Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park is located in the northwestern part of the United States predominantly in the state of Wyoming with small overlaps into the states of Idaho and Montana. The park boundaries encompass an area of 3,468 square miles (8,983 sq km). It is the Global Ambassador Park of the GANP.

Yellowstone is the first national park in the United States, and although not the first protected area, it is the first national park in the world. The park is renowned for its canyons, geothermal features, lakes, mountains, rivers, waterfalls, and the abundance of wildlife.

Yellowstone Lake is the largest lake in the park measuring 136 square miles (350 sq km) with a depth of 394 feet (120 m). Being located at 7,732 feet (2,357 m), this makes it one of the largest high-elevation lakes on the continent.

Similarly, the Yellowstone Caldera stretching 34 by 45 miles (55 by 72 km) making it the largest supervolcano on the continent. It is still an active volcano. Eagle Peak is the highest summit of the park reaching a height of 11,358 feet (3,462 m).

The geothermal features are one of the leading attractions with the park accounting for half of the world’s geysers and hydrothermal features. Old Faithful, is a renowned geyser, erupting every 44 to 125 minutes with Steamboat Geyser being the largest active geyser in the world. There are over 10,000 thermal features within the park boundaries.

There are 290 waterfalls with a fall of at least 15 feet (4.6 m) with the tallest being Lower Falls on the Yellowstone River which reaches a height of 308 feet (94 m). The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is the largest of three canyons which also include Lewis Canyon and Black Canyon.

Grizzly bear, black bear, herds of bison, elk, timber wolf, coyote, bighorn sheep, cougar, moose, mountain goat, mule deer, white-tailed deer, and pronghorn top off the larger species of mammals that visitors can hope to see.