Yellowstone National Park is a 2,219,789-acre wilderness area in the western United States, located in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. Established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act, it was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1978. The park is rich in cultural and historical resources, with 25 sites, landmarks, and districts on the National Register of Historic Places.
One of the park’s most popular landmarks is the Old Faithful Geyser, which is one of the most popular and impressive sites at Yellowstone. The park is also known for its wildlife and is considered the first national park in the U.S. and widely held to be the first national park in the world.
The park comprises 3,500 square miles, with the majority of its territory being part of the northwestern corner of Wyoming. There are 19 properties and districts listed on the National Register in the park, five of which are National Historic Landmarks.
Following its designation as a national park in 1872, Yellowstone faced numerous challenges, including poaching and poaching-related issues. The park spans nearly 3,500 square miles and features picturesque mountain landscapes and some of the most iconic natural attractions in the country.
📹 I visited the Yellowstone Zone of Death
To save you doing the research, my location while recording this was approximately 44.14 N, 111.05 W. I got three mosquito bites …
Is Yellowstone considered a mountain?
The Yellowstone Caldera, a 45-mile-long and 28-mile-wide mountain, is characterized by a pronounced decline into the caldera basin, which constitutes the majority of the Yellowstone region. Mount Washburn, which features two hiking trails, has an elevation of 10, 243 feet. The Gallatin Mountain Range, situated at the northwest extremity of Yellowstone National Park, is readily accessible via trailheads situated along US 191 between West Yellowstone and Big Sky, Montana.
Is Yellowstone considered active?
Yellowstone is a massive active volcano, with geysers and hot springs visible around it. Scientists monitor the “supervolcano” to determine the likelihood of an eruption. The first major eruption occurred 2. 1 million years ago, covering over 5, 790 square miles with ash. The most recent major eruption occurred 640, 000 years ago, causing the ground to collapse into the magma reservoir, leaving a giant caldera. Subsequent lava flows filled the caldera, measuring 30 x 45 miles, which is now visible on modern park maps.
What is Yellowstone classified?
Yellowstone National Park is an active supervolcano, with geysers and hot springs indicating the churning activity below the surface. The term “supervolcano” implies an eruption of magnitude 8 on the Volcano Explosivity Index, indicating more than 1, 000 cubic kilometers of magma. Yellowstone has had at least three such eruptions, 2. 1 million years ago, 1. 2 million years ago, and 640, 000 years ago, which were about 6, 000, 700, and 2, 500 times larger than the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mt.
St. Helens in Washington State. The last eruption occurred 640, 000+ years ago, when the eruption area collapsed, creating a sunken giant crater or caldera 1, 500 square miles in area. The magmatic heat powering that eruption and two others, dating back 2. 1 million years, still powers the park’s famous geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and mud pots.
What category is Yellowstone?
The American TV series Yellowstone, a Neo-Western drama, was created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson. The cast includes Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Cole Hauser, Kelsey Asbille, Brecken Merrill, Jefferson White, Danny Huston, Gil Birmingham, Forrie J. Smith, Denim Richards, Ian Bohen, Finn Little, Ryan Bingham, Wendy Moniz, Jennifer Landon, Kathryn Kelly, Moses Brings Plenty, and Linson Entertainment, Bosque Ranch Productions, Treehouse Films, 101 Studios, and MTV Entertainment Studios.
What type of land is Yellowstone?
Yellowstone Lake, located at an elevation of 7, 733 feet (2, 357 m), is the largest high-elevation lake in North America. The park is primarily composed of forests, with the Continental Divide running through its southwestern part. Established in 1872, it is the first national park in the U. S. and widely considered the first national park globally. The park is known for its wildlife and geothermal features, including the popular Old Faithful geyser. The subalpine forest is the most abundant biome in the park, part of the South Central Rockies forests ecoregion.
Organized exploration of the Yellowstone region began in the late 1860s, with management and control falling under the jurisdiction of the U. S. Department of the Interior. The park was later transferred to the National Park Service in 1917. Over a thousand indigenous archaeological sites have been examined. Yellowstone National Park spans 3, 468. 4 sq mi (8, 983 km2) and includes lakes, canyons, rivers, and mountain ranges.
It is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest super volcano on the continent, which has erupted with tremendous force several times in the last two million years. Lava flows and rocks from volcanic eruptions cover most of the land area.
The park is the centerpiece of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the largest remaining nearly intact ecosystem in the Earth’s northern temperate zone. In 1978, Yellowstone was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Why is Yellowstone a national park?
