When we returned in 2003, we had only two and a half days to revisit our favorite Yellowstone sights. I made a mental list, and then asked my husband what he wanted to see or do again. Our lists were identical. These are our favorite Yellowstone sights and activities. See Them Now: Photo Tour
- Midway Geyser Basin: Midway is one of Yellowstone's smaller geyser areas, and many don't know it as one of Yellowstone's sights, but the color and setting are unparalleled. Water pours from Excelsior Geyser's fire-opal-blue depths into the Firehole River. Steam rises everywhere, making other visitors look like misty silhouettes. Heat-loving cyanobacteria form streaky orange mats, painting the ground like a watercolor canvas, and shiny white crystals form tiny towers at the springs' edges. To top it all, on our first visit here, we saw an osprey leaving the river with a fish in its talons.
- Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces: In a place where geysers become ordinary and hot springs are as common as mud puddles after a rain, Mammoth's layered white terraces are unique. White rock layers, piled like tiers of a disheveled wedding cake, form shallow pools filled with color: yellow, blue, green and orange. Sulfur-scented steam floats on steamy zephyrs, bringing welcome warmth on chill days.
- Old Faithful Inn: Architect Robert Reamer's 1904 rustic creation, one of the most famous Yellowstone sights, still charms and captivates. The lobby grows upward like an enchanted tree, narrowing, its highest recesses sheltering a twiggy treehouse where I always expect a Hobbit or fairy to appear at any moment. Favorite Old Faithful Inn activities: watching Old Faithful erupt from the veranda (where people-watching is as much fun as geyser-watching), and sitting on the second floor balcony, watching yellow afternoon sunbeams illuminate the lobby.
- Drive from Canyon Village to Mammoth Hot Springs: My only complaint about this drive is that there aren't enough places to pull of the road to take a photograph of the landscape that dwarfs many Yellowstone sights. Winding over Dunraven Pass, and then turning west to parallel the Yellowstone River and the Montana border, this drive makes it easy to understand why this area is called "Big Sky Country."
