Six Nights in Yellowstone National Park

In early June of 2022, we made the trek from Arkansas to Yellowstone National Park in western Wyoming. This 1,463-mile road trip took us three days to do in our truck with the new addition of our Thule Tepui rooftop tent. (Our new favorite piece of camping gear we own.)

We stayed at two different campsites in Yellowstone and explored most of the main staples in the park during our stay. Want a copy of our detailed itinerary? Check out the Etsy link here for a copy of your own!

Highlights of the trip were wildlife, geysers, reminiscing on park life, and enjoying views next to Yellowstone Lake and our visit to Gardiner, Montana!

Wildlife spotted while out and about were bison on every stretch of road, a yellow-bellied marmot at the Old Faithful geyser basin, a fox that came right up to our campsite, a black bear with two cubs on the road up to Roosevelt Lodge, a cinnamon black bear with a cub, and even two grizzly bears near Mammoth Hot Springs!

We stayed at two campsites in the park. At each, we stayed for three nights.

Our first three were spent at Bridge Bay Campground near Yellowstone Lake. Our camp was still half covered in a foot of snow when we arrived! But this spot provided us with all we could have asked for and more. Even a red fox came to visit us here!

It was the wildest animal encounter I think I've ever had. Let me preface this story by telling you that we are firm followers of Leave No Trace and do not feed wildlife. Nor do we get close to wildlife if we can ever control the situation. Ross had just made dinner, and we were eating and sitting by the fire. It had rained off and on all day (as it did every day we were there). The biggest red fox I had ever seen spooked us as it wandered very close to our campsite and attempted to climb onto our picnic table to help itself to our dinner! I was shocked. Ross immediately shooed it away, and it scampered back to the forest's edge. It attempted to do this multiple times until finally resolving to occupy the empty site next to us. While crouched next to the picnic table only about 20 yards away from us, this fox sprung into action on a hunt for a nearby squirrel. We ran around the truck immediately to see if the fox was successful, and the fox secured the squirrel! The fox ran across the campground and into the woods to reap the rewards of its kill. Sadly, the squirrel was with two other ones previous to the murder. And these other two squirrels cried for hours that followed their friend's death. It was an actual display of nature. This short snippet of our stay at that campsite was a highlight.

We stayed another three nights at Madison Campground near West Yellowstone. This campsite was so lovely! And the last night we were there, we had a fire as the rain subsided for a few hours in the evening. Madison Campground is a way out from any gas station or central hub in the park, so we were sure to have everything we might need when we arrived.

We visited one priority spot each morning and left our campsite by 7:30 at the latest. We both saw this recommendation online and were glad we took the advice. Arriving at Old Faithful Inn, the Grand Prismatic, Grant Geyser Basin, and many other famous spots early let us enjoy our walks, have space to take great photos, and not have to stress about finding a parking spot.

We only missed one priority spot and replaced that stop with a sweet spot near Yellowstone Lake, the West Thumb! Ross has a unique tie to this spot; it was so cool to let him relive some of those memories from years ago.

We had a trip that we will remember for the rest of our lives! Yellowstone National Park is a bucket list place I think that everyone has to experience at least one time. I want to go back already.

If you are interested in getting our trip itinerary, check out our Etsy page to purchase one! The link to the pdf documents is here. If you are interested in adding in any of your information on these, feel free to message me for the Canva link!

We got to see Yellowstone Lake have ice on it, and by the time we left, it was all gone. The crowds were not at full force yet, and the weather was beautiful. The highs were in the 80s on the hottest day, and the lows got down into the 20s one night.

Save your PTO and your money, and take time to experience Yellowstone for yourself!

Be inspired + go!

- Following the Fernweh