Yellowstone, the Basics

If you've never visited Yellowstone before, you're missing out on some things you will never see anywhere else in the world.

Established in 1872 as the world's first national park, Yellowstone spans 2.2 million acres across Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. It sits atop one of the largest active supervolcanoes on Earth and fuels over 10,000 hydrothermal features—including more than half of all the world's geysers. The park is larger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined. It is home to the largest concentration of mammals in the lower 48 states, hosting 67 different species. It's one of the few places in the country where all original mega-predators (like wolves, grizzly bears, and mountain lions) roam wild alongside massive bison herds. Even though President Grant signed the act establishing Yellowstone, he never once set foot in the park during his lifetime.

Yellowstone is bear country. This is not something many people really come prepared for, so to keep it simple, stay 50 yards (2 buses) away from herbavores, and 100 yards (5 buses) from omnivores and carnivores. If you don't know the difference it's best you stay further away. Keeping bear spray on you and accesible is key to making it out of an agressive encounter without harm. If you put your arm extended out, close one eye, and put your thumb up to an animal and can still see it, you're too close.

While people are generally more scared about the bears, they don't account for nearly as many dangerous encounters, injuries, or even deaths, as the bison do. If you really want to pet one, go to one of the many ranches outside the park, there are quite a few who have petting zoos, or host events where they allow people to interact with the human raised bison, there's no point in putting your life at risk, or your childrens. If you encounter an animal on a trail, and there's not enough room to pass, you should either wait for the animal to leave from a safe distance, or turn around and try again another time. Though if you turn around everytime you may not get anywhere.

Bear Aware is a company in the park that rents bear spray for a fraction of the cost to buy it, and has shacks across the gateway cities, the park, and the teton area as well where you can pick up and drop off the bear spray.

You should always check in at the visitor center or ranger station near you if you have not had the ability to look into the trails you want to do, they can let you know before you go if it's been closed for bear activity, they can also direct you to what trails or areas will work best for what you want to see at that time.