Great Dates Dallas: Yellowstone National Park

Image courtesy of Think Progress

"Yellowstone National Park is the flagship of the National Park Service and a favorite to millions of visitors each year. The park is a major destination for all members of the family. By driving the grand loop road, visitors can view the park from the comfort of their vehicle and also take a rest at one of the many roadside picnic areas. For the active visitor, the park has thousands of miles of trails from dayhikes to backcountry explorations. The main attractions are all located on the grand loop road and here are some of the top reasons to visit the park. This site has a lot of the information you need of your trip and you may also consider our dvd 'The Wonders of Yellowstone' to help you plan your visit."

Image courtesy of National Geographic Kids

Yellowstone is located in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho and was at the first National Park in the U.S. and is widely held to be the first national park in the world. The park is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially Old Faithful. Half of the world's geothermal features are in Yellowstone, fueled by ongoing volcanos.

Image courtesy of History Things

Last weekend my husband and I took his grandparents and we drove up to West Yellowstone. It was so beautiful and worth the visit!

This is us waiting for Old Faithful to go off!

Image courtesy of nps.org

FUN FACTS

* World's First National Park

*2,219,789 acres (Larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined)

*Wildlife - 7 species of ungulates (bison, moose, elk, pronghorn), 2 species of bear and 67 other mammals, 322 species of birds, 16 species of fish and of course the gray wolf.

*Plants- There are over 1,100 species of native plants, more than 200 species of exotic plants and over 400 species of thermophiles.

*Geology - The park is home to one of the world's largest calderas with over 10,000 thermal features and more than 300 geysers' Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River as it's showpiece.

*Yellowstone Lake is the largest (132 sq. mi.) high altitude (7,732') lake in north america.

*9 visitor centers

*12 campgrounds (over 2,000 campsites)

You can view the park map here.

I grew up in Montana and have been to Yellowstone before but experiencing it with the love of my life made this trip the best trip to Yellowstone. We want to go back and make another day date out of it and drive grand loop (which hits all the major cool parts) and visit the beautiful waterfalls.

Image courtesy of nps.org

The park really is HUGE and we were all in aww over how green and beautiful it was.

Yellowstone offers so much that you could really make a whole weeks trip out it. You can stay in the park in the Lodges like the Big Sky Lodge, Jackson Lodging, West Yellowstone Lodging and may more or Campgrounds. You can visit all the Geysers, see Wildlife and Wildflowers along the way, Flyfish, hike, dine, and in the winter you can snowmobile, snowcaoch, and ski!

Spring Opening Dates in Yellowstone

General opening dates for the entrances to Yellowstone National Park for 2014. The opening dates are weather dependent. As each entrance date draws near, we will announce the exact day of the opening.

- North Entrance - Gardner, MT - Open year round to wheeled vehicles.

- Northeast Entrance - Cooke City/Silvergate via Beartooth Hwy - Late May to early June weather permitting

- East Entrance - Cody, WY - Mid May

- South Entrance - Jackson, WY- Mid May

- West Entrance - West Yellowstone, MT - Late April