On our 3rd day in Yellowstone we woke up early and went to Hayden Valley. This was our longest driving day. We made sure to have all of our own food and drinks with us. I would recommend bringing some binoculars, we forgot them on this trip! On our drive up to the Valley we passed Elk on the side of the road. We drove alongside the Yellowstone River for many miles. Stopped at LeHardy’s rapids, walked down the boardwalk. We were out so early that it was so quiet outside and not a lot of cars were on the road yet. This is the best time for us to go exploring.
After driving for a bit we arrived at Hayden Valley. Looking over the green valley just takes your breath away. I don’t think I had ever seen so many Bison like this before. There were so many cute babies running around. Then you see the big Bison crossing the street right in front of you and its just amazing. Such a beautiful country up there.
After Hayden Valley we drove on up to Mammoth Hot-springs. Another great place! We stopped at the Main Terraces and walked around the boardwalk. We then drove down into the cute little town. This is the only place that you can actually get a good cell signal. I walked around the town and all the buildings. There are so many Elk walking around I guess this is where they kind of hang out. The Rangers will walk around and put Danger Elk signs out to be careful around them and to stay the correct amount of distance away from them. They are wild animals after all.
We left Mammoth Hot Springs and started heading to Lamar Valley where we were hoping to spot some wild Bears and Wolves. We stopped along the way and had a nice picnic by a river. As we approached Lamar Valley we drove through the mountains with many wildflowers, rivers, Bison but still did not see any Bears or Wolves. When we finally arrived in Lamar valley it’s another green valley full of Bisons and rivers. We stopped and tried to see if we could spot anything out there but everyone said the Wolves stay close to the tree line which is super far away. We stopped and took in the beautiful scenery then decided to head back to the campsite since its few hours drive away.
On our drive back we went back a different route to see more of the park. We stopped at We stopped at a few places along the way to our campsite just to do some more exploring. There is so much to see and do in this National Park that you could really never see the same thing twice if you really didn’t want to. What another fantastic day exploring the new areas of this National Park.