If You Have 1 or 2 Days

If you are pinched for time and have only 1 or 2 days to tour Yellowstone, here's an itinerary that highlights the best of the best. If you'll be spending the night, your best bets are to reserve a room at either Old Faithful Inn or the Lake Yellowstone Hotel -- if those are booked, try the new Old Faithful Snow Lodge, or get a campsite at Norris or Indian Creek.

The quickest route to the inner road loops of the park is by the west entrance road, so come in that way, stopping perhaps for a stroll along the banks of the Madison River, where you can see the forest recovering from the 1988 fires. You'll also spot wildlife: ducks and trumpeter swans on the river, and grazing elk and bison. Turn north at Madison Junction to Norris Geyser Basin, where there are two boardwalk tours; take the southern one if you're in a hurry.

You're now driving the upper loop, which goes north to Mammoth Hot Springs, east to Tower-Roosevelt, south to Canyon Village, and west again to Norris, finally returning to Madison Junction, a circuit of about 85 miles (or 3 hr. of driving minimum). If you go south, rather than west, at Canyon Village, you'll be on the southern loop, which will take you to Fishing Bridge and Lake Village, then by West Thumb, west over Craig Pass to Old Faithful, and back to the Madison Junction. The entire lower loop covers 96 miles (another 3 hr. in the car, at the very least).

Altogether, this 2-day circuit is called the Grand Loop, taking you through all the major areas of the park except the road between Norris and Canyon Village. You could do it in a day -- it's less than 200 miles long -- but you'd scare a lot of other travelers as you sped by.

The Upper Loop

If you're pressed for time, the Norris Geyser Basin is a major concentration of thermal attractions, and also has a nice museum explaining the park's red-hot underpinnings. Mammoth has one of the park's major attractions, the ever-growing terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs. In addition to the natural attraction, the Albright Visitor Center provides excellent historical background for everything you see in the park. There is a fine old hotel at Mammoth and lodging just outside the park in Gardiner, too; but I recommend that you continue farther around the loop on your first day.

From Mammoth, the route winds through forested areas that lead to the edge of the Lamar Valley, a deep, rounded path for the Lamar River that is a prime haven for wolves, bison, elk, and grizzly bears. Otherwise, you can continue south to Yellowstone's Grand Canyon, one of the most dramatic sights in the park.

The Lower Loop

This is the better way to go if you have only a day. You'll also see the two largest geyser areas in Yellowstone -- Norris, to the north, and the park's signature attraction, Old Faithful, to the south. On the eastern side of this route, you'll find the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Hayden Valley, where you'll often find a grazing herd of buffalo. Farther south, the Yellowstone Lake offers fishing, boating, and places for picnicking on the shore.