I’ve been helping Yellowstone visitors plan their time in the park since 1987–first at the Old Faithful Inn and the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center, then back home with friends and family and even people I’ve met on the internet. Here are a few favorite places and tips for mapping out a satisfying Yellowstone vacation.

What’s true on the trail is true in life: Planning a trip to Yellowstone might be intimidating but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Just take it one step at a time.

The Yellowstone Guides 

 Let’s go to Yellowstone!

5 Kid-Friendly Yellowstone Hikes

5 Kid-Friendly Yellowstone Hikes

We started taking our kids out on Yellowstone's trails when they were tiny, as in four, eight, and fifteen months tiny. They went from being carried to toddling to running ahead and we went from being the pack animals who carried them to trying to keep up. These...

Yellowstone in Spring | What to Expect

Yellowstone in Spring | What to Expect

It took just one trip to Yellowstone for my husband to discover that my beliefs about its weather are--in a word--delusional.  It began the night before our first vacation. The next morning, as soon as he finished his last exam of his senior year, we aimed to head...

How to Plan a Winter Trip to Yellowstone

How to Plan a Winter Trip to Yellowstone

Yellowstone in winter is an adventure in comparatives. It’s more majestic and less crowded than in other seasons. It’s more difficult to get around. (Even the animals take the road.) It’s also more difficult to do simple and necessary tasks. (Consider a visit to an...

Where to Stay in Yellowstone

Where to Stay in Yellowstone

Back when I worked in Yellowstone, I enjoyed desk duty at the Old Faithful Visitor’s Center (now the Visitor Education Center). Even back when park visitation was 2.5 million (as opposed to today’s approximately 4 million), the crowd pushing against the counter and...

How to Plan Your Yellowstone Vacation

How to Plan Your Yellowstone Vacation

Planning a trip to Yellowstone? Consider these 10 things to help you plan your Yellowstone vacation. Make a plan--one that includes a plan A, and a plan B, and possibly a plan C. Bison choose their own crosswalks and cross the road slowly. In herds. Wildlife block the...

“There is a great deal of good to be learned from what we see every day, if we would but consider it.” ~ Matthew Henry