At 2.2 million acres, Yellowstone National Park is the second-largest park in the lower 48, behind the 3.4 million acres of Death Valley National Park.
One of the main concerns visitors to the park face is how to navigate and travel through the park. The park service doesn’t provide any official shuttle services for the park, so it’s good to plan ahead and know where you’re headed. Luckily, there are plenty of accessible routes through the park to make sure your trip is a success!
With five entrances and hundreds of miles of roads, navigating the park can be a breeze with just a bit of know-how and preparation.
As you plan your trip to Yellowstone, discover which park entrance makes the most sense for you and learn how to utilize the Yellowstone Grand Loop to get to all the iconic attractions!
Five Entrances
Yellowstone is accessible through five entrances, three in Montana and two in Wyoming. Each lets you approach the park from a different angle and provides their own unique advantages. They all lead to the central road of the park, called the “Grand Loop,” which will help you travel to all the hallmark features in the park.
- North Entrance: The only gate that is open year-round, located right next to Gardiner, Montana. 10 minutes from the entrance booth to the Grand Loop. Nearest attraction is Mammoth Hot Springs
- West Entrance: The most popular entrance, located right next to West Yellowstone, Montana. 20 minutes from the entrance booth to the Grand Loop. This entrance puts your right in the middle of geyser territory.
- South Entrance: Located over an hour away from Jackson, Wyoming, but also puts you in range of Teton National Park if you’re hoping to get two national parks in one trip! 30-40 minutes from the entrance booth to the Grand Loop.
- East Entrance: Located about an hour away from Cody, Wyoming, this entrance brings you right to Yellowstone Lake. 30 minutes from the entrance booth to the Grand Loop.
- Northeast Entrance: This entrance is only five minutes away from Silvergate, Montana. On the 45 minute drive from the entrance booth to the Grand Loop, you’ll wind through Lamar Valley and have amazing opportunities to view Yellowstone’s wildlife.
Grand Loop Road
The Grand Loop Road winds for 142 miles through the park and is broken up into a figure-8 shape, creating an “Upper Loop” and “Lower Loop.” The upper loop takes about 2 hours to travel and the lower around 2 hours and 45 minutes.
Each of the park’s five entrances will lead you to the Grand Loop, although some entrances are closer to the loop than others.
The loops provide easy access to many of the park’s most iconic landmarks, such as Old Faithful and Yellowstone Lake.
Don’t miss these six hydrothermal hotspots to visit along the road!
On the Road
Because there are multiple gas and EV charging stations throughout the park, getting stranded on the road shouldn’t be a problem. If you experience trouble with your vehicle, there are several service stations throughout the park that offer towing and auto repair services.
Note that the top speed limit is 45 mph throughout the park, with many slower limits in popular areas. The slow speed is meant to protect both wildlife and visitors as drivers navigate the park.
More likely than not, you will experience “bison jams” or “bear jams” on your drive. These are caused by either wildlife in the road or tourists stopping their cars to get a look at wildlife in the distance. Pack your patience and remember to always stay at least 100 yards away from bears and wolves, and at least 25 yards away from all other animals, including bison and elk.
Drivers should never park in the road or block traffic when trying to view wildlife, unless a ranger is directing you to do so. Use pullouts to watch wildlife or, where space is permitted, ensure that both tires are over the white line and not blocking the lane of traffic.
Our last tip is to be sure to either download offline maps on your phone or utilize the maps at the entrance booths, as cell phone coverage in the park is severely limited. If your party is split between two vehicles, we recommend investing in walkie-talkies or radios to coordinate while in the park.
Visit the official Yellowstone Directions & Transportation page for more information
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