Yellowstone National Park is the 5th most visited park, but it is for most a once-in-a-lifetime experience. This will be the first NP on the list of many that we’ll hit over the six weeks we’ll be on the road. This trip is our test of sorts. If we can handle six weeks on the road we will seriously consider going on the road full time as we’ve always dreamed of.
Leaving from KY it will take three days of driving to get to Yellowstone with stops in Kansas City (Hello Ribs!). Does anybody know the best rib restaurant in Kansas City?
The next stop is Denver Colorado which is my husband’s favorite city, well anywhere in Colorado is fine for him. He loves everything about the state. We’ve been to Vail, Denver, Colorado Springs, and Mesa Verde and each place is beautiful in its own special way.
Before arriving in Yellowstone I wanted to learn about the lesser-known facts of Yellowstone because let’s’ face it, you’ve seen one geyser you’ve seen them all. Here are some of the things I’ve found.
There are plenty of stories about spirits lingering in Yellowstone National Park. Here’s one of them.
A Siren Lures Men To Their Deaths By The Norris Geyser Basin
A supposed first-person account of a man’s death at the Norris Geyser Basin in 2016 surfaced online. Reddit user Yellowstoneyoda claims to have been a first responder at the scene, where the sister of the victim showed him a video of the incident. According to him, the man stood staring at a floating, nude, female figure with translucent skin. The figure was emitting a low hum. The man then fell into the water, lured by this siren.
A man, Collin Scott, did die in the hot springs in November 2016. The video of the so-called siren has not been released. Read about more spooky happenings at Yellowstone on Ranker.com
HALF OF THE WORLD’S GEOTHERMAL FEATURES ARE LOCATED IN YELLOWSTONE.
One of the park’s most popular attractions is its collection of geothermal features, an umbrella term that includes geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, mud pots, and travertine terraces. With tens of thousands of such phenomena, Yellowstone is home to more than half of the world’s supply of geothermal features and approximately 75 percent of the world’s geysers. The park has an estimated 1283 geysers spread across nine geyser basins. Read the article by MentalFloss.com here.
Yellowstone is bigger than two U.S. states.
At 3,472 square miles—over 2.2 million acres—Yellowstone is larger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined. The vast majority of its territory is situated in Wyoming, but it also creeps into neighboring Montana and Idaho. Though not the largest of the United States’ national parks, it is noteworthy for its dense concentration of geysers, mud pots, steam vents, and hot springs. According to UNESCO, which has designated Yellowstone a World Heritage Site, half of all the known geothermal features on the globe are nestled within the park.
One of Yellowstone’s earliest explorers was stranded there for 37 days.
Miners and fur trappers occasionally ventured into Yellowstone in the years after John Colter’s visit, but the first organized surveys didn’t begin until the late 19th century. During one of these excursions in 1870, a Montana bureaucrat named Truman Everts became separated from his party and was eventually given up for dead. After losing his horse and most of his supplies, the 54-year-old spent over a month surviving on thistle and enduring snowstorms, delirium, and a painful scalding from a hot spring.
By the time he was finally found alive in October 1870, he weighed just 90 pounds and was suffering from frostbite so severe that it had worn his feet to the bone. Everts’ rescuers described him as looking like “nothing but a shadow,” but he eventually recovered and even wrote an account of his ordeal titled “Thirty-Seven Days of Peril.” His amazing tale of survival has since been credited with helping publicize the movement to make Yellowstone a national park. Read the article on History.com here.
Yellowstone is home to the largest concentration of mammals in the lower 48.
Yellowstone’s wildlife is abundant and diverse with an estimated 300 species of birds, 16 types of fish, and 67 species of mammals — the largest number of mammal species in the contiguous United States. The list of mammals includes grizzly bears, wolves, lynx, fox, moose, and elk. But remember, no matter how cool the animals are, you shouldn’t approach them. Park rules state that you must stay at least 100 yards from bears and wolves and at least 25 yards from other large animals.
Yellowstone has its own Grand Canyon.
The Grand Canyon isn’t just in Arizona — there’s also the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Created by erosion from the Yellowstone River, the canyon is more than 1,000 feet deep, 1,500-4,000 feet wide, and roughly 20 miles long — it also provides endless views. One of the most photographed views in Yellowstone is the canyon from Artist Point, and we can definitely see why! Read the rest of the article on doi.gov here.
I'm a wanderer, website manager, and storyteller. I live in sunny SC with my husband of 30 years and our goldfish, "Please Survive"(long story!). When I'm not untangling CSS or wrangling PHP you'll find me writing my next tale, planning my next road trip, or just hanging out with the grandkids.
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This was such a cool read. I always love to learn more about places. I hope to get here one day.
When I was in college I worked in Yellowstone! It is probably my most favorite place in the world to be. The place is beautiful and there’s so many different things to see. I like all the facts that you have here. There’s fun facts are just really cool to read about.
I’ve been to a lot of national parks here in the States, but have yet to tour Yellowstone. I didn’t realize just how large it actually was, so we’d definitely have to plan out more than a few days to really experience the beauty of it. I’d love to see its grand canyon and all of those geysers!
Amazing pictures! I’ve seen a lot of pictures of Yellowstone that are really amazing. We’ve never been there. Thanks for the tidbits. I hope we get to visit the park someday.
I’ve been to Yellowstone twice and it is so beautiful. But I’m partial to hanging out in Colorado mountains.
The first time that we want to Yellowstone was the year of the fire. We were in the park when it started and had no idea until we were making our way back home. Then we went a year or two after the fire to see how much was damaged. But I don’t recall seeing as much damage as I would have imagined. Yes, there were burnt trees left standing but the ground was quickly covered in new green grass, plants, and new tree growth.
Yellowstone is massive! I think it’s beautiful and always worth going to especially if you haven’t been there once in your life. It was fun reading all those weird but true facts, I’ve never heard of any of those before except for it being larger than two states.
Yellowstone is iconic and it’s one of the landmarks that you must see if you’re ever in the US. I think it’s cool that you’re sharing all these fun/weird facts about it! It’s always nice to learn new things about a place you’ve known your whole life.
I didn’t know about some of these facts. They’re really interesting too. I have never been to Yellowstone, but it is certainly on my list of places to go.
Woah. These are interesting facts about Yellowstone. I think it is a must place to visit.
This place is a fairy tale! Everyone should visit it. Love Yellowstone!
I’d love to visit Yellowstone one day! I enjoyed reading these little known facts.
I would love to visit Yellowstone some day. It is great to hear that it is so massive in size, when it seems like we lose a lot of land to being built up.