The Wonder of Yellowstone National Park

Sadly Yellowstone National Park is not regarded as one of the seven wonders of the world but what Yellowstone has to offer, you would not be left red faced if you thought it was. The beauty of the mountains, the canyon carved by the powerful Yellowstone River and not forgetting the great Yellowstone Lake. The vast variety of wildlife and hikes. The colourful thermal features of hot springs and the roar of geysers which make you smile just like watching a firework display and then the clapping of hands when this magnificent display has finished to then leave the sound of silence interrupted by crow of a Ravens. It is magnificent!

After 151 years, as America’s first national park, Yellowstone goes from strength to strength in popularity. From what was a 1000 visitors each year who used to visit this magnificient park back in 1872 has now turned into millions. Back in 2021, the East Gate of Mammoth recorded a million visitors in the space of a month. Yellowstone has 4 gates, the main two being the East Gate and the West Gate. Business is booming which in turn has made the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem an attractive place for independent small trade to set up for the summer season and then vacat during the quieter winter season.

As America’s first national park, founded by President Ulysesses S Grant in 1872 Yellowstone is still going from strength to strength. In just 151 years, visitor numbers have grown from what was 1000 in one year to a million in one month from tourists around the world wanting to see what Yellowstone has to offer.

My experience comes from my local knowledge of West Yellowstone, a small town on the west gate of park which is the closest point to Old Faithful geyser and the most popular thermal features of the park from lower, mid and upper geyser basin. You can’t mistake that smell of sulphur as you go deeper into the super volcanoes caldera and the clamminess of the sulphur in the air but who cares, you are inside a volcano and not just any volcano, the largest supervolcano on the planet measuring 30 x 45 miles created by a massive volcanic eruption approximately 631,000 years ago. You are in geological history.

But as I back away from my wonder, and come into realization, 1 million tourists in the space of a month through the East Gate alone is eye opening and from what I used to see on the West Gate as visitors queue to gain access into the park around 7 o clock in the morning, you are looking at about 1 to 2 hours of waiting to through the small town of Yellowstone which is why I will give you my tip which is to go in early, I mean sunrise early if you want to beat the traffic. Yellowstone has some amazing places which you can watch the sunkiss the mountains and marvel at the steam produced by the cool air around the geyser basins. There is hardly another soul around. Seeing as the park is over 6000 feet in elevation from sea level