Scootering in Yellowstone

Yellowstone National Park has accessible trails. That may not sound phenomenal to you, but to me it is.

We traveled to Yellowstone National Park a few years ago. It was not the first time I had been there, but it was the first time I was there when it wasn’t snowing.  Five inches of snow happened in one July several years ago, so I was a bit wary going in August. We went anyway and had perfect weather. The kids were not back in school yet, so it was pretty busy, but we were not camping, so busy-ness was not a real concern.

You never stay in Yellowstone. In fact, you don’t really stay very near Yellowstone even if the motels tell you that you are close. The best you can do is decide what direction you are coming from and plan from there.  If you are approaching from the west, you will most likely stay in West Yellowstone, Montana. We found the Best Western was best for handicapped accessibility. Holiday Inn would have met our needs as well, but we were traveling with friends and they preferred Best Western.

Start early in the morning to head for the park. The road to the entrance is not a long drive, but the drive to Old Faithful is about 15 miles and that’s where everybody wants to go first. Whatever you do, don’t drive fast. There are too many things to see along the way.

This is probably the first reason you will stop and look.

The buffalo have the right of way in the park. Even if they didn’t, you would give it to them. They are bigger than  you can imagine and could most likely swallow your car as an appetizer.

You will stop here and realize that this boiling water is coming up from the center of the earth and could turn you into an instant french fry. In fact all of the cauldrons and pools show us just how close we are to an erupting volcano. Scary isn’t it?

And Old Faithful, the most famous sight in the park. Every visitor wants to see it. It erupts on a sort of regular schedule, so you can plan your day around it.

Oh, at many places in the park, there are boardwalks for easy access to bubbling pools. I loved it. 

One time, I was just looking at the multi colored and very hot pool when a youngster, about 7 or so came running at top speed along the boardwalk right at me. I was concerned about his safety, so when he got close to me, I reached my arm out and caught him and held on. He was just too close to this  

I thought his mother was going to come at me with a baseball bat until she got to me. She calmed down when I explained that he was running flat out and could easily get cooked if he fell into a boiling pool.  It was easy to catch him at my scooter seated level.

Be prepared. Seeing Yellowstone is a many day proposition. And we spent many days there.  We left via the south entrance and headed to Jackson Hole, WY and the Tetons.

Glad you are traveling along.