Yellowstone National Park: Day 3

On the third day in Yellowstone we got to get up close and personal with more hot springs!

DAY 3: NORTHWESTERN QUADRANT

• Grand Prismatic Springs
• Mammoth Hot Springs
• North Entrance

Grand Prismatic Springs

Amazing. This place was such an amazing site. The Grand Prismatic Springs can be hard to get to due to lack of parking, but is definitely worth the walk if you have to park far away.

The springs are HUGE. It spans such a large area that a single picture really cannot capture it. There is a about a mile hike up the hill next to it if you want more of a bird’s eye view, but we really enjoyed just walking along the boardwalk.

Along the boardwalk, there are a few smaller springs that are just as interesting, even if they aren’t as colorful or large.

I really loved the Excelsior Geyser because it was such a beautiful blue. Having that shade of blue contrast with the white was beautiful.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Enter in the incredible Mammoth Hot Springs! Towering white pools of boiling water that make up a large hill that has been visited for centuries. The area of these hot springs feels more like a vacation spot than anywhere else in the park. With its cute shopping areas and restaurants it feels like walking back in time.

After we ate lunch at one of the counter-service restaurants, we ended up getting a huckleberry sucker for the road and headed out to the springs!

The springs have a boardwalk area to keep visitors off of the springs themselves, as they are very delicate. This also allows for an up close view of the springs and a wide view of the Mammoth Springs area.

North Entrance

We couldn’t miss the iconic North Entrance of the park! With its stone arch, it is easily a landmark itself.

It was such a pretty drive to the arch from Mammoth Springs. It had vast prairie grasses and small rolling hills. The hills had plenty of yellow wildflowers making it such a joy to drive to.

We really enjoyed this area of the park and definitely recommend it to others thinking of exploring Yellowstone!

Much love,

Chelsea

Read about our other days here: 1 / 2 / 4 / 5