The United States’ inaugural national park, established by an act of Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant, is dedicated to the preservation and protection of the region’s natural beauty, cultural heritage, wildlife, geologic and ecological systems for the benefit and enjoyment of both present and future generations.
What makes a national landmark?
National Historic Landmarks are buildings, sites, districts, structures, and objects that have been designated by the Secretary of the Interior as nationally significant in American history and culture. These landmarks are often the most renowned historic properties in the nation and demonstrate exceptional value in interpreting the heritage of the United States in history, architecture, archeology, technology, and culture. They possess a high degree of integrity in location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, and meet one or more criteria:
- They are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad national patterns of United States history;
- They are associated with the lives of nationally significant persons in the history of the United States;
- They represent some great idea or ideal of the American people;
- They embody the distinguishing characteristics of an architectural type specimen exceptionally valuable for the study of a period, style, or method of construction;
- They are composed of integral parts of the environment not sufficiently significant by reason of historical association or artistic merit to warrant individual recognition but collectively compose an entity of exceptional historical or artistic significance;
- They have yielded or may be likely to yield information of major scientific importance by revealing new cultures or shedding light on periods of occupation over large areas of the United States.
Typically, cemeteries, birthplaces, graves of historical figures, properties owned by religious institutions, structures moved from their original locations, reconstructed historic buildings, and properties that have achieved significance within the past 50 years are not eligible for designation.
Is Yellowstone a national landmark?
Fort Yellowstone is a significant landmark under National Landmark criteria, serving as the headquarters of the U. S. Army during its administration of Yellowstone National Park. Established in 1872 as the nation’s first national park, the park was underfunded and understaffed for fourteen years. The military established a headquarters tent camp at Mammoth Hot Springs, which evolved into Camp Sheridan and Fort Yellowstone.
This marked the military’s longest and most extensive presence in Yellowstone, with no other park having an official army fort. The military defended wildlife and protected geothermal and other natural features from vandalism and destruction.
What is Yellowstone considered as?
Yellowstone, the world’s first national park, was established in 1872 by Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant. Located at the intersection of the Great Plains, Great Basin, and Columbia Plateau, the park has a rich history of Native American people living, hunting, fishing, gathering plants, quarrying obsidian, and using thermal water for religious and medicinal purposes. The first people to call Yellowstone home were the land’s first conservationists.
What counts as a landmark?
Landmarks are structures that have a special character, historical or aesthetic interest, or value, and are customarily open or accessible to the public. They can be individual landmarks, such as structures like the Woolworth Building or the Cyclone roller coaster in Coney Island, or interior landmarks, such as the Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia Airport or the Empire State Building lobby. Scenic landmarks, on the other hand, are city-owned parks or landscape features, such as Prospect Park, Central Park, and Ocean Parkway. These landmarks are part of the development, heritage, or cultural characteristics of a city, state, or nation.
Is Yellowstone still a national park?
Yellowstone National Park, established in 1872, is one of the most popular national parks in the United States, with millions of annual visitors. The park offers unique experiences such as spectacular hiking trails, beautiful views, Old Faithful, and geysers shooting water 100 feet into the air. Known for its colorful hot springs, mudpots, and breathtaking waterfalls, Yellowstone is one of the largest national parks in the US, spanning almost 3, 500 miles and extending into Montana and Idaho. News magazines initially responded with “Thank you, but we do not print fiction”.
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That is so nuts, I have fished the Idaho section of Yellowstone a few times, and am a lawyer, and I had no idea about this. Aside from making sure I carried both my Wyoming and Idaho fishing licenses and a handgun (bears are a real concern for anglers there), I wasn’t thinking about the law; in fact, those mountains are where I go to escape thinking about the law!
back in college, A few buddies and I drove up to the belcher ranger station and then hiked up to Dunanda falls, the few people we met on the trail were some of the nicest people I have ever met. It’s probably safe to assume they were so pleasant because they had just finished murdering their worst enemies.
I think if anyone actually tried to get away with murder via this loophole, the federal government would try to “Al Capone” them. The prosecution would try to charge you with any and all potential crimes you committed outside the zone, e.g. conspiracy, or kidnapping (if you took someone there against their will) and make sure you got the maximum sentence on every single one of them. I think it would be close to impossible to commit murder inside the zone without committing any crimes before/after which could get you a custodial sentence.
