Can You Do Yellowstone National Park in Just One Day?

I’ve been to Yellowstone 4 times in my life. Once when I was a baby (I literally took my first steps in this park), once as a pre-teen, once as a college kid, and most recently at 34 with my husband (it was his first time!). I’ve enjoyed it every time. Well, I don’t know about the very first time, but I’d like to think that’s why I (finally) started walking. It was my love of Yellowstone. 🙂

I truly believe Yellowstone is the best National Park, BUT, it is NOT a “drive-thru” park. In fact, the scenery isn’t the reason to go. If you just want scenery, I definitely recommend the Grand Tetons instead. We have always done both during the times we’ve been.

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Can You do Yellowstone in a Day?

Top Tip:
Download the audio guide to Yellowstone to your phone.
It’s a very drivable park but if it’s your first time, this will help immensely.

You might think that my answer to the question “can you do Yellowstone in a day” is going to be no. However, it might surprise you to know that my parents have in fact done it in a day and you can do it with one major hitch. You need to do it right. That means, you have to go during the right time, get up early, stay up ’till night fall, plan it out, and be prepared for a lot of walking. And, you do need to spend one night in the park.

See, I always hate it when I have a day to spend somewhere and people just tell me “don’t go”. That’s the absolute worst. Therefore, I’m not going to tell you that. Instead, I’m going to give you guidelines that you’ll need to follow. Because here’s the thing, Yellowstone is a geo-thermal marvel. It has a lot of weird stuff, most of which you can’t see anywhere else in the world. It’s not a “hey-look-at-that-pretty-mountain-isn’t-this-scenery-amazing-park”. It’s a place to learn, explore, and wait. You’ll see why.

6 MUST Dos to See Yellowstone in a Day

Before we get to all that, here’s the 6 guidelines you’ll need to follow if you only have a day and want to get the most out of it:

1. Choose the right time of year to go to Yellowstone

You cannot, I repeat, cannot, do this during the summer. The park is too crowded. Next, research any road closures. If there are closures, you’ll be out of luck on some things. Yellowstone is large, so if you can’t get to a certain area one way, it can take a really long time to get there another way. Just no way around it. Literally. The best time to go to Yellowstone is late September. Early October can work but you do risk closures because of weather.

2. Get Up Early

Plan to arrive in the park by day break. Yup, I said it. Drive in the dark and get moving.

3. Stay Until Nightfall

There’s a lot of wildlife in Yellowstone. Grizzlies, wolves, and more. If you want to see the best of it, you need to be both lucky, and willing to get out there before daybreak and stay until nightfall. More on that later.

4. Plan it out

You cannot wing this one. Not if you want to make the most of it. I wouldn’t not want someone to go to Yellowstone without seeing the following: Mammoth, Canyon, West Thumb, & Old Faithful. I would start at one end and end at the other without having to back track. Otherwise, I’m not sure you could do it all.

5. Be prepared for a lot of walking.

If you can’t do much walking, you really won’t see much. There’s just not that much to see from the road. Yes, you can see Old Faithful, some geo-thermal activity, etc. However, the best bits of Yellowstone, take walking.

6. Spend one night in the park

Yellowstone is massive, so you will want to spend the night in the park. Unless you’re okay with a LOT of night driving. There are no hotels right outside the park. You have to drive awhile.

Your One Day Itinerary for Yellowstone

As I said in #4 above, you have to plan out your day, you cannot wing it. Here’s what I recommend:

• Morning: For simplicity sake I’m starting at the top (download the map at the bottom of the page), where you’ll explore Mammoth (2-3 hours), then drive over to Canyon (1 hour driving)

• Afternoon: Do one look-out of Canyon (1 hour), then drive to West Thumb (1 hour)

• Evening: View West Thumb from the Top (1 hour). Then, head to Old Faithful and spend the night (1 hour).

