Yellowstone National Park is brimming with adventures. Whether you join a guided tour led by a knowledgeable park expert or explore on your own, there’s no shortage of incredible experiences waiting for you. With so much to see and do, deciding where to start can be overwhelming.
Forever West!
The Yellowstone Caldera is the massive, 30x45 mile basin formed by a supervolcano's cataclysmic eruption 640,000 years ago, creating a landscape within Yellowstone National Park defined by its collapsed structure, not mountain peaks, filled with lava flows and active hydrothermal features like geysers and hot springs powered by the same magma system beneath. This "heart of the caldera" remains a dynamic volcanic system, with the underlying magma chamber fueling the park's famous geothermal wonders and occasionally causing the ground to rise and fall.
Yellowstone's Petrified Tree is a remarkable fossil, a remnant of a 50-million-year-old Eocene forest of redwoods, magnolias, and maples buried by volcanic eruptions and lahars (volcanic mudflows). The silica-rich groundwater replaced the organic wood cells with minerals, preserving the trees' structures as stone, with some upright stumps and horizontal logs showcasing multiple ancient forest layers exposed by erosion. A specific, famously fenced tree sits near the Tower/Roosevelt area, a popular spot to witness this unique geological phenomenon from a past tropical Yellowstone.
The Blacktail Plateau Drive in Yellowstone is a quiet, 6-mile, one-way dirt road offering a slower pace and excellent wildlife viewing (bears, elk, bison) away from the Grand Loop crowds, with rough terrain best suited for high-clearance vehicles but manageable in sedans if driven slowly, ending near the Petrified Tree. It's a scenic detour for those seeking quieter moments and a chance to see animals up close in open meadows, especially in spring or fall when colors pop. We really enjoyed this drive.
