the busiest areas.
But as first-time visitors, we wanted to see the things Yellowstone is famous for.
And the classic Yellowstone experience became repetitive for us.
Drive.
Find parking.
Walk a boardwalk.
Look at something.
Walk back.
Get in the car.
Drive somewhere else.
Repeat.
Somewhere along the way Jessie and I realized something:
We’d rather hike five miles to see one incredible thing than drive five miles, circle a parking lot, and walk a crowded boardwalk to see ten of them.
That’s our family.
And once we realized that, it started explaining why Yellowstone wasn’t clicking for us.
6. The Scenery Didn’t Wow Us Like Other National Parks
This one may be completely unfair.
Because we drove directly into Yellowstone from Grand Teton National Park.
And Grand Teton spoiled us.
When we first saw the Tetons, Jessie and I were practically speechless.
Those enormous jagged peaks rise straight from the valley floor. We spent five days hiking beside crystal-clear lakes, fishing rivers, watching wildlife, and constantly looking up at mountains that seemed impossible to ignore.
We left Grand Teton already talking about coming back.
Then we entered Yellowstone.
Yellowstone has mountains.
It has beautiful forests.
Huge valleys.
Rivers.
Yellowstone Lake.
Waterfalls.
But for us, it lacked the dramatic landscape we’d just experienced.
We missed the jagged peaks.
We missed looking across a lake at enormous mountains.
We missed that feeling of rounding a corner and simply saying:
Wow.
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone finally gave us that feeling. Standing above that enormous canyon and waterfall was incredible.
But across the park as a whole, Yellowstone’s scenery didn’t hit us the way Grand Teton did.
We discovered something about ourselves.
We’d rather be awestruck by mountains than fascinated by geothermal features.
7. Eventually, All the Geysers Started Blending Together
The first geothermal basin was fascinating.
The second was cool.
By the fifth one?
We’d had enough.
I know they’re not actually all the same.
There are geysers, hot springs, mud pots, fumaroles, different colors, different temperatures, and all kinds of geology that make each area unique.
I understand that.
But as a family walking around Yellowstone for eleven days, eventually it started feeling like:
Another boardwalk around another steaming hole in the ground.
West Thumb was beautiful.
Grand Prismatic was impressive.
Old Faithful was famous enough that we wanted to see it.
Mud Volcano was bizarre.
But eventually we reached geothermal-feature overload.
We’d walk another boardwalk.
Look at another steaming pool.
Smell more sulfur.
Walk through another crowd.
Get back into the car.
And drive to another geothermal area.
By the end, Jessie and I were pretty much:
“Another geyser?”
If we ever returned, I’d pick two or three of the best geothermal areas and skip most of the others.
For us, this was absolutely a case of:
Seen one, seen them all.
Maybe not literally.
But close enough.
8. Tourist Behavior Made the Crowds Even Worse
Having a lot of people in one place is one thing.
Having a lot of people who seem to forget they’re sharing that place with everyone else is another.
We saw some frustrating behavior in Yellowstone.
People stopping where they shouldn’t.
Vehicles blocking traffic.
Visitors crowding around wildlife.
People getting out of vehicles because they wanted a better photograph.
And sometimes people seemed far more concerned about getting their picture than respecting the animal—or anyone around them.
Wildlife sightings could become ridiculous.
A few cars would stop.
Then more cars stopped because the first cars had stopped.
People started pointing.
Doors opened.
Cameras came out.
And suddenly the road was clogged.
We absolutely understand being excited about wildlife.
We were excited too.
But we also tried to teach our kids something throughout the trip:
We’re visiting the animals’ home.
A bison doesn’t owe us a picture.
A bear doesn’t need us walking closer.
And everyone else in the park shouldn’t have to deal with dangerous or inconsiderate behavior because somebody needs the perfect photo.
The crowds were already difficult.
Careless tourists made them worse.
9. Parts of Yellowstone Felt More Like a Tourist Attraction Than a National Park
This surprised us.
Yellowstone is enormous wilderness.
But some of the places we experienced didn’t feel particularly wild.
Huge parking areas.
Restaurants.
Gift shops.
Visitor complexes.
Hotels.
Crowded boardwalks.
Lines.
Traffic.
Then you’d drive down the road and basically repeat the process at another attraction.
At times, Yellowstone’s major attractions felt like individual tourist stops connected by roads.
That wasn’t what I expected from America’s first national park.
Interestingly, the Yellowstone I liked most was the Yellowstone we experienced when most people weren’t around.
Driving through the West Entrance before sunrise when the entrance booths weren’t even staffed yet.
The headlights illuminating the road.
