Yellowstone National Park Travel Guide: Part 1

Lance and I honeymooned in Wyoming in September 2018. It was incredible!  To me this isn’t your typical honeymoon destination, but I know Lance and he’s not your typical honeymoon destination type guy. Lol Since we’ve been together we both have been talking about visiting out west –  Idaho..Montana..Wyoming. It was a dream we had, so I wanted to make it a reality for us. We decided not to take a honeymoon after the wedding, but I secretly decided against that and surprised Lance with the news at our rehearsal dinner. I planned our honeymoon trip to Yellowstone National Park and Jackson Hole, WY. He was shocked and speechless. I think also a little embarrassed because I surprised him in-front of everyone. Haha. At the rehearsal dinner I told Lance I had something for him, and I gave him a card which had flight tickets I created so he could see where our destination was and when we would be leaving for our trip.

We headed to Jackson Hole, WY a little over a week after our wedding. I received some tips from a friend when I was planning our surprise honeymoon, and one of the tips she mentioned was which side of the plane to sit on when flying into Jackson Hole. I’m so glad we took her advice because the view of the Teton Mountains were breath taking as we landed.

As we arrived in Jackson Hole we were already in complete awe of this little western mountain town. The first day of our trip we stayed in Jackson Hole since it would take us a while to drive to Yellowstone, and after waking up at 4am to catch our flight all we wanted to do was relax. When we got into town, we immediately parked and walked around. Jackson Hole has a walkable downtown, and we couldn’t wait to explore. We came upon a Mexican restaurant, Hatch, where we ordered Al Pastor tacos and queso dip. After the long day we were starving and this hit the spot. It was so good!

After lunch we walked around eager to see the area. The first, most noticeable landmark besides the stunning scenery is the antler arches in Jackson Hole’s Town Square. Of course we had to get pictures!

Jackson Hole is definitely a unique town with western flare that we were really loving! Later that afternoon we checked into Anvil, a boutique hotel near downtown. We got ready for dinner and actually ate at the hotel’s restaurant, Glorietta, their laid back Italian restaurant. We ordered fish and handmade pasta. It was heaven!

The next day we headed to Yellowstone bright and early! After our breakfast at Cafe Genevieve, we were on the road ready to see bison, geysers and Old Faithful! While driving to Yellowstone the scenery of the Teton Mountains was absolutely stunning. I feel pictures just don’t do it justice.

We entered the park through the South entrance, since that is the closest entrance from Jackson. We stayed at the park for 3 days, so I wanted to share all of our highlights and must sees. Highlights from day 1 are below, and you can see day 2 and 3 highlights in Part 2, coming soon.

Day 1 Highlights

West Thumb Geyser Basin

West Thumb Geyser Basin overlooks Yellowstone Lake. It’s one of the smallest geysers in Yellowstone, but is one of the most scenic. West Thumb has hot springs, pools, mud pots, and lake shore geysers.

Yellowstone Lake

Yellowstone Lake is the largest body of water in Yellowstone National Park. It’s about 20 miles long and 14 miles wide. Yellowstone Lake has an average temperature of about 41 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mud Volcano

Mud Volcano is an area of muddy hot springs and furmaroles. There’s a boardwalk looping you throughout the springs, and the area has a very strong sulfer (rotten egg) smell. The smell comes from the hydrogen sulfide gas the escapes from the ground. In this area you’ll get to see Dragon’s Mouth Spring, which is a small pool that looks cave-like where water and steam spew out creating a roaring sound. You’ll see exactly what I mean in the picture below.

Dragon’s Mouth Spring

Bison

This was definitely one of the (many) highlights I had on our honeymoon. Seeing the bison were absolutely amazing. In one of the pictures below you’ll see a tiny bird sitting on top of the bison’s back. Bison were everywhere in the park, and it was fun to be able to see them so up close. When Lance and I left Yellowstone early one morning, a bison was in the middle of the road, and when we drove by it, it started running after our car.

Can you spot the bird?

There were many pull off spots we stopped at and took short walks to see the geyers, streams and scenery. You have to drive all over in Yellowstone, so it was nice to be able to pull over, eat, or take a short walk and be able to get out and stretch your legs.

We ended our first day at Canyon Village, which is located in the middle of the park. We stayed at Canyon Lodge and Cabins. There are no TVs or Wi-Fi (some areas of the park have Wi-Fi but not where we were), so we were really roughing it! lol We were so exhausted by the end of the day though, we honestly didn’t have much time for catching up on Facebook or watching a show on TV. At the end of the day Lance and I would get dinner, reminisce about our day and plan our next days adventures.  We were both loving Yellowstone so far and couldn’t wait to explore more of the park. Check out our adventures from day 2 and 3, coming soon.