• Early the Following Morning: Awake early and explore all there is in the Old Faithful area (about 2-3 hours)

• With this plan, you can head to the same park exit at Mammoth or exit at the bottom of the park. If you’re able to go back out the park at Mammoth, you’ll be able to go right by Grand Prismatic and I’d stop and see that as well.

• You’ll notice there are more hours listed than there are in a day, if you do this, be prepared for night driving.

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Where to Stay for Your Yellowstone National Park Itinerary

I said several times that you need to stay in the park. I whole-heartedly believe this. The places to stay are expensive, not that nice, and without a lot of options. Nevertheless, it’s imperative to stay so it is what it is. You also need to book early. It fills up. Here are your options below. Basically each of the 8 areas has places to stay.

BUT, keep in mind, the are varying degrees of “rustic” and certain ones are only open during certain times. You must always check road, hotel, and campsite closures. And Yellowstone is whole other world in the winter. In fact, the next time I go, I plan to go in the winter as it’s a completely different beast and therefore experience.

1. Mammoth Hot Springs: Mammoth is a good place to stay but it gets crowded and it’s not centrally located. However, it’s a good starting or ending point.
2. Tower-Roosevelt: Roosevelt Lodge is not always open but does have lodging.
3. Canyon Village: Canyon is my favorite place to stay. Remember that epic waterfall from above? That’s this area. But that’s not why I recommend it. It’s less crowded than Old Faithful or Mammoth. Since we went during the pandemic of 2020, this was a big plus. Really, it would be nice anyway though. You’re probably headed out to Yellowstone to be away from crowds and while that’s not going to happen completely, this will help. It’s also centrally located so easy to get around to different parts of the park. With a park as big as Yellowstone, you definitely need that.
4. Fishing Bridge + Lake Village: There is an RV park at Fishing Bridge and Lake Village does have accommodations.
5. Grant Village + West Thumb: There is accommodation here as well but it closes early in the fall.
6. Old Faithful: I’m sure you’ve heard of Old Faithful Lodge. Obviously, there is accommodation here but it’s not as glamorous as you might think, but it’s an option.
7. Madison: Madison has campsites you can book.
8. Norris: Norris also has campsites.

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What Makes Yellowstone So Special?

Alright, I’ve raved about Yellowstone, but what is it that makes it so special? That, my friend, is the thermal activity. You see, Yellowstone is actually a super volcano. Yes, they expect it to erupt any day now. However, they’ve been saying that my whole life. Huge eruptions occurred here, the latest about 600,000 years ago.

What is now the park was the center and it collapsed, forming a 30 by 45 mile caldera or basin. The heat that powered those eruptions is what still fuels the park’s geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and mudpots. When I say hot springs, I do not mean ones you can sit in like in Colorado. These are not safe for that. Please stay on the boardwalks and trails.

This isn’t the only place that has this, but it’s one of very few. Iceland, New Zeland and Japan are the only others that have this sort of hydrothermal activity. And Yellowstone, is the largest group of hydrothermal features in the world.

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One More Recommendation

Now, for some of you, this last recommendation might seem a little morbid, but I’m adding it anyway. I truly believe you should read this book about Deaths in Yellowstone before going. You may be thinking “Wait, what?! You’re sick!” but really, trust me. See, there was a time when people didn’t know what this park was about, before we even had roads, and as you can imagine, that caused a lot of drama. No railings or walkways and one mis-step and you landed in a 150 degree geyser and fried within minutes. I’m not exaggerating.

Yellowstone is a dangerous place. People used to feed bears, put their children on bison for a photo, and more. What’s worse, these things still happen. I know it’s tempting to reach over the boardwalk to see what the water feels like. And while it’s not usually that hot right near the boardwalk, it could be. I’m usually a hop off the trail, climb over railings sort of person (within reason), but in Yellowstone, I will not do it. The entire thing is a volcano. However, I do get the urge to do things like this, which is why I read the book, and you should too.

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