Long, long ago there was a small triangle of land in northern California that had accidentally been left out of all of the surrounding cities and counties. When this was discovered, there were casinos and brothels opened, as well as kids going there to get drunk. It was called “No Man’s Land” but sometime around 1955 they changed it and shut everything down.
In England there is still a Law (going back many many centuries) which states that it is legal to kill a Scotsman within the City Walls of York as long as he is armed with a bow and arrow at the time. The city walls still exist and the Law has never been formally repealed. This loophole was explored ( theoretically at least, down the pub) during the tenure of a particularly unpopular Prime Minister, Gordon Brown who was a Scot. Elaborate schemes were devised to lure him to York, thrust a bow and arrow into his hands when he was unawares, and then hurray! Open season.
A few laws to consider in Montana and Wyoming (though I’m unsure about Idaho) are the legal right to shoot somebody if they refuse to leave your property, and that it’s still legal to hang someone if they steal your horse. This might only be legal in one state or be split between the two, but there are stories of unwelcome company being legally killed over things like marital affairs.
My son and I went hiking through here last summer after perusal this… Just because… (He lives only a couple of hours away). There is a reed-filled lake in there with about a billion moquitos per sqare meter, which were the only beings we ancountered except for the occasional squirrel and some sandhill cranes. We didn’t see another soul out or back for the four hours. We then drove around to the west entrance of the park (about 2 hours from the “zone” entrance) and endured nearly as many humans as the moquitos. BTW, as isolated as this section is and so little traffic, the chances of somebody hanging out in the zone just waiting for an unsuspecting hiker to eventually show up and give them opportunity to commit the perfect crime is not worth any worry. There are many more effective and eficient ways to be evil if so incluned.
Not far from where I used to live there was a lot of what was referred to by the locals as “no man’s land”. Essentially, it was just out of OPP jurisdiction as well as the local police. In this case, the RCMP were responsible for the area, but the nearest detachment was hours away. It’s not like you couldn’t be charged for a crime, but the likelihood of ever being caught was slim to none. Especially if there were no living witnesses and you buried the evidence. The area is absolutely massive, and almost completely untouched save for old logging access roads. I used to explore up there in my truck until I crossed a lived in mobile home trailer that looked like something out of a Rob Zombie film. I never really took the warnings seriously until that moment, never again did I journey into no man’s land.
There was another area like that in Utah. Between Roosevelt and Vernal Utah there is now a little town area called “Gusher”. But back in the days of the Wild Wild West – it was known simply as “The Strip”. Duschene County and Uintah County both declined authority and jurisdiction of The Strip and because of this… The Strip became THE PLACE TO GO to let your hair down, drink, gamble, and spend sometime with the soiled doves at a large white house that is still standing today, just off of Highway 40. There was more than a few gun fights, duels, what have you. If there was a real problem there… the Army would be called in and the famous Buffalo Soldiers stationed near by at Fort Duschene on the Ute Indian reservation would come in and take care of it. The Strip was a famous location on the infamous OUTLAW TRAIL.
I have another fun legal technicality. A few years back, Nik Wallenda did a tightrope walk across Niagara Falls. The route started in the US and ended in Canada. It was televised, and when he got to the Canadian side, he did have to show his passport to the border authorities. Of course, maybe they hammed it up a bit for TV, but as far as I know, the law still applied in that case.
“Don’t appeal the zone of death issue” is a major red flag in itself. The fact is they know there’s a problem, and that it’s a huge problem, but just choose the “if i don’t look at it, it’s not there” approach is essentially admitting that you could get away with a crime in the zone edit: My point is that prosecutors know there’s an issue there and don’t want to create a precedent that establishes it as lawless by pursuing it, not that the prosecutors themselves are in charge of that. If they wanted to expedite fixing it, prosecuting a case within the scope of the zone of death technicality would absolutely do that. It would be a major headache, but it would help
I love technicalities! Was on a jury once for someone pulled over in a work zone for speeding. He tried saying he was past the work zone when he was speeding at 11pm. The lawyer did say that signs were posted, but never mentioned if anyone was actually working at 11pm. The law states that it for it to be a work zone, it must have signs AND workers present…. we really didnt have much to go one though.
I feel like the most likely crime to be committed in a place like that would be either poaching, illegal logging, or littering, something that doesn’t necessarily require more than one person to be involved (which would make it a conspiracy). There’s also various other rules in certain National Parks that someone could theoretically break in a place like that, like approaching wild animals, but I don’t know if breaking those types of rules would be a criminal offense.
