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Wyoming 2023 Trip➤

In September of 2023, my husband and I set out to explore some National Park units in the state of Wyoming. We visited Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Park, The John D. Rockefeller Parkway, and Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. In Yellowstone National Park, we stopped at the West Thumb Geyser Basin.

Yellowstone National Park➤

President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act into law in 1872. This created America’s (and the world’s) first National Park. The US Army managed the park from the late 1800s through 1916 when the National Park Service was created.

The park sits on top of a massive super volcano. As a result, over half of the worlds geysers and geothermal features reside in Yellowstone. It’s also famous for being home to hundreds of animal species, including bears, wolves, bison, elk and antelope. One of our guides compared touring Yellowstone’s Valleys to taking an African Safari.

This park is huge at 3500 square miles in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. Divided into two large loops, the park road takes visitors to the main sites. The Lower Loop Road is 96 miles while the Upper Loop is 142 miles.

West Thumb Geyser Basin➤

We entered Yellowstone’s Lower Loop Road from the south entrance on a chilly September day. First, we stopped at the Grant Visitor Center. President Ulysses S. Grant created America’s first National Park at Yellowstone so there is a whole village named for him. We perused the exhibit on the role of fire in Yellowstone and took in the view of Yellowstone Lake. Next, we headed a couple of miles down the road to West Thumb Geyser Basin.

A half-mile boardwalk winds around thermal pools and hot springs along the shores of the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake. West Thumb is a large basin containing steam vents, explosion craters and siliceous spires and is a caldera within a caldera. A volcanic eruption within the larger, older Yellowstone Lake caldera formed West Thumb.

Yellowstone Posts➤

• West Thumb Geyser Basin
• Fishing Bridge
• Yellowstone Lake
• Old Faithful Inn
• Old Faithful
• Observation Point
• Upper Geyser Basin
• Grand Prismatic Overlook
• Midway Geyser Basin
• Artists Paintpots
• Lower Falls
• Lamar Valley
• Mammoth Hot Springs: Lower Terraces
• Mammoth Hot Springs: Upper Terraces
• Norris Geyser Basin
• Artists Point

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Location: Grand Loop Road, Wyoming
Designation: National Park
Date designated/established: March 1, 1872
Date of my visit: September 23, 2023