Yellowstone National Park is one of the most well-known parks and is known by people all over the world for its colorful geysers and vast wilderness. There’s more to the park than the infamous Old Faithful. Visitors can see hot springs, lakes, waterfalls, and the largest bison herd in the States.
With over 3,500 square miles of nature to explore and millions of visitors each year, you want to make sure you hit all the best spots to capture beautiful photos. This is a list of the best photography locations in Yellowstone to add to your itinerary.
The Gear
The gear we recommend is a good camera and the holy trinity. A wide-angle lens. 14-24mm or something similar. A 24-70mm or something similar and, of course, a 70-200mm or something similar. If you do not have these particular lenses, do not worry; something similar will be just fine. It would be best if you also had a tripod.
Yellow Stone National Park Photography Guide
1.Grand Prismatic Overlook
While Grand Prismatic is beautiful from any angle, the overlook will give you some amazing, steam-free shots of this colorful hot spring. It is a half mile hike from the parking area and is an overlook that gives an expansive view of the enormous hot spring.
2. Lower Falls
The Lower Falls of Yellowstone River offers stunning views of the 308-foot drop canyon. This waterfall is best when captured from afar so take the time to explore and hike up the trails to find your own shot of the impressive falls.
3. Old Faithful
You can’t leave the park without capturing shots of this iconic geyser. The is one of the most stunning phenomena on earth and can be captured up close from the boardwalk or up high from observation or lookout points.
4. Yellowstone Sign
The Yellowstone sign is only one of the many iconic aspects of our country’s first national park. With five different entrances, this means you have five opportunities to capture it alongside various backgrounds from open prairie to the Gallatin Mountains.
5. Mammoth Hot Springs
This hot spring is unique because of its limestone composition left behind from prehistoric oceans. The landscape has beautifully colored water, dead and rusted trees, and dark skies which combine to make striking photographs.
6. Artist Point
One of the many gorgeous overlook locations in the park, Artist Point has breathtaking views of the beautiful waterfalls of Yellowstone River. It is at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and gives you direct views of the Lower Falls and canyon.
7. Great Fountain Geyser
This geyser is located close to Firehole Lake Drive which is one of the most popular sports in the park. Sunset is the ideal place to photograph here because it sits directly behind the steam of the geyser and makes for a beautiful sunburst shot.
8. Morning Glory Pool
The Morning Glory Pool was named after its similarity to the flower and is a beautiful geode pool that looks like it disappears into the depths of the earth. The best time to photograph this famous spot would be in the middle of the day when the sun provides plenty of light into the water.
Best photography spots in Yellowstone National Park
9. Bacterial Mats
Bacterial mats are found in geothermal areas of the hot springs in the park. These microorganisms create incredibly colorful, unique, and intricate sheets to photograph and can be found scattered throughout the park.
10. Bison
Yellowstone National Park is the home of the oldest and largest public bison herd in the country. They freely roam the park and number at over 4,000 bison in the population. The best time to find them is early morning when they are most active.
11. Sepulcher Mountain Trail
Sepulcher Mountain is one of the many high peaks in the park. It sits at almost 10,000 feet and has the most beautiful views. The trail is the second highest elevation trail in the park which means plenty of valleys, cliffs, ridgelines, and woods to photograph.
12. Sapphire Pool
Sapphire Pool gets its name from the lovely dark blue color of the water. The pool is also littered with hundreds of geyserite knobs that resemble biscuits.
13. Black Pool
This is one of the most captured spots of Yellowstone Lake. It has the best of both worlds when it comes to geysers since it has vibrant colors as well as the deep, dark blue lake.
14. Norris Geyser Basin
Another place to capture cool geyser shots is Norris Geyser Basin where boardwalks stretch all around the pools giving off steam. There are also tourists that cross through this area so it’s a good opportunity to practice shots with silhouettes.
15. Sunrises on Yellowstone Lake
The perfect place to capture sunrises in the park is Yellowstone Lake because it so beautifully reflects the bright yellows, oranges, pinks, and purples of the sky. Flanked by silhouettes of the jagged mountain peaks, these shots are the perfect golden hour photos.
16. Sunsets at Lower Geyser Basin
Steam and hot springs are iconic at Yellowstone. The Lower Geyser Basin is a great place to be around sunset since the steam coming off of the paint pots looks majestic against the colorfully painted skies.
17. Dunraven Pass
Dunraven Pass is a stunning place to photograph especially in the late spring to summer. This is because the entire mountain is covered with wildflowers and becomes a beautiful field of endless yellow.
18. Lamar Valley
For those looking to spot wildlife in the park, Lamar Valley is the perfect place to try. This beautiful valley is home to many of the park’s animals and those who are watchful will easily be able to find bears, wolves, elk, bison, etc. Just make sure to bring your zoom lens and maintain a safe distance!
These are the Best Photography Spots in Yellow Stone National Park
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