Yellowstone National Park, the oldest national park in the United States, was selected due to the location’s hot springs, mud spots, and geysers. Established in 1872, 96% of the park is in Wyoming and the rest is in Idaho and Montana.

The park is larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined. Over 3,600,000 annual visitors come to see around 500 geysers and hot springs. There are more active geysers in the park than anywhere else on earth.

Old Faithful, which erupts at intervals of 60 to 110 minutes, is the park’s best-known geyser. It reaches an impressive height of 106 to 184 feet with eruptions lasting from 1 ½ – 5 minutes.

A fun fact about Old Faithful: in the late 1800s, visitors used the geyser to wash their clothes. They arranged their dirty laundry in the crater and after it erupted the clothes were clean. One problem with this was that it shredded wool clothing. I’m guessing that bachelors took advantage of this convenient way to do laundry!

Though experts don’t expect a major eruption of Yellowstone’s active volcano, it is monitored for the sake of safety.

A surprising number of earthquakes occur in the park each year—from several hundred to thousands. A 4.8 magnitude earthquake occurred on March 30, 2014, the largest since the 1980s. Those in the park and nearby towns felt the tremors.

There are almost 300 waterfalls of fifteen feet or higher inside the park. The tallest waterfall, at 308 feet, is Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River.

Elk, mountain lions, trumpeter swans, moose, bison, grizzly bears, and lynx are among the many wild animals who call Yellowstone National Park home.

Have your camera ready to snap a photo. All these beautiful photos are from Keith Adams, photographer. Thanks for sharing them, Keith!

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources:

Flynn, Sarah Wassner. National Geographic Kids: National Parks Guide U.S.A., National Geographic Society, 2012.

McHugh, Erin. National Parks: A Kid’s Guide to America’s Parks, Monuments, and Landmarks, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc., 2012.

Palmerlee, Danny; Bendure, Glenda; Friary, Ned; Karlin, Adam; Matchar, Emily; Sainsbury, Brendan. Discover USA’s Best National Parks, Lonely Planet Publications, 2012.

“Yellowstone: Geology,” National Park Service, 2020/04/06 https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/geology.htm.

“Yellowstone: National Park, ID, MT, WY,” National Park Service, 2014/12/16 http://www.nps.gov/yell/faqs.htm.