Saturday, April 26, 2014

Stay At Yellowstone Motels For Quick Access To An Unforgettable Experience

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By Essie Osborn


The United States has many dramatic landscapes and places that you simply have to explore. For example, the Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon should be on everyone's travel bucket list. The cowboy country of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho is the perfect place to enjoy wide open spaces and bigger than big skies and they're also home to one of the country's other most famous attractions. The many of Yellowstone motels make it possible for you to visit the country's top national park and be right there where the action is.

Yellowstone National Park covers the northwestern corner of the state of Wyoming but also stretches into neighboring Idaho and Montana. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was the first of the world's national parks. It has an area of nearly 3,500 square miles.

The most iconic feature of the park is Old Faithful. As its name suggests, this volcanic geyser erupts faithfully every 91 minutes or so. On average the boiling water shoots about 145 feet up in the air during an eruption, which lasts several seconds. It may not be the park's most impressive geyser but it's certainly the one you're guaranteed to see erupt. The park's visitor center has the estimated times for eruptions.

Old Faithful and Steamboat Geyser are not the only geysers in the park. In fact, there are over a thousand. There are also many thermal pools and bubbling mud to be seen. The reason for all this geothermal activity is that the entire Yellowstone is in fact the caldera of a very, very big volcano. You'll find boardwalks all along the geothermal areas. Don't stray from these paths because if you do, there is only a very thin, very breakable crust between you and scalding hot water that will kill you.

The thermal pools and geysers great reasons to visit but the popular park also offers much, much more. The landscape here is astonishingly beautiful and a favorite among landscape photographers. You'll be able to admire and take dramatic pictures of mountains, meadows, rivers, canyons, lakes, waterfalls and a petrified forest, among others.

Most visitors get around by car but in spring there is a car free week when cycling is just heavenly. Trips on horseback or hikes are popular ways of exploring too. Many different species of wildlife live within park boundaries, among them bison, deer, moose, elk, mountain lions, bears and wolves. The park is also home to many bird species.

While there are different accommodation options within park limits, these are often fully booked weeks in advance. It's better to stay at a motel in one of the gateway towns. Your best options are the Montana towns of Gardiner and West Yellowstone. The former lies along the northern park boundary but the latter, being a larger town with an airport and a museum, has a greater selection.

To visit the area in summer, you'll have to book far ahead if you want to be assured of accommodation of your choice. Summer is the most pleasant time to visit but is also the most crowded. Fall has a different kind of beauty with fewer crowds and if you want something completely different, come in winter and bring your skis.




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