“an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed” Seems straightforward to me. Have half the jury be from the district and half from the state. Then the jury is from the state and district. It only talks about the jury, not the individual jurors. Statute should be interpreted in a way that doesn’t lead to a perverse outcome as long as there is sufficient ambiguity in the wording to allow such an interpretation. This seems to qualify.
Ok so my family did a Yellowstone camping trip when my siblings and I were kids. It was a couple weeks and during those days we drove through both the Idaho and Montana portions of the park. The legal significance didn’t dawn on my at the time. Now as an adult, I’m just trying to remember if my parents were ever driving above speed limit or some thing like that just so I can say we got away with a crime in the “zone”. 😂
Defense attorney: -You… clapped someone to death? It’s so bizarre I don’t even know I can convince the jury. Defendant: -It doesn’t matter, I did it in the Zone of Death, they won’t be able to assemble a jury. (The Judge enter) Judge: -Order! Let the jury enter. (The jury enters. It’s all mosquitoes) Defendant: -Oh, no…
It’s true that abusing that zone to commit crimes is a problem that should be fixed.. But that judge saying “I know what the law says, but If i followed it, I couldn’t convict him, so I won’t follow the law” That’s a far bigger problem, a judge should not be allowed to do that at all, it’s an awful standard to set. They should just fix that zone and not let judges act outside of the law, such allowances will spread out to situations more than this oversight.
There was a similar bit of land where New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut meet. When Conn. got more coastal area and gave inland area to NY in trade, it created a triangle of forest near Mt Washington that none of the states wanted due to the difficulties in policing such a rural area. If any of them tried to impose jurisdiction they would have been ‘admitting’ the area was part of their state, so it was considered a ‘lawless’ area. Eventually it became part of NY, and named Boston Corner.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels paranoid about visiting the Zone of Death. If I ever went there, I would just spend the whole time both fighting the urge to commit a crime, and being terrified that some psycho would choose that particular place and that particular moment to put the loophole to the test in a very violent way.
I was actually part of a murder in Yosemite. I say part because I nearly witnessed the murder and I was the one who found the body. I had to be interviewed by the FBI because it was a federal case. The scary part for me was, I think I would have known who the killer was if I had seen them, and that means they might have killed me too.
Small correction (possibly) – I don’t think district court sizes are based off of populations. Massachusetts (6.87 million people) is all in one district, while Indiana (6.69 million people) is split in two. I believe the district court breakdowns are based on a mix of population, geographic size, how many cases they hear, and assorted historical quirks/oddities.
The perfect crime would be to illegally build a couple of houses there with friends and family. When they try to arrest you for illegally building in a protected area, they’d have to call your family and friends as jurors, who would find you not guilty, and establish your double jeopardy rights, thus protecting you in the future.
I see a handful of campgrounds in that area when I look at it on Google Maps; Maybe if they needed a jury they could invoke Talesman procedure to round up some campers for impromptu jury duty. There was a recent incident in Calgary Alberta where people shopping in a mall were issued summons to go to the nearby courthouse and serve as jurors immediately to make up for jury shortages. In Canada this seems to be a holdover from British law, but it does appear that US federal law has a similar provision for federal matters. In this case it’s likely you’d end up with a jury of moose, bears and squirrels and you’d very likely be opening an entirely different constitutional can of worms, but it could theoretically be done.
If someone actually tried to exploit this loophole, couldn’t “a jury from the state and district…” just be interpreted as: Some people from the correct district and some from the correct state, rather than exclusively people who are from both, simultaineously? Both the state and the district would be represented in the jury, even if indeviduals only represented one of them?
Maybe I don’t really get it but I thought a jury consists of multiple people and the law states that in this group of people there must be some from the district and some from the state, not that all of them have to be from the area where district and State overlap. Am I mistaken that you could also just read it that way?
To make it even more interesting, for a long time, the little strips of the park in Idaho and Montana were not considered part of any county within those states. I thought the same was true of the portion of Wyoming that makes up most of the park, but I can’t find verification of that, so I think I was wrong.
Many people injured / killed themselves just fine without assistance when I worked there in 2000 in hospitality. Among them, 3 of my co-workers boiled themselves in a water feature while intoxicated. So why bother putting forth the effort to kill them yourself? Just hand them a joint and a camera and release them by the buffalo….. Great article by the way. Makes me miss the place.
