The table below is a great planning tool in selecting places to visit and things to see while going to and from Yellowstone Park. It covers things both inside Yellowstone National Park and outside the park but within the Greater Yellowstone Region. This is a checklist approach to seeing the greater Yellowstone area. There is obviously subjective judgment involved, and as they say, your mileage may vary. Planning with this kind of listing is certainly not the only appropriate way to visit the park. There are many other approaches, including completely random wandering. Depending on your interests, you can concentrate on things like seeing wildlife, taking pictures, studying geology, or just driving around to soak up the scenery. There are so many ways to see a place as rich and diverse as the Yellowstone region.

The first column contains the names of notable places, mostly in relation to a geographical area, or a particular section of road. The other three columns -- Major Highlights, Good to See, Time Allowing -- classify the feature or location as how important it is to see something depending on how much time is available.

For each item the diamonds mark the appropriate column and rank the importance (from 1 diamond, low to 4 diamonds, high) within that column. The diamonds are color-coded by column: Red = Major Highlight, Blue = Good to See, Black = If Time Allows. (The Yellowstone Insider book is keyed the same way.) For example, Old Faithful is in the Major Highlight column and has 4 red stars, which makes it a Must See. Another example: Lonestar Geyser Trail is in the If Time Allows column, but has four black diamonds, which makes it a top attraction...if time allows.

The length of this table is a good indication of how richly the Greater Yellowstone Region is blessed  with natural features and interesting places. The word is: incomparable.  

In general, the shorter the visit, the more appropriate it may be to visit places highly rated as Major Highlight or Good to See. Features with a four-diamond rating are most appropriate for one or two day visitors, especially those who are in the area for the first time. People who have been to the Yellowstone region fairly often may find some little-known but very interesting things to visit in the Good to See and If Time Allows columns.

GOING TO OR FROM THE GRAND LOOP ROAD

ON THE GRAND LOOP ROAD