Flying over Yellowstone National Park
My first visit to Yellowstone National Park was in kindergarden. My love for this park is one the reasons Martin says, “You can take Katie out of the country and put her in Berlin, but her heart is always in the country.” Yellowstone is – without a doubt – my all-time favorite National Park.
Here’s a seriously jaw-dropping youtube video my dad documented of a bugling elk in the park:
Absolutely amazing, huh? Talk about a great way to shock the heck out of a few German classmates in Berlin!
Those of you that know a little Rocky Mountain geography might know that just north of Grand Teton National Park (which we got to share an aerial view with you on this post) is Yellowstone National Park! So you guessed it… I’ve got some aerial shots of Yellowstone to share with you, too.
When we flew over Yellowstone, I was pretty shocked at how… booooring it was to fly over the park.
I really liked seeing – from the air – all of the mountains and waterfalls we’d climbed over the years. Otherwise? Let me just tell you that you should visit Yellowstone from the ground. These pictures are by NO MEANS a representation of what you can experience there.
I couldn’t spot bears, wolves, or even the enormous buffalo, and nobody ever comes back from Yellowstone and says, “Dang it! I missed out on the buffalo!” Those big guys are everywhere and causing the craziest traffic jams; they’re just too small from the sky to spot.
Know what you can see from above Yellowstone?
The Tetons on the horizon!
Have any of you been to Yellowstone? What was your favorite part? Or what would you love to see? Maybe I’ll just have to meet you up there!
Want to see all the National Parks we’ve flown over? Here’s Canyon Lands, Arches National Park, and our latest visit: Tetons National Park.
August 12th, 2010 at 6:28 am
I also have explored Yellowstone quite a bit. My husband says that it is like a totally different planet. I love checking out the tourist spots, but also hiking in the back woods. It truly is a great national park.
In a few weeks, I will be going to Grand Teton national park. I have been there a few times, but have much more exploring to do. It is a goal of mine to go to all of the national parks in the US.
August 12th, 2010 at 7:47 am
Yellowstone is one of the national parks I’ve never been to! It’s on my list though…
So – is your summer trip in the US a holiday? a reunion with your family? do you have a friend who owns a plane for your “flyovers”? or do you have to rent a plane?
sorry about all the questions.
Oh — have you been to Yosemite National Park? that is our favorite destination…. probably because we can get there in 5 hours of car travel. AND – the park provides “oodles” of family memories – from the time my girls were 6 months old – through college age, our family would meet two other families for 2-3 weeks of tent camping in the “valley”… my girls have always believed it was “BETTER’ than spending a weekend at Disneyland…. how cool is that.
August 12th, 2010 at 9:21 am
I *loved* Yellowstone! One word – ENCHANTING! Sadly, I didn’t get to go with the hubby, but it’s on our list to return “as a couple” and experience it together. It’s so beautiful and there is so much to do!
If any of your readers are going to go, there is a small little “watering hole” very near to the North entrance to the park. It’s one of the only places that we could find/knew of (and we heard it word of mouth from a friend of a friend and didn’t hear about it any of the guidebooks, etc) where you can actually climb into a hot spring and hang out for a good ol’ fashioned post-hike hot tub time! Like I said, just inside the North entrance is a little spot with some changing houses and you walk down a dusty trail to get to the river (can’t remember the name) and there is a hot spring that dumps right into this river. The 150+ degree hot spring + the 60 degree river = perfect hot tub temperature and it’s all natural! Bring your water shoes because that river is rocky and hard to walk on, but what an experience!!!
Maybe other people have experienced it?!? But we felt so smart because it wasn’t too crowded and it was just a fun time!
love Yellowstone!
xoxo,
Lindsay
August 12th, 2010 at 11:55 am
I LOVE Yellowstone! Our favorite time to visit is late September/early October. But the crowded summer months can be fun too, people watching almost as much as wildlife watching. Last summer, while driving through we came across a traffic stoppage. We saw a bunch of people running around. We asked a lady what was going on and she told us there was a young bear. Then we saw that all those people were CHASING THE BEAR! I could not believe it. We exited as quickly as possible, did not want to be part of that scenario.
My favorite things to see (besides everything, really!) are the geysers and hot springs and the paint pot ponds. Also the waterfalls. And the lake. There is a beach as you enter from the east entrance (from Cody, WY) on the way to Lake Village where we sometimes stop and picnic.
Oh, and thank you for sharing the video of the bugling elk. I’ve seen a few elk in my time, but have never actually seen one bugling. That was amazing!
August 13th, 2010 at 1:29 am
Katie, Yellowstone and the Tetons were both amazing, though I didn’t get to explore much in either… the Cascades and Glacier International are also great parks.
And your dad called it “Jellystone”–awesome piece of Americana! :)
August 13th, 2010 at 9:55 am
I am going for the first time in two weeks!!! I am sooooo excited!
August 14th, 2010 at 9:18 pm
I Love Yellowstone, it’s one of my favorite National Parks. We love to camp close to Tower Junction (there is a small primitive campground), it’s ideal for some serious wildlife watching. We usually get up at 5:00 am. and go into the Lamar Valley or the road up to Mammoth, usually see wolves, moose, bears. And of course the bison. The “secret” is to get up early (not for the bison, though). We’ve been to Yellowstone three times and always saw lots of animals. And for good food we enjoy eating in the Roosevelt Lodge which is also conveniently close to the campground.
August 17th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
I agree. Some places should only be visited on the ground. As much as we love to fly, it’s the connections on the ground that make it possible.
My husband is flying over to the Central Oregon Airshow in Madras, Oregon on August 27 ( through Sunday) and I will be stuck home playing hostess for a wedding reception for my neighbor girl whom I have known most of her life. Since Madras is my current fave airshow, it was a full two weeks before I remembered my obligations to the bride.
It is the flying that clears my head out enough to appreciate my ground connections.
I love Yellowstone and the last time I was there was on the way back from Oshkosh, WI (big EAA airshow). I loved coming in through the Cody, WY gate.
This summer, we went through Crater Lake and that was spectacular. The last time I was there was when I was five years old.
I hope this summer saw a few airshows and possibly a pancake breakfast or two for you.