So while this is a loophole and it’s in the bill of rights clear as day, I’ve learned plenty that those alone won’t save you. I do, however, highly doubt they’d try exercising their power in that way unless it concerned those decision makers directly. I’m honestly surprised this existed because a legal precedent relating to this issue would directly impact other amendment related topics in the US.
This is a great example of the entire concept of amendments in the American Constitution and how flawed people (and some laws) are and will always be. By definition, to amend something means to change it presumably because it had errors previously. We can continuously amend something, meaning that there are potentially infinite errors in any man-made concept, idea, rule, or law. Food for thought.
1:47 – it seems to say that the jury must come from the state and district of the crime, not as Tom or Brian says “where that jury is made of people from the state and district”. So if some of the jury came from the state of Idaho and some from the district of Wyoming, that would satisfy, wouldn’t it?
We’re kind of forgetting something here. We have judges for this reason. A defense can make the note of the exception, and it can be overruled. At that point the trial goes on as normal. They can then appeal it, but then a judge is going to review the appeal and probably overrule it. They can then send it to the SCOTUS which will then probably agree with the lower courts ruling. Establishing precedent. When the founders framed our Constitution, they understood that they couldn’t make legal wording that would apply to 100% of all cases and instances, now all time periods. So they established the Judicial branch for both the Country and the States. Otherwise we wouldn’t need judges or juries. Just follow a flowchart. Since we don’t merely follow flowcharts, then this is not a loophole area you can get away with crimes in.
The yellow stone issue would be solved by actually appealing a case in the zone. There’s no political incentive to iron out the issue. Like USA federal territories, nobody wants to deal with them. Or the implementation and allocation of the State’s infrastructure budget. Or native American reservations and their legal loopholes. Or American military personnel only option for jobs being the corrupt military industrial complex.
Technically Tom, and anyone else who enters that little sliver of Yellowstone is committing a crime. Technically you are supposed to pay the entry fee to enter the park. There is a gate at every major entrance where they collect. I think if you really wanted to split hairs theoretically to legally drive down that road, which has no entry gate/booth you need to go to either the South Entrance or the Western one at West Yellowstone to pay unless you hold a yearly National Park Pass. I’m not sue what the fine is for entering a National Park that has an entry fee and not paying. OK, I looked it up. Entering without paying is a violation of 16 U.S.C. § 3. It carries a fine on conviction of $100 and/or 3 months imprisonment.
I worked in Yellowstone and when this got brought up the general answer was if a crime occurred in that area they would probably just transfer the case to either Montana or Wyoming. No one living in that region is the reason why this loophole never got closed because it’s literally come up in over a century.
4:35 yea they could do a LOT of things in 5 minutes if the WANTED to. Thats a big problem with this countrys “rules” they are so patchy and so hard to understand, that people selectively follow certain rules. That leads to all the problems we are having in this country. USA needs a firmware update/reboot/SOMETHING
This is a similar reason why Alferd Packer was able to get away with his supposed murders. At the time of the deaths, the area he was in was still TECHNICALLY Native land, and even if he was found guilty, it wasn’t up to the US courts because it’s not their country. He would have to be tried by Natives.
I heard of this on one of those murder documentaries, this man married 3 women. Each one died by “accident” at the cabin he had in this area he collected the insurance policies of each one. A yellow stone park ranger start investigating, along with a reporter & a federal agent. After all the evidence that proved none were accidents, they never could get justice.
they only need to change one word in the sixth amendement. they have to change the word “and” to “or” be carrefull with these 2 little words because when you own a bank account for 2 people (you and your spouse for example but it’s not always the case so you and one of your siblings) and if the owner of the bank account is : “mr and mrs” it’s different than “mr or mrs” because if one of the 2 personne die the problems begin because if the account is 1and 2 the account is both their property but if it’s 1 or 2 it’s the account of 1 and 2 is only autorised to use this account and can’t use this account after the death of 1 (that’s horribely hard to explain) one word can change everything
They would figure something out. They’re not just gonna let someone get away with murder on a bogus technicality like that. The reason why they still haven’t done anything about it is because they have more important things to do and the likelihood of someone being murdered on this tiny little stretch of remote land is astronomically low.
The relevant part of the constitution requires “an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed”. It does not require that each individual juror be of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed (and to hold so would be to commit the fallacy of division). There is no reason that the 6th amendment could not be interpreted to permit the whole jury to be of the state and district wherein the crime was committed by having some jurors from the state but not the district and other jurors from the district but not the state. Between them, the jurors would be of the state and district wherein the crime was committed.
