What To Expect On A Road Trip To Yellowstone National Park

It's 621.8 miles from St. George to Yellowstone National Park.

The state of Utah has five National Parks inside its borders, so why would anyone drive 622 miles to see Yellowstone?

Why indeed.

Read More Here: Best Food For The Road From Utah

My wife and I packed up my Toyota truck and made the trek last week.

I'd been to Yellowstone, but it's been more than 40 years, and my wife had never been there, so we were going into the trip not sure what to expect.

We were blown away.

I've spent plenty of time in Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP and Capital Reef NP, and recently visited Arches and Canyonlands.

All of these parks are amazing and have so much to offer. But -- dare I say -- there's a reason Yellowstone is considered the ultimate National Park.

Yellowstone Variety

There was so much variety -- wild animals, waterfalls, hot springs, cliffs and mountains, vast forests, geysers and traffic. Lots of traffic.

Our first day in the park we left early, as advised by friends, but a couple of incidents with family put us in the park later in the morning, which put us smack dab in the middle of heavy National Park traffic.

The crowds and traffic were large, especially when there was a wild animal near the road (we saw bears, bison and elk, but only one moose).

Two Big Draws

And it seemed everyone was there for the big two attractions -- Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic.

The former, Old Faithful, was cool, but somewhat underwhelming. I'm told the geyser has been getting less intense over recent years, plus there was literally 2,000 people there to witness the eruption.

Grand Prismatic (pictured below) is a hot springs area in which the soil and even the water in some places has been discolored by minerals.

There weren't quite as many people there, but it was still pretty crowded.

Northern Loop

The best part of Yellowstone was when we went back a few days later, just my wife and me, and explored the Northern Loop of Yellowstone.

We saw so many waterfalls, plus naturally formed hexagonal columns, obsidian cliffs and even a Grizzly Bear (we were in our car and it was 150 yards away).

We also took some time to visit Grand Teton National Park, which was barely an hour from Yellowstone, though not nearly as impressive.

So was it worth it, especially with all the great parks near us.

Absolutely. Not for Old Faithful, or Grand Prismatic, but rather for the vast variety that Yellowstone offers (we even went to a comedy/dinner show at Yellowstone Playhouse).

It's a long drive (around 10 hours), but do it if you can. Yellowstone delivers in spades.