Yellowstone Adventures

We wrapped up our visit to Cody, Wyoming and Yellowstone this past week. It was such a crazy difference from the geography and culture from Minnesota. There were several things we absolutely loved about our visit, a few things we weren’t totally crazy about and some that I wish I had known more about ahead of time. So, I am going to share them all with you!

Upper Falls

What We Loved:

Junior Ranger Program at Old Faithful

Our four older kids all got a Junior Ranger booklet that they had to complete some activities in order to get a badge. The booklet included age-ish appropriate activities where the kids would learn about hydrothermal activity, animals in the park and other cool things. Some were a bit tricky, but we were able to help the littles and once their booklets were done, they got a cool Junior Ranger Badge and mini swearing in ceremony with a Park Ranger.

Mini swearing in ceremony for our Junior Rangers

Animals & Lamar Valley

We love animals and wildlife. Looking for bison, elk, bears and moose were at the top of our kids’ bucket list for this trip (and mine as well, if I am being completely honest). We saw animals on every part of our drives, but the amount of elk and bison in Lamar Valley was awesome! We would highly recommend morning or evening for the best viewing- but there are some there any time of day.

Bison warming up in the morning sunshine

The beautiful & lush Lamar Valley

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone & Waterfalls

The Grand Canyon is on my bucket and after seeing the Yellowstone version, it may have moved up a couple of spots. This canyon with the Upper and Lower Falls was breathtaking. If you’ve ever seen a photo of a waterfall from Yellowstone, it was probably the Lower Falls. This iconic spot has a lot of people but it’s incredible with lots of spots to get great photos.

Iconic view of Lower Falls