Actually there might be something the park could do easily and quickly to help local justice: if they prohibit any access to that zone to non-staff from well within the borders of Wyoming, then whatever crime is committed in the Death Zone would be stacked as an added charge to the trespassing, and it would be a fair request from the prosecution to try all linked crimes in the same court, therefor allowing them to prosecute and try the larger crime in the court that has jurisdiction over the trespassing crime. It’s probably not air-tight, but it sure would make things a lot easier and would create more precedent for a judge to accept the charges. Of course, the ego of Idaho judges will have to suffer the idea that a Wyoming judge is trying crimes committed in their state (yet not their district anyway). Since it’s an amendment of the constitution, why isn’t it possible to just change that amendment? Part of your constitution is based on ours (Belgian) and we were able to change the constitution for futile matters that have a much bigger impact on the structure of the country (I’m referring to the amended power of the parliament to temporarily dethrone the king when said king vetoes a resolution to a blocking issue, such as happened with king Baudoin I when he vetoed the abortion law and he was stripped of his powers for 3 days for the Senate to pass the bill… After that event, the political role of the king was effectively annihilated, turning it into a purely ceremonial role) My point: they shouldn’t wait to fix it until a big crime happens that would force them to fix it in a pickle.
Fun fact. There is no general federal statute against murder, otherwise the federal government would have jurisdiction throughout the US. The federal government does have statutes covering assault against certain classes of people, such as federal employees. Murder a postal worker, and the FBI is going to have primary jurisdiction in the case. We’ve all watched NCIS where the local LEO’s call in the NCIS crew once they realize the victim is navy personnel. So, unlike poaching or illegal logging, the feds might not be able to make a case. Maybe there is a statute covering murder on federal lands, but I’m not aware of it.
By the Letter of the law and technically, if a awful crime was done, like murder, they might be let go or something, but the loved ones of the victim might do their own justice and no one ever find out. So just because you get away with a crime legally because of laws written 100s of years ago doesn’t mean your safe.
If Congress is going to Congress and allow it to stand… I’m sorry, but if someone somehow ONLY commits a crime in this area, then you should by law and all rights let them go. This is all the more reason Congress should stop dragging their heels and actually fix their own mistake. (And, by the way, it could be possible to commit a crime that’s only subject to the Zone of Death’s jurisdiction, it would be… exceedingly difficult to do due to just how many laws the federal government or your own residential state could bring up you from you traveling there and back. Conspiracy is a big one, of course. Then you have to prove that, say, you didn’t kidnap or illegally detain anyone. And then prove that somehow you didn’t trespass anywhere to the Zone or anything. It would be difficult, but if you were bound and determined you could get away with it – at least on paper.)
If my a menu says “this dish contains red and yellow tomatoes” it doesn’t mean the tomatoes are all yellow and red. If the menu said “the dish will be red tomatoes or yellow tomatoes, that infers and either/or meaning one full group of red or one full group or yellow.” Since they can put together a list of purists from the district and the state, that would allow them to pull from both. If they changed it to district or state, then theoretically someone could request “I want peers from the district, not the state.”
My wife and myself just came back from a 2900 mile 6 day road trip to Sioux Falls-badlands-wall-mt Rushmore-needles highway-big horn national forest scenery- Cody-Yellowstone-riverton-scottsbluff monument-Sandhills byway-Lincoln all the way from Springfield MO! I watched a few articles of yours beforehand that were useful! Thank you Matt and Cheryl for giving super good info about the locations and your guidance to navigate this terrain! We stayed at the Roosevelt lodge cabin for a night inside Yellowstone. Wyoming is stunning and the badlands and the black hills were awesome as well. we’ll cherish this trip for a long time. Thanks again!
True story: Since our family trip got canceled thanks to Covid back in 2020, we decided to go in July of 2022. Because of the alternative license plate entrance rule we were able to visit Yellowstone with only a fraction of the usual amount of people. The weather was perfect! We stayed just outside of west Yellowstone and on the way there at dusk inside the park between old faithful and the entrance we spotted a black bear! My husband and our kids literally screamed and we immediately parked, jumped out and got some great footage. Just then I kid you not! A gray wolf ran right in front of us and darted across the road. It was pretty dang awesome and my husbands favorite memory of all of our family trips. We love Yellowstone!!
