Top Year-Round Activities to Add to Your Yellowstone Bucket List!
Yellowstone National Park is known for boasting its fair share of natural wonders, and the East Entrance is close to some of the most iconic. Because the park is so vast, the park has five different entrances, and you’ll most likely want to explore activities close to your gate. Check out some of our favorite items to add to your Yellowstone Bucket List!
Explore more things to do in the neighboring town of Cody, Wyoming. With plenty of nature and wildlife to explore there, you’ll want to snag a few more items for your bucket list. Request a copy of our free online Vacation Guide to get started planning your trip.
Winter
Yellowstone Snowcoach Tour
The beauty of a Yellowstone Winter cannot be understated. Seeing the majestic park closed, blanketed in snow, and yet still alive with the sounds of nature is truly a bucket list item. A snow coach or dogsled tour is a must if you want to feel the thrill of a tour without doing any work.
Cross-country ski
You can plan a ski trip during the winter to fly past geysers across the hundreds of miles of cross-country trails. Many are interconnected allowing you to skillfully sightsee without the crowds. Trails vary in difficulty so do be careful when planning a trip. If you are concerned about going alone, you can book a guided trip.
Fall
Visit Old Faithful*
The famous geyser (largest regular geyser in Yellowstone) is available to see year-round, but fall is a great time to see it before the roads close and after the tour groups die down. Erupting once every 90 minutes for about five minutes, we recommend watching it during daylight as it can be a bit difficult to see at night.
Hayden Valley*
The fall is the time of the “rut” where animals fight each other for the privilege to mate. This is a great time to visit the wildlife at Hayden Valley before the snowfalls.
Summer
The Grand Canyon*
No, not *that* Grand Canyon, but the Yellowstone Grand Canyon is a beautiful sight to behold. Carved by the Yellowstone River, the Grand Canyon is over 1,000 feet deep and has a beautiful waterfall to behold.
Avalanche Peak
The Avalanche Peak is a fantastic trail that gives you a birds’ eye view of the Park. Feel inspired as you take in sights of the Middle Creek, Sylvan Pass, and Yellowstone Lake from atop the summit.
Spring
Grand Prismatic Spring
Honestly, the most “alien” attraction in the park, Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in the United States (third globally) glowing with a multicolor ring due to its high acidic content. While it spews out water, it is not a geyser because the water’s trip to the surface is unimpeded. Make sure to not touch the Spring as the water is very hot!
Go Fishing in Yellowstone Lake
The largest lake above 7,000 ft in North America, Yellowstone Lake is a great spot to go trout fishing! The season starts in late May and runs until November, and you will need a license to fish there. There are two native species of cutthroat trout found in the lake along with several non-native species of brown, rainbow, brook, and lake trout.
Make sure to read all regulations before fishing!
*denotes year-round
Browse Cody Lodging Rentals Near the East Entrance to Yellowstone
Cody Lodging offers a wide variety of rental homes near the East Entrance to Yellowstone. Choose from secluded, wild-west-reminiscent cabins, or modern retreats with surrounding mountain vistas like you won’t believe. Browse our selection of Cody rental properties near Yellowstone to plan your Wyoming getaway today! We look forward to hosting your exploration through Yellowstone.
