Yellowstone National Park is full of rich history, natural splendor, and outdoor activities. The park attracts millions of visitors every year, drawn to the unique aspects of the park. Here are some of our favorite facts about Yellowstone.

  1. Yellowstone was the first national park ever created. It was founded on March 1, 1872. The grant was signed by President Ulysses S. Grant, and protected Yellowstone from private development.
  2. Yellowstone is an extremely large park, spanning over 2,219,791 acres. This spread of land spans three states; Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. It is larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined.  The majority of the park is located in Wyoming, with 96%, followed by Montana, with 3%, and Idaho, with 1% of the park falling in its borders.
  3. Yellowstone boasts millions of visitors every year. To be specific, 4,020,288.
  4. Yellowstone is home to more than 500 active geysers. This is more than half of the total active geysers in the world! These are some of Yellowstone’s most famous features. Some erupt on a schedule, and are easy to plan around, while others are more infrequent and harder to predict. Some of Yellowstone’s most famous geysers include Old Faithful, Riverside Geyser, and Castle Geyser.
  5. Yellowstone has more than 1,800 known archaeological sites within the park. These sites provide information about people who lived in or passed through the area up to 11,000 years ago. Most of the sites are in good condition, but many have yet to be inventoried. Who knows what kinds of things we could discover!
  6. There are approximately 1,000 miles of hiking trails in Yellowstone. Spanning as many acres as this park boasts, there are no shortage of spectacular hikes for any level of outdoorsman. You can hike through to view many of the geysers the park offers, or take on something a little more challenging for some spectacular views.