My mom bought your guide/itinerary for our trip to Yellowstone a couple weeks ago & it was so helpful to have! We’ve never been there or the Grand Tetons & having your guide literally made planning & exploring the parks so much easier! Thank you for all you do when it comes to helping others plan trips!! We’re perusal your other articles to help plan our next trip!! 💜
We have a cabin 30 minutes from West Yellowstone and therefore are very familiar with the Park. I’d say the Tower area is where you will most likely spot a black bear. We’ve also had pretty good luck with moose outside of West Yellowstone near the Baker’s Hole Campground. Also, we’ve spotted moose multiple times in the Northeast Entrance area near Soda Butte Creek. We’ve seen grizzlies all over the Park. The mountains close to the NE Entrance are known to have mountain goats walking on ledges. A pair of binoculars are needed to spot them. Also, to me the best time to see wildlife, especially bears, is May. A ranger told us that May is the best time to see grizzlies. As summer approaches, they move up to higher elevations to search for food, making them harder to find close to the road.
Reliving our trip last year through this article! We had an amazing time and your articles were so helpful for our planning! We only spent one day in Yellowstone, because we’re “hiking” type of vacationers so we spent more time in the Tetons, but Yellowstone is a must for anyone. So beautiful!! We were lucky enough to see a grizzly bear (and bison running from it) in Hayden Valley. Amazing trip. Love all your tips! We’ll have to go back another time and visit the northern loop!
I just started reviewing my guide and downloaded the audio and I am SO impressed! Everything is easy to read (and download instructions!), so well organized and packed FULL of information that I am sure will make our vacation to Yellowstone amazing! I’m also looking forward to the history tidbits that you share. We are arriving Sept. 9 to Jackson, so the south entrance, staying in Canyon Village 4 nights, then Teton Village for 3 nights. Looking forward to perusal all of the articles on Tetons as well. Great job!! You are both very pleasant and I enjoy perusal you.
On our trip to Yellowstone, we purchased the Guide! We love the guide and the audio recordings! Thank you so much. Happy traveling and thanks so much for the outstanding guide! As they recommend, be flexible. For 2023, the park has several construction projects and a few 1 lane only areas! If you are going, get the guide! It is so valuable to see everything you ever wanted and even more! Also, before entering the park, stop at a grocery and bring in food. This allows for maximum flexibility!
Hi, we’re from the UK and have done lots of road trips all over the USA and Canada. We will be paying our third visit to Yellowstone next week after flying into Denver, so we will be renewing our visits to Cheyenne, Casper, Cody and through Yellowstone to Idaho and Oregon. Your article is excellent and we concur with everything you’ve shown, such as, the waterfalls, geysers, canyons etc, An excellent planner article and well done. At the last count we’ve visited 37 U.S. States including Hawaii and Alaska, and all of Canada except Manitoba and Saskatchewan, so we love our holiday trips.
Food. Camping, we had an RV. Pre prepped dinners for cooking at campsites, usually over campfire or outside grill. Hamburger patties made, seasoned, and frozen. Steaks, seasoned and frozen. Chicken, seasoned and frozen. Etc. Easy on site, prep, cook, and clean up. Meals out and about. Sandwich material in cooler, bread, meat, cheese. Again, easy in car prep, and cleanup. Hiking, took wrapped/baggy snacks (which, for reasons, is a critical medical necessity anyway). Not camping (which for reasons we are now using hotels, not inside park – wish, maybe if we win a small lottery). See sandwiches above, both in the park and in our hotel if we are late enough. Lesson learned. The only late location open in W. Yellowstone, was the pizza place. Good pizza, not something wanted every night. We got caught in multiple bison jams on NW through Norris and Madison junctions to W. Yellowstone. We usually eat one meal out every other day. Note, these days just the two of us, empty nest. Even when traveling with child, we only have the one. Different when you have more children or a larger group.
I have been to the Tetons twice now and have never seen a moose. It’s crazy. I know they are everywhere down there so I am really counting on seeing one this time. Matt says 95% chance, so I am really hoping and crossing my fingers that the third time is a charm this year. This donation is for all you do for us people visiting. And here is my word. If I see a moose, there is another $100 in it for you. If not, I’m changing the name of my YouTube website to Goose Anderson Productions! I’ve seen a goose! 😂. Believe me, if I see a moose, it will be in my next article so it will be real easy to hold me to my word. 😉 Thanks for all your invaluable articles. Moose Anderson
Dear Rockies, Thank You! For your illustrated articles, information and step by step guidance on national parks. We had our first Yellowstone visit recently and your articles became alive when we reached there and helped us exhaustively. I thoroughly enjoy your detailed explanation and presentation style. Keep it up!!
