Yellowstone National Park

The moment we accepted our job in Helena, Montana, my mom immediately booked flights to come out! When she did we planned Yellowstone right away since that was what she wanted to see. We got online and quickly realized that staying in Yellowstone National Park is extremely expensive and not really worth it since you can stay outside of the park and be able to see all that you want without spending all of your time in the car.

After researching what hikes we wanted to do, we found staying in West Yellowstone would be a great location. Elkhorn Cabins came up and we booked a cabin for 3 nights! On our drive to Yellowstone from Helena, we stopped in Butte to check out the Harley Davidson store and Ringing Rocks. You'll see more about Ringing Rocks in another post.

They allowed us to check in a little early and the cabin was adorable!

The drive from the cabin to the entrance of Yellowstone was less than 10 minutes. Driving into Yellowstone was beautiful and in one of the fields you could see over 10 elk and a couple of bison!

Everyday there was wildlife in this field so definitely keep your eyes peeled! Not long after driving away from this, we noticed people pulled over for something and it was a bald eagle!

As we headed East, we took a right to go South down to Biscuit Basin. It was crazy to see all the steam in the distance!

Biscuit Basin is all paved and an easy walk to see lots of beautiful geysers. We even saw one erupt!

After leaving we headed south towards West Thumb. Just as we left Biscuit Basin there was a bison!

West Thumb was not on our list, but we figured why not check it out. Also, there was hope for a bathroom there! We noticed quickly that there are not many bathrooms available nor are they marked on the map. There are bathrooms at Old Faithful, West Thumb, and Midway Geyser Basin just in case you're stuck in the same situation as us! West Thumb is situated on Yellowstone Lake and it is beautiful! All the geysers are up on a hill and as you look at them, you can see the water too. As we started on this trail there were multiple elk grazing beside the trail.

The last photo taken above was taken by my mom who was then charged at by the elk! She was very angry Mom was so close and eventually Mom was able to back up. Soon after it happened, a woman did not listen to us telling her to stay away and she was also charged at multiple times. Thankfully no one got hurt, but something to keep in mind if you ever encounter wildlife! Distance is important!

We decided to turn around and go the opposite direction in the meantime.

It was really neat to see geysers erupting practically in the lake!

After this we drove north up to Midway Geyser Basin where the iconic Grand Prismatic Spring is.

The Grand Prismatic Spring is difficult to see in the following photos, but on our 3rd day in the park we had a much better view while hiking Fairy Falls!

After our awesome first day in Yellowstone, we headed to the Slipper Otter Pub which was only a 10 minute walk from the cabin. It was very busy, so if you're looking to get a quick meal I'd recommend going early! We all ordered different things! Elk burger, bison burger, French onion soup, spinach artichoke dip, it was all great!

We walked back to the cabin with full bellies and stopped to grab some tea from the lobby before settling in bed. The next day we headed into town to walk around while the weather was not in our favor. Once it cleared up we headed to Canyon Village which is located North East of where we went the day prior. On the way, we stopped at Gibbon Falls.

Then we continued our drive and saw snow!

We then started our first long hike, the South Rim Trail! You can drive this trail and stop a each outlook, or hike it. We decided to hike this since there is so much to see. Round trip this is about 4-5 miles and rated as moderate. When we looked this hike up, it said 3.8 miles, but after hiking our watches tracked somewhere between 4 and 5 miles. We parked at Upper Falls on the North Side, which I think tagged on extra mileage.

Then we continued on the trail!

Then we were able to view Upper Falls from the other side!

While we were hiking, we could see a bison on the other side of the canyon!

Then we passed Lower Falls.

My mom was such a trooper through this! My mom has never hiked and doesn't run, nor live at this high of an elevation, so we were very impressed with how she did and how much she enjoyed it! Soon we arrived to the turn around point, Artist Point.

Then we headed back!

As we walked back to the parking lot, we noticed a little trail to Crystal Falls so we checked it out.

Then we drove North Rim Drive. I think the views were better on the South Rim so it was nice to hike that and then drive the North Rim.

On our drive out of the park, we saw a Bull Elk!!!!

That evening we went to Beartooth Barbeque for dinner.

Everything was really good and so were the beers. We walked back to our cabin and Mom passed right out! The next day we headed to Running Bear Pancake House for breakfast. They have delicious Apple Cider!

This was a great place to fill our bellies before heading into the park for our last day! First stop after breakfast was going to Old Faithful.

Old Faithful was neat to see as it erupted. Otherwise, it doesn't look like much. It is a must see though in Yellowstone! After this we headed up Observation Point trail.

Then we headed over to Solitary Geyser.

We headed back down to Geyser Hill.

After this we headed to Fairy Falls. This trail has a great view of Grand Prismatic Spring!

This hike, though easy, is 4.8 miles. My mom did awesome and she said it was so worth it!

Then we hiked back!

On our way out of the park, we drove through Firehole Canyon Drive just to see what it looked like. The drive was pretty!

After this we went to the cabin to shower and change before heading to Bullwinkle's Saloon.

Everything was delicious especially the huckleberry bread pudding!

The next day we had to say goodbye to our cabin. It was a perfect location for us and I highly recommend it. Yellowstone was so much fun and I am so glad my mom was able to come out and explore it with us! We are so impressed by her hiking skills and she even asked for a pack for Christmas. Who knows, maybe there will be more posts featuring my mom hiking!