another great and often overlooked stop is Norris Geyser Basin. lots of geysers here that erupt frequently and plenty of other activity. Norris Geyser Basin Tour - Yellowstone National Park (U.S. National Park Service) you'll get tired of the busloads of Asian tourists, JAMS - i.e. bear jams, elk jams, bison jams, deer jams and yes even squirrel jam - OMG it's a damned squirrel! move on down the road already! and people acting stupid in general. I'll never forget being at midway geyser basin on the boardwalk one day. there are signs everywhere. yes water is boiling hot do not touch the water, do not get off the boardwalk, etc. it's actually quite dangerous, all things considered. anyway, some Asian tourists were squatted down, looking in the boiling water, yacking to themselves... one sticks his finger in and immediately pulls it away exclaiming! I can see them arguing, even though I don't know what they are saying, but I can tell his buddy didn't believe him... then his buddy sticks his whole hand in the water! dude came unglued as he pulled his beet red hand out of the sulphurous hot water and ran screaming back to the parking area. I assume he probably needed to be treated for burns. funny, but not really a laughing matter.
Wolf watching - if you ever see a few cars pulled over and knots of people at the side of the road with their huge spotting scopes looking at something in the distance, stop and be polite and ask them what they are lookin at... if they says wolves, you hit the jackpot! most people are really friendly and eager to share what they know and will even let ya peek through their scope. the wife and I were in the NE corner of the park one 4th of july morning several years ago and had stopped at such a knot of people on a knob on the road to slough creek. we stopped and walked over to the group and asked what they were looking at... 'well, we have been looking at wolves all morning, but they already went back to their den'... 'oh really?' 'yes, they will come out again this evening though if you want a good look at them tonight.' 'wow! thanks!' we went on our day and that evening were trying to decide whether to try to drive 100+ miles one way @ the park speed limit of 45mph to go see fireworks or... hey! lets go check out the wolves! long story short, it was awesome... there were 50 people gathered up on that knob at dusk... waiting... scopes aimed across the valley... then... !!howling!! as they gathered up to leave the den area... then dots moving down the mountainside to an elk carcass they had supposedly killed the day before. moms even brought their pups out from the den area and they played around. it was the most memorable 4th of july I've ever had. /cool story bro... I'll shutup now, but you're going to have a blast!
Whatever you do, don't go eat at the Mural Room at Jackson Lake Lodge. Way overpriced. The food was nothing special. The view was pretty awesome though at sunset.
I was thinking the same thing, you can pick me up as well Best advice I can give is to take your time, have fun and take lots of pictures. Watch for cars pulled off to the side of the road, it usually indicates there is some form of wildlife nearby. If it's bears close to the road there will usually be a ranger nearby....listen to them and it'll keep you out of harms way. Don't be surprised if you get caught in a "bison/buffalo jam" happens a lot, it's their home and they have the right of way. Keep your distance from all wildlife believe me bears and bison move faster than you think. Look for and ask where any recent carcasses might be, you'll probably find bears and wolves nearby. Speaking of bears be sure and have bear spray with you. Don
Here's some pictures of some of my favorite spots. I'd love to have more time to spend there where I would have been able to explore some of the backcountry. Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Mammoth Hot Springs. Grand Prismatic Spring(you might want to make this a later in the day spot. We went early in the AM and it was hard to see with all the steam coming of due to the cold air temps.). I believe this was Norris Geyser Basin. The badlands
