Yellowstone National Park Family Vacations

Yellowstone, the United States’ first national park, still reigns as one of America's most dramatic and oft visited. The geyser Old Faithful, a potent reminder of the earth's geothermal forces, shoots steaming spray into the air with remarkable regularity. Yellowstone also has grazing bison herds, thick forests with bears and wolves and canyons laced with waterfalls.

At 3,472 square miles, Yellowstone is big. Most of the park -- 96 percent -- rests within Wyoming, dipping into Montana and Idaho, as well. The Grand Loop Road stretches for 142 miles and cuts a “figure 8” through the park, leading to or near most major sites and destinations. These are divided into five geographically diverse areas: Geyser, Mammoth, Roosevelt, Canyon and Lake.

To experience the real Yellowstone, you must get out of your car and off the road. Even with young children you can do small hikes as well as enjoy special experiences such as cookouts and stagecoach rides. For additional adventures, go horseback riding, boating, fishing and hiking in warm weather or snowshoeing and cross-country skiing in winter.

Yellowstone, created in 1872 by President Ulysses S. Grant, looms large in America’s imagination, both for what the park preserves and for what it recalls--a time of unlimited potential and larger-than-life landscapes. Every American family should see Yellowstone. In summer, however, it seems as if they all do, creating slow drives and more cars than bison along some park roads.

If you have ’tweens and teens, consider a visit in winter when the crowds vanish, but the wildlife and the wonders remain. In winter, Yellowstone provides a spectacular landscape for snowmobiling, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. In 2009 Yellowstone welcomed 3.3 million visitors, but only 87,000 of them toured the park from December through March. Especially for a summer visit, book your lodgings and outings as far in advance as possible.