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RV Lifestyle guide
Top 8 Hiking locations in Yellowstone National Park
byRV Lifestyle and
Michal Ben-Ari and
Mike Wendland and
Wendy Bowyer
Live update: Updated October 19, 2021Copy link
Copy link1. Fairy Falls Trail Parking Lot
PEOPLE ARE SAYING:
RV LifestyleLess than a mile down the road from the Midway Geyser Basin parking area is a parking area for Fairy Falls. While the actual out and back hike for Fairy Falls is about 5 miles, you can go partially up the trail for about half a mile to get to an observation point for Grand Prismatic Spring.
This is a really great lookout and there are usually less people than the Midway Geyser Basin boardwalk.
If you want to complete the full hike to Fairy Falls, you’ll be rewarded with views of Fairy Creek plunging 200 feet down over the edge of the plateau into a small grotto below.
To learn more about RVing through Yellowstone, head to our website:
https://rvlifestyle.com/yellowstone-geysers-and-thermals/
2. Fairy Falls
PEOPLE ARE SAYING:RV LifestyleLess than a mile down the road from the Midway Geyser Basin parking area is a parking area for Fairy Falls. While the actual out and back hike for Fairy Falls is about 5 miles, you can go partially up the trail for about half a mile to get to an observation point for Grand Prismatic Spring.
This is a really great lookout and there are usually less people than the Midway Geyser Basin boardwalk.
If you want to complete the full hike to Fairy Falls, you’ll be rewarded with views of Fairy Creek plunging 200 feet down over the edge of the plateau into a small grotto below.
To read more about RVing through Yellowstone, head to our website:
https://rvlifestyle.com/yellowstone-geysers-and-thermals/
3. Natural Bridge Trailhead
PEOPLE ARE SAYING:RV LifestyleIn Bridge Bay, a must-do hike is the Natural Bridge Trail. The trailhead is located in the Bridge Bay Marina parking lot near the Bridge Bay campground entrance road.
This trail is an easy 1.2 mile (2.4 miles round-trip) path that takes you through the woods back to a masterpiece of natural architecture.
The natural bridge is a 51-foot high intact arch of rock that has been carved out by the eroding forces of water.
To read more of our Yellowstone recommendations, head to our website: https://rvlifestyle.com/best-campgrounds-near-yellowstone-lake/
4. West Thumb Geyser Basin Trail
PEOPLE ARE SAYING:RV LifestyleWest Thumb got its name because Yellowstone Lake resembles the shape of a human hand. West Thumb is the large western bay that would be the thumb.
The most famous hydrothermal feature at West Thumb is a geyser on the lakeshore known as Fishing Cone. Early visitors used to joke that you could catch a fish in the lake and then dunk it directly in boiling water to make dinner.
Other interesting features include Big Cone, the deep turquoise blue Abyss Pool, and the Thumb Paint Pots.
The boardwalk is an easy 1/2-mile loop on the shores of Yellowstone Lake.
There are two short day hikes in West Thumb as well.
In the parking area, you can go to the left side of the geyser basin and pick up the trailhead for Duck Lake. It’s about 0.8 miles round-trip.
Across the road is another trailhead, this one for Lake Overlook. It’s about 1.5 miles roundtrip.
The Lake Overlook trail gains about 400 feet of elevation and gives you a commanding view of Yellowstone Lake and the distant snow-capped Absaroka Mountains.
To read more recommendations for Yellowstone, head to our website: https://rvlifestyle.com/best-campgrounds-near-yellowstone-lake/
5. Grand Prismatic Spring
PEOPLE ARE SAYING:RV LifestyleFrom the Madison Campground, it’s about a 20 min drive to Midway Geyser Basin. This is a quick, compact boardwalk hike but it packs a punch in Grand Prismatic Spring.
If you’ve only seen one photo from Yellowstone it was probably Grand Prismatic Spring.
At 120 feet deep and 370 feet in diameter it is the largest hot spring in the US and the 3rd largest in the world.
Apart from its size, the Spring’s dramatic rainbow colors give it a surreal appearance.
To learn more about the spring, and all about RVing through Yellowstone, head to our website:
https://rvlifestyle.com/yellowstone-geysers-and-thermals/
6. Yellowstone National Park
PEOPLE ARE SAYING:RV LifestyleYellowstone holds the planet’s most diverse and intact collection of geysers, hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles (the small openings where hot sulfurous gases are coming out).
The more than 300 geysers here make up two-thirds of all those found on earth.
Combine this with more than 10,000 thermal features comprised of brilliantly colored hot springs, bubbling mud pots, and steaming fumaroles, and you have a place like no other.
Yellowstone’s vast collection of thermal features provides a constant reminder of the park’s recent volcanic past.
To learn more about RVing through Yellowstone, head to our website:
https://rvlifestyle.com/yellowstone-geysers-and-thermals/
7. Mystic Falls
PEOPLE ARE SAYING:RV LifestyleWe highly recommend a hike to Mystic Falls.
The falls cascade majestically down 70-feet with two sections and over several steps. From the bottom of the falls you can also hike to an overlook where it feels like the entire Upper Geyser Basin is under your domain!
This hike is about 3.5 miles roundtrip. When we did it we were surprised by how winded we were. That’s because of the altitude.
To learn more about RVing through Yellowstone, head to our website:
https://rvlifestyle.com/yellowstone-geysers-and-thermals/
8. Biscuit Basin Geyser
PEOPLE ARE SAYING:RV LifestyleFurther down the road and just before Old Faithful, there are two short boardwalk hikes with beautiful
features, Black Sand Basin and Biscuit Basin.
At Biscuit Basin you can enjoy views of Black Opal Pool, Jewel Geyser, and several springs but the real beauty is the deep blue hue of Sapphire Pool.
When you’re on the Biscuit Basin boardwalk, you have the option to complete the loop or continue on the trail for about another mile.
If you do, you’ll enjoy the terrific views of Mystic Falls!
To learn more about RVing through Yellowstone, head to our website:
https://rvlifestyle.com/yellowstone-geysers-and-thermals/
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