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Because of the park’s location, and the multiple entrances, it makes an awesome road trip destination. There are five park entrances, one on each side of the park (north, east, south, and west), with an additional entrance on the north side. The pink lines are Grand Loop Road and Norris Canyon Road. I modified this nps.gov map to highlight Grand Loop Road, the park entrances, and the main sights in Yellowstone. The majority of sights you will visit are located on Grand Loop Road.
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Bisecting this loop, and making the park roads resemble a figure of eight, is Norris Canyon Road. If you look at the map of Yellowstone below, you will see that the network of roads inside the park forms a figure of eight. Yellowstone National Park is primarily located in Wyoming, although it does spill over, just a little bit, into Idaho and Montana. With over 2 million acres of land and 5 park entrances, this place is massive. Yellowstone is the second largest US national park outside of Alaska. However, if you want to stay in one place for your entire visit, Canyon Village is the most centrally located village in Yellowstone. I give recommendations on where to stay in each itinerary. Yes, it can be a hassle packing and unpacking, but Yellowstone is so large that switching accommodations can minimize travel time in the park. If you plan to visit Yellowstone National Park for at least three days, we recommend staying in two different locations. Expect major difficulties finding a parking space midday and be prepared to share walking trails with many other visitors. In 2023, there is a good chance that visitation will approach 5 million visitors again. In 2022, visitation dropped to 3.3 million, but that was because of the flood that occurred in June. In 2021, Yellowstone was the 3rd most visited park in the USA, receiving 4.9 million visitors. With that being said, you should know that crowds are huge during the summer months (especially July and August). It’s still possible to visit the park in the winter, but you will get around by snowmobile or snow coach, which of course will be a much different experience than the summer months. From early November through late-May, many of the park roads will be closed due to snowfall. This Yellowstone itinerary works best during the months of June through October.
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