I was packing my bags last year when I put on RVmiles and he said, before I start I just want to inform you that Yellowstone is closed due to floods. I thought it was an old article so I went back to see when the article was posted and it said 3hrs ago. Well the good thing is I didn’t drive there and then find out.
Great article of the current events at Yellowstone Park. I was there in 2016 and it was amazing. I’m going back and wanted to see what has changed and up to date. Your article was so helpful. The part that caught my attention was the comment about the food at Yellowstone. My ex wife and I ordered a burger and I can’t believe how bad the burger was. I thought…geez, how can you ruin a burger. Somehow they managed that perfectly.
Hey Matt and Cheryl! I bought your itineraries for YS & Glacier. I’ve been perusal lots of your articles as well. 😊 We are driving from WI this summer and planning to hit YS for 3 days, Teton for 1 day, then driving up to Glacier for 2 days. We’ll be entering YS from Silver Gate (Grizzly Lodge) because I really want to drive the Beartooth Hwy. We’ll have our 6 kids with us (ages 11 down to 2). After entering from Silver Gate, we plan to spend a couple of hours in Lamar (the kids won’t take a lot of sitting and waiting, so we won’t be spending hours perusal wildlife, but hoping to see some!), then heading to Tower Falls. We’re combining American Serengeti and Welcome to Wonderland in one day and I’m not sure if it would be better to continue south from Tower Falls on to Mt. Washburn and then to Norris, or go west from Tower Falls over to Mammoth, and then Norris. I’m guessing that either way we go, we’ll probably hit Mammoth or Norris at mid-morning when it’s busy! We’re staying at Bridge Bay campground. My other thought was maybe hitting Norris in the evening when it’s (hopefully) a little less busy. Thanks so much for all your informative articles and itineraries!
We were going to spend 3 nights at Grizzly Lodge last summer on your recommendation. We were really looking forward to this. When we got there in September after the flood from spring. They had to repair from the washout and that was done. We were NOT impressed with this place. We had a cabin on the creek. We cancelled our reservation and went back to Cody. They were very pleasant with us and didn’t charge a cancellation fee. It may have been because of the flood. I don’t know.
I’ve watched a few of your articles on Yellowstone. You have not mentioned Chief Joseph’s Scenic Byway. Just drove out the east entrance into Cody and drove the Chief Joseph’s Scenic Byway back into the north east entrance of Yellowstone. You had it highlighted on the map from Cody but you said you drove into Yellowstone on the Beartooth Highway.
Y’all are amazing. Thank you for your love and care for the parks and for sharing all the info with us. I do have a question. We are coming from New Orleans heading to Mount Olympus for a wedding so we are making it a huge, once in a lifetime trip. We want to come to Yellowstone but we want to see the Tetons too. Since we are coming from south east and going to north west, which entrance and exit would you suggest in order to see the most? We are not in a rush but we also only want to drive no more than 5 or 6 hours a day. (Except for sightseeing along the way.) We want to go to Pikes Peak too. I’m overwhelmed trying to plan all of this. I don’t want to miss anything since this will probably be our last big trip. Your suggestions would be very appreciated.
Hi, thank you guys for such good information. We just booked our route trip to Yellowstone 2023! Staying in north side for 3 days and at old Faithful hotel for 4days. (I made sure I selected a room w/ a bathroom 😂) Any other information would be great! Like for example do the gas station at park are cash only?
Great article with lots of good information, glad i found your article for planning yellowstone. I will be there this year september wit a friend for the last few days of our roadtrip. I am realy excited to go here! I have a small question, are there some kind of guided tours we can use? We will be there with a camper and do not have a normal car.
Driving a 41’ motorhome. I was there is a small car 30+ years ago. I’d think driving thru the park might be frustrating with the bison jams and crazies stopping for wildlife photo opportunities. Thinking of staying in West Yellowstone area and driving Jeep in from there. Probably come down from Spokane. How are the roads in Teton and from Jackson yo Idaho Falls? Ok for large rig? Thanks.
Tips for someone that is not phobic but rather anxious about bears in yellowstone and Tetons? Taking my girlfriend (a little anxious about bears particularly with camping in teton) this summer and from my understanding as long as you stick with the crowd (3 or more people) while doing scenic walks you odds of a dangerous encounter become negligible