Yellowstone National Park Entrances

To begin, I can’t stress enough how important it is to understand that Yellowstone National Park is HUGE. Encompassing 2.2 million acres, it has two major touring loops, the Upper Loop and the Lower Loop, comprising 142 miles of driving. You can see why Yellowstone has FIVE entrances to the park!

The best entrance to Yellowstone National Park depends primarily on where you’re coming from, what you want to see, where you’re staying, and how long you have to see the park. In general, most visitors enter Yellowstone through the West Entrance.

Important! Note that during the winter season, most of Yellowstone’s roads are closed to wheeled vehicles. The park can still be accessed through the North Entrance by car, or other entrances by snowmobiles or snowcoaches.

You should definitely schedule a multi-day trip to properly see all that Yellowstone has to offer. One day to see it all would be impossible! For a true Yellowstone experience, see our Family Vacation in Yellowstone for a detailed 5 day itinerary detailing the best stops, lodging, hikes, and more!

Ok, here we go!

The 5 Entrances To Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park has 5 entrances. The West Entrance is the most popular entrance followed by the North Entrance. All entrances require a park pass to enter. You can purchase ahead of time at the National Park Service website or at the entrance gate.

1. West Entrance (most popular with the most amenities in West Yellowstone, MT- closest to the geothermal areas of Yellowstone)

2. North Entrance (closest entrance to Bozeman Airport and 5 minutes to Gardiner, MT)

3. South Entrance (closest entrance to Grand Teton National Park)

4. East Entrance (closest entrance to Yellowstone Lake and Cody, WY- 52 miles)

5. Northeast Entrance (closest to the tiny towns of Silver Gate and Cooke City, MT; leads to one of the best wildlife viewing areas in Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley as well as the incredibly scenic Beartooth Highway)

View a map of Yellowstone with Driving Times.

Lodging Note: Only the West Entrance (West Yellowstone, MT), North Entrance (Gardiner, MT), and Northeast Entrance (Silver Gate/Cooke City, MT) offer reasonably convenient gateway towns with lodging.

The East Entrance is too far away from most of Yellowstone’s attractions, and the South Entrance to Yellowstone is essentially located in Grand Teton National Park. See our blog “Where To Stay In Yellowstone” for specific lodging recommendations and advice.

Airport Info: Flying to Yellowstone? Tip: A major advantage of Bozeman/Yellowstone International Airport (BZN) is its convenient location to both the North Entrance and the West Entrance of Yellowstone.

Driving from Bozeman Airport to Yellowstone’s North Entrance takes roughly 1.5 hours, and it’s just shy of 2 hours to its West Entrance. P.S. Bozeman is a great stop as well. See our Guide to Bozeman.

*Note: The lodging recommendations listed throughout are our personal list of places that we have stayed in previously, that were recommended by friends we trust, or that we have marked as possibilities for future visits. We do not accept sponsored stays but some of these links are affiliate links, please see Disclosures for a full explanation. 

West Entrance To Yellowstone

The West Entrance to Yellowstone National Park is best for:

• Exploring the Lower Loop

• Visiting the geothermal features of the park like Grand Prismatic and Old Faithful Geyser

• Finding convenient lodging and additional activities in West Yellowstone

• Arriving from Idaho Falls Airport (1:45 hours) or Salt Lake City Airport (4:45 hours)

• Traveling from Bozeman, MT (2 hours- Note that the North Entrance is a tad closer)

• Traveling from Glacier National Park (6.5 hours- North Entrance is also an option)

Yellowstone’s West Entrance, located in the the aptly named gateway town of West Yellowstone, Montana, is the most popular entrance due to its abundance of lodging and proximity to Old Faithful Geyser.

If your main goal is to see Old Faithful Geyser and Grand Prismatic Spring, two of the park’s most iconic geothermal features, the West Entrance is the closest. It takes 35 minutes from the West Entrance to reach Grand Prismatic and 50 minutes to reach Old Faithful.

