World's First National Park

Yellowstone is the world's first national park. It was established in 1872. I visited Yellowstone National Park for the first time in 1985 when I took a cross-country trip with my college friend Rachael P. (RIP, 2023). I revisited the park several times when I was in graduate school at Montana State University from 1987-1988. We even stopped at Yellowstone on the way to a regional Animal Science meeting at Utah State University.

Map of Yellowstone National Park

When my parents visited me in grad school (in '87), we went to Yellowstone (and some other places). Yellowstone wasn't far from Belgrade (where I lived), and there were two really scenic drives that led to the park: Gallatin Canyon and Paradise Valley.  Because I've been to the park so many times, I'm confident that I've seen all parts of it, at least superficially (via car).

North entrance to Yellowstone

Near the North entrance

Elk grazing

Yellowstone River

Through the canyon

Upper Falls

45th Parallel

Hayden Valley

Yellowstone Lake

Dad and I at the lake

Looks like a moose

The geology of Yellowstone is complicated. As a super volcano, Yellowstone has the largest and most active geothermal system in the world, with over 10,000 hydrothermal features, including geysers, hot springs, mud pots, and terraces. Old Faithful was the first geyser (cone) to be named in the park. It erupts every 92 minutes (on average). I've seen it erupt several times. There are many reasons why the energy from Yellowstone isn't harvested.

Old Faithful

Watching Old Faithful do its thing.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Geothermal activity

Active

Near Mammoth Springs

Me and Rachael at the Continental Divide

I would love to visit Yellowstone again. The scenery is awe-inspiring, there are so many natural wonders, and the wildlife is (was) abundant. My only concern is how crowded it might be, as my visits were almost 40 years ago. The park won't have changed much, but people have. Every place you want to go nowadays is always so crowded. That's expected at a theme park, but it takes something away from visiting the natural world. 

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Post created 03 June 2026

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