20 blunders to avoid when visiting Yellowstone

err have you ever made a silly mistake on a vacation that cost you tons of time or money and you just think if i only would have known well today is your lucky day today we are going to be going through 20 common pitfalls that taurus and us have made on our trips to yellowstone so we're hoping that these tips will help you have a great trip so without further ado here's our top 20 don'ts for yellowstone okay number 20 is to expect fresh air uh don't expect fresh air because of the sulfur and the the geysers and all that it smells like rotten eggs a lot we had friends go there last year and their kids memory of yellowstone was that it literally stinks all right number 19 expecting moderate temperatures you can plan on a 35 to 40 degree swing every day in the summer you may be wearing a tank top in the afternoon and a park in the evening number 18 is don't wait to reserve lodging yellowstone has a short season of only a few months and the hotels the lodging the the campgrounds and the hotels book up very quick so get on that you can get on that as early as a year so get on that as soon as possible all right number 17 do not expect posh accommodations at the yellowstone lodging they pride themselves on being rustic and that includes no ac and no tvs number 16 is don't run on the boardwalks so we got in trouble for this last time by a ranger and no it wasn't our kids it was me actually and my brother-in-law we were running in to see a geyser and the park ranger kind of freaked out so besides besides upsetting the park rangers it's obviously dangerous you could fall off the boardwalk so okay number 15 don't leave your food out um you know best case scenario a ranger's going to rip into you worst case scenario you might have an unwanted visitor like a skunk a coyote or even a bear so even like things like tablecloths don't leave things that smell like food out number 14 is don't mess with the rangers this piggy backs on my last one you don't want to take things from the park you don't want to stray off of the the walkways and and otherwise upset the rangers all right number 13 don't forget bear spray if you're going in the back country um and know how to use it we actually have a whole video on on my whole discovery process of learning how to use bear spray but make sure you have that on you you can bring it with you you can purchase it before and go to the park or they actually have places you can buy it at the gas stations visitor centers and i think you can actually rent it as well depending on the year number 12 is don't miss out on the old faithful inn this was built in 1903 and is to our knowledge the largest log structure in the world and when you walk in there you can see all the way up through the rafters to the ceiling it's all built out of the pine wood nearby number 11 don't visit the visitor centers normally we kind of dig going to those we like to get our junior rangers books but we found that first of all yellowstone is incredible you want to be outdoors there and number two their their displays just aren't that great so normally we like going to the visitor centers before we go to the park but the main one well in west yellowstone the most popular entryway the visitor center there is not a typical national park service visitors center it's a chamber of commerce thing and it's just not that nice and with maybe the exception of the one old faithful yeah yeah which is newly renovated and they'll have geyser prediction times there so that might be the one to go to but i wouldn't hang out at the other visitor centers right number 10 is don't plan on swimming in yellowstone lake uh there might be people that that are thinking about this it's never crossed my mind but there might be people that are wanting to swim in in the park somewhere there are only two places to swim in the park that is fire hole river and the boiling river and uh so those are the only two places to swim everywhere else is off limits and is way too cold anyway yeah 41 degrees is the average temperature of yellowstone lake you don't even want to put your foot in it number nine driving don't expect to get places quickly in yellowstone the the days of like 60 miles per hour that's not happening in yellowstone speed limit is 40 everywhere in the park plus there's animals everywhere animals get hit every year by people not watching what they're doing and hitting them so slow down look for animals and just plan accordingly it might take you a minute to get from point a to point b number eight is don't forget your binoculars chair and spotting scope for viewing wildlife yellowstone is really the probably the best place in the lower 48 states to view wildlife and so if you're going there and you don't take if you forget to take binoculars or a scope or something like that you'll really probably miss out um you'll see plenty of wildlife typically if you get to the right areas at the right times but they're they'll might be across the valley a little ways so you want something that you can see them up closer if you're not used to being out west and seeing wildlife like that you might want to invest in some binoculars or like a camera with a zoom lens where you can take some good pictures okay number seven don't expect to fish a fishing bridge back in the day like the 70s this was a great big bridge people would throw their line over and fish but now that's a no-go you can just kind of walk across it look at a pretty river but there's no fishing there there are other places to fish in the park though you can get a fishing license from the park you get have to get it actually from the park a fishing license yeah and they have some pretty strict limits on the size of the fish and what fish you can catch there but you can fish number six is don't arrive late you really want to hit the park probably by about seven o'clock in the morning it it's a big park but it does get really busy and some of the places the parking lots will fill up early and you could be waiting in a long line just to get into the park if you're getting there after you know eight o'clock or something like that so i'd get there probably sometime between seven and eight yeah you're going to a national park you don't want the big city experience of trying to find a parking space either yeah a lot of people that is really one of the biggest frustrations of yellowstone all right and all the national parks really okay number five don't take your eyes off your kids there are a lot of dangerous things in that park but i think probably the most dangerous for children could be not looking and falling off a ledge or um getting off the boardwalk the the water in those geysers is scalding hot even like there's steam coming out of the ground that could scald them so keep a close eye on your kiddos just this la just this year there was a three-year-old that went into a hot spring and got burned so okay number four is don't plan on going back to your hotel or your campsite during the day uh there's a lot of driving with yellowstone the places is very spread out um you'll probably be out and about miles and miles away from your campsite or your hotel during the day we have probably never once gone back to our our hotel during the day um or even our campsite so you'll be out driving very far away from your your place so plan accordingly with a picnic with with some snacks or something like that and of course considering the change in temperature you will experience grab your sunglasses and your coat you're gonna need both all right number three three don't get too close to the animals i know it is tempting those puffy little bison right not little puffy big bison on the side of the road look so docile but they gore people every year so just be smarter than the chipmunks too they'll want to eat right out of your hand but resist the temptation we know that you aren't going to do dumb things but if you need some kicks and giggles we have an awesome video about stupid things people have done in yellowstone so you ought to check it out okay number two is don't think that you can see the park in one or two days it's a very big park there are two loops if you did each loop if you did one loop per day you would kind of skip the the top of it i guess you'd skim it i should say um but if you are visiting for the first time we really recommend four days in the park okay and number one don't go without a plan there are way too many cool things to see in yellowstone to be wasting your time driving around trying to decide what you're going to do or waiting for a parking spot your time is valuable and you need to have a plan the good news is is we've done a ton of videos on yellowstone like their top sites and how to do them not just us having fun but how how you can go about making that trip happen for yourself we including we have one video it's called our ultimate guide that um our ultimate trip planner that we'll talk all about like it's an hour long the ins and outs of of yellowstone everything you'll need to know we also have a website wherein the rockies.com that has blog posts and even itineraries on it so you can put down your pen and just enjoy watching videos and know your plans taken care of so that's those are our tips our top 20 don'ts for yellowstone to help you have an incredible trip thank you for watching and safe travels

Channel: We're in the Rockies

Views: 53,059

Keywords: Yellowstone, Yellowstone National Park, yellowstone camping

Id: hVbTDIMX4tg

Length: 9min 33sec (573 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 03 2021