The West Entrance is also the best entrance to explore the Lower Loop, and the town of West Yellowstone would be a good base to do it. The Holiday Inn and Moose Creek Inn are solid choices, but you’ll find plenty of other lodging options in this small touristy town filled with souvenir shops, ice cream counters, and plenty of cafes and restaurants.

West Yellowstone also offers additional activities beyond the park. We like to visit the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, wander through the fantastic book store, the Book Peddler, and bike the easy and scenic Shortline Trail.

Keep in mind that the West Entrance is also the busiest entrance to Yellowstone and can require a significant wait in line to enter during the busy summer season.

North Entrance To Yellowstone

The North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park is best for those:

• Wanting to enter the park through the historic Roosevelt Arch

• Touring the Upper Loop of Yellowstone National Park

• Staying at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel

• Exploring Yellowstone’s famous Lamar Valley known for its wildlife (See our One Day in Lamar Valley)- Northeast Entrance is also an option

• Arriving from Glacier National Park (6.5 hours) or Bozeman Airport (1.5 hours)

• Staying inside the park at Mammoth Hot Springs or Roosevelt Lodge

• Driving the Beartooth Highway

• Visiting during the winter (this entrance is open year round to vehicles traveling through Yellowstone National Park to the Northeast Entrance— see map above for closures)

Yellowstone’s North Entrance is located just 5 minutes from the tiny town of Gardiner, MT (population 900). Gardiner has a decent number of restaurants, a few shops, outfitters, and a variety of lodging options (we like Absaroka Lodge and Antler Lodge).

It’s not unusual to see elk walking down the sidewalks along the store fronts in Gardiner. Our kids loved that!

It’s an easy and beautiful drive from Bozeman, MT to Yellowstone’s North Entrance which takes you through Montana’s scenic Paradise Valley on Highway 89 to Gardiner, MT. You’ll have great views of the mountain ranges, the Yellowstone River, and a high probability of seeing wildlife.

On our last trip in April, we saw elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, and an eagle. And that was before we even entered Yellowstone!

Whether you are staying in the town of Gardiner, MT or not, Gardiner is a good place to stock up on groceries, refuel the tank, or buy bear spray and supplies for your trip.

Northeast Entrance to Yellowstone

The Northeast Entrance to Yellowstone National Park is best for:

• Exploring the Lamar Valley- calling all wildlife enthusiasts!

• Exploring the Upper Loop

• Driving the Beartooth Highway

Yellowstone Lamar Valley

If your goal is to see wildlife during your trip to Yellowstone, the Lamar Valley is undeniably the best place to do it. (Hayden Valley being a second!) You are practically guaranteed to see wildlife here!

Not technically considered as part of the Upper Loop tour, this area of the park doesn’t feel as crowded, and there is plenty to do here between wildlife watching, hiking, and driving the scenic Beartooth Highway. See our “One Day In Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley” for all the details.

The Northeast Entrance is served by the tiny towns of Silver Gate and Cooke City, MT. You won’t find many amenities here, but the towns will have all you need. Inside the park, Roosevelt Lodge is the closest to the Lamar Valley- only 25 minutes away.

You’ll find plenty of cabin rentals and a sprinkling of motels in the Silver Gate and Cooke City area. We stayed at Silver Willows Sarva Cabin on 4 Acres by the Creek (sleeps 9). We stayed here for 3 nights and appreciated the convenient location when waking early to view wildlife in the Lamar Valley. It was also close enough to be convenient to return later in the day for more wildlife watching.

Beartooth Highway

If you are near Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley or staying in Silver Gate or Cooke City, you can’t miss the opportunity to drive along the 68 mile long Beartooth Highway (Highway 212), one of the most scenic, high elevation highways in the U.S. 

Although not in the national park per se, it is certainly worthy of a visit and was one of the highlights of our trip.  

You can stop at several pullouts to admire the views, drive over Beartooth Pass at an elevation of 10,947’, stop at the Top of the World Store for a commemorative souvenir or to grab a snack, and hike a multitude of trails if desired.