Jessie and I hoping we wouldn’t suddenly discover a bison standing in front of us.
Watching the sky slowly brighten.
Then spotting a grizzly grazing several hundred yards out in a meadow.
Driving into Lamar Valley as the animals became active.
That Yellowstone felt wild.
That Yellowstone was incredible.
I just wish more of our eleven days had felt like that.
10. You’re Paying Premium Prices for the Whole Experience
Yellowstone isn’t cheap.
Neither is West Yellowstone.
Food.
Restaurants.
Fuel.
Souvenirs.
Lodging.
Snacks.
Everything adds up quickly when you’re traveling with a family.
Thankfully, having our motorhome helped tremendously. We could make breakfast at camp, pack lunches, bring drinks and snacks, and cook dinner instead of purchasing every meal.
But whenever we bought something around Yellowstone or West Yellowstone, we noticed the prices.
You’re visiting one of the most famous vacation destinations in America, and you’re paying tourist-destination prices to go along with it.
I understand why.
I still don’t have to like it.
If you’re planning a Yellowstone family vacation during peak summer season, especially if you’ll be staying in hotels and eating most meals out, I’d budget more than you think you’ll need.
But We Still Made Some Incredible Memories
Here’s the part I don’t want lost in all of this:
We didn’t love Yellowstone. We loved our time together in Yellowstone.
The first half of our stay was the end of nearly two weeks traveling with longtime friends.
There were campfires at Canyon Campground, messy s’more faces, kids running through the trees, too much food, wildlife searches, and late evenings together.
Then we moved to Henrys Lake and my family arrived.
The biggest surprise was Cousin Shelby, who had made the long drive without the kids knowing.
They opened the car door, saw her, and immediately screamed:
“SHELBY!”
After four months apart, that reunion meant more to us than anything Yellowstone could have put on a boardwalk.
We got everyone up at 4:00 a.m. because Mom wanted to see wildlife. We watched a grizzly at sunrise, drove through Lamar Valley surrounded by bison, and laughed as Lincoln and Shelby giggled while Macie grunted back at the bisonwalking past the car.
Grandpa brought RC boats to Henrys Lake. Hudson fished. The kids swam. We ate giant scoops of ice cream after Old Faithful.
And on our final evening, an hour-and-a-half bison jam in Hayden Valley somehow became one of everyone’s favorite stories.
Jessie and I were worried about a bison hitting the 4Runner.
The kids couldn’t stop laughing.
Those are the memories I’ll keep.
Go to Yellowstone—But Don’t Stop There
I still think Yellowstone is worth seeing.
Go see Old Faithful once.
Walk around Grand Prismatic.
Get up before sunrise and look for wildlife in Lamar Valley.
Experience a bison jam.
Stand above the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Then decide for yourself.
But if you’re a family like ours—one that wants to hike, fish, climb, explore, and get away from the crowds—please don’t assume Yellowstone has to be the ultimate national park experience just because it’s the most famous.
There are so many other national parks where the adventure itself became the reason we loved the place.
Want huge mountains and alpine lakes? Go to Grand Teton.
Want to spend your days hiking through enormous mountain landscapes? Go to Rocky Mountain National Park.
Want trails that take you through red-rock canyons and high above the desert? Go to Zion.
Want to hike among bizarre rock formations instead of looking at them from a viewpoint? Go to Bryce Canyon.
Want an adventure that makes you understand just how small you are? Hike into the Grand Canyon instead of only looking over the rim.
And those are only the parks we’ve experienced so far.
Yellowstone is phenomenal at what Yellowstone does. If you love geothermal geology, wildlife viewing, roadside sightseeing, and seeing natural features that exist almost nowhere else, Yellowstone may become your favorite park in the country.
It just didn’t match what we want from a national park.
We’ve learned that we’d rather hike five miles to one incredible place than drive between ten famous attractions.
We’d rather find a quiet fishing spot than another packed boardwalk.
We’d rather have sore legs at the end of the day than another hundred miles on the car.
Most importantly:
We want our kids to experience the landscape, not just look at it.
That may be the biggest thing Yellowstone taught us.
So yes, go to Yellowstone.
See why millions of people love it.
But then keep going.
There are mountains to climb, rivers to fish, canyons to hike, alpine lakes to discover, and national parks where the real adventure begins when you get out of the car.
Those are the places that have captured our hearts.
Yellowstone wasn’t one of them.
And that’s okay.
Because even though we didn’t love Yellowstone, we loved the people we experienced it with.
And those eleven days still gave our family memories we’ll carry long after we’ve forgotten the smell of sulfur.
-Kayla