Clear here for a map of the Beartooth Highway.

South Entrance To Yellowstone

The South Entrance to Yellowstone National Park is best for those:

• Arriving from Jackson Hole Airport

• Combining Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park

• Taking a day trip to Yellowstone from Grand Teton National Park

To reach the South Entrance of Yellowstone, you have to drive north through Grand Teton National Park. Note that separate entrance fees are charged for each park.

The South Entrance to Yellowstone is a good choice for those planning to visit Grand Teton National Park, because you can combine it with a visit to Yellowstone National Park if time permits. If you plan to do this, consider purchasing an America the Beautiful Annual Pass ($80) which gives you entrance to all national parks in the U.S. for one year.

If you want to make just a quick day trip from Grand Teton National, Yellowstone’s West Thumb Geyser Basin is the closest attraction. From Colter Bay Village in Grand Teton, you’ll reach it in just under 1 hour. West Thumb Geyser Basin is unique in that it is the largest geyser basin on the shores of Yellowstone Lake. It’s simply beautiful.

You could also consider making a day trip from Grand Teton National Park to see Old Faithful Geyser Basin. To give you an idea of distance, you can reach Old Faithful Geyser Basin from Grand Teton’s Signal Mountain Lodge in just under 2 hours (1:48) and it’s only 1:10 to West Thumb Geyser Basin. Of course, driving times are always increased with inevitable construction delays or “animal jams.”

This way you get to experience the amazing thermal features of Yellowstone but retreat back to the less-crowded and more serene Grand Teton National Park.

See our 5 day Itinerary for Grand Teton National Park for everything you need to know. P.S. We visit the Tetons every year. It’s a favorite!

East Entrance To Yellowstone

The East Entrance to Yellowstone National Park is best for those:

• Traveling from Badlands National Park, Mount Rushmore, or the Black Hills of South Dakota

• Traveling by car from the East Coast

• Wanting to visit the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, WY (52 miles to the East Entrance)

• Staying at Yellowstone Lake lodging

If you are taking the dream road trip out west from the East Coast, you’ll likely enter Yellowstone National Park through the East Entrance. It’s a convenient entry point if you’ve stopped at Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills or Badlands National Park on the way. See our Badlands National Park and Black Hills Itinerary for inspo!

It’s a beautiful entrance as it takes you right along the shore of Yellowstone Lake, but it doesn’t have a convenient gateway town attached to it so you’ll find lodging elsewhere in the park or the gateway towns of West Yellowstone, Gardiner, or Silver Gate/Cooke City.

So there you have it! As you can see, there are lots of decisions to make when planning a trip to Yellowstone National Park. We’ve shared all of our tips in our Family Vacation in Yellowstone- A Detailed 5 day itinerary.

Seasonal Closures In Yellowstone National Park

Per the National Park Service:

Keep in mind that few facilities are open year-round and services are limited from early November through late-April. The only road generally open year-round to regular vehicles is from the North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana, through the park to Cooke City, Montana (via Tower Junction).

Most park roads are closed to regular vehicles from early November to late-April, and are open to limited oversnow travel (commercially-guided snowmobiles and snowcoaches) from mid-December to mid-March. When open, roads are not gated at night and people may enter/exit the park 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Yellowstone has five entrance stations, and it takes several hours to drive between them. Anticipate possible road closures, and check the road status of the entrance you intend to use before traveling.

Road & Entrance Status

For up-to-date information, check out the live road status map (above), call (307) 344-2117 for recorded information, or sign up to receive Yellowstone road alerts on your mobile phone by texting 82190 to 888-777 (an automatic text reply will confirm receipt and provide instructions). Before traveling, it's also a good idea to:

• Check road conditions outside of Yellowstone in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and Grand Teton National Park.

• View the park webcams to see current traffic conditions at the North and West entrances to Yellowstone.

Purchase Our Handy Dandy Yellowstone National Park Itinerary!

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