Yellowstone National Park is home to an amazing variety of wildlife, including grizzly bears, elk, bison, wolves, and coyotes to name a few.  

The Park also has a large population of 300+ species of birds that migrate in and out of the park each year. 

Yellowstone National Park also has a wide range of ecosystems including grasslands, forests, rivers and lakes that are home to several types of fish including trout, grayling and salmon as well as many other forms of marine life like whales and seals that migrate up the Yellowstone River from the Pacific Ocean each summer.  

The canyon varies from 800 to 1200 feet in dept and from 1500 to 4000 feet in width.  Its length is about 24 miles. The upper 2 1/2 miles is the most colorful section. Hot spring activity has continued through the ages altering the lava rock to produce lovely colors which are largely due to varied iron compounds. Have you noticed that steam vents and geysers are still at work at the canyon walls? 

Keywords: 

​Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, kilometers, wildlife, grizzly bears, elk, bison, wolves, coyotes, birds, grasslands, forests, rivers, lakes, trout, grayling, salmon, whales, seals, Pacific Ocean.

Take the Quiz: 

1. This rugged national park is one of three in the state of Washington. Where are we?

A. Mount Rainier National Park.

B. Olympic National Park

C. North Cascades National Park  

2. What national park is the nation's oldest? 

A. Crater Lake

B. Sequoia

​C. Yellowstone 

3. What is the most-visited national park in the country? 

A. Grand Canyon

B. Yosemite

C. Great Smoky Mountains 

Answers: 

1. North Cascades is the newest of the three national parks in Washington state and is arguably the most rugged. Although it doesn't have a marquee mountain like Mount Rainier, there are dozens of peaks in the North Cascades range that are higher than 7,500 feet. Spread throughout these summits is a system of more than 300 glaciers, the likes of which you would have to visit Alaska to find. 

2. Declared a national park on March 1, 1872, Yellowstone is widely believed to be not just the country's first national park, but the world's first. Three states claim at least a portion of the park, although the vast majority of it is in Wyoming. It is known for its various geothermal features and its charismatic megafauna, like wolves, bears, and bison. 

3. The most popular national park by far is Great Smoky, which straddles North Carolina and Tennessee. Part of the reason is its accessibility and proximity to many major cities. In 2021, it received 14 million visitors. By comparison, 5 million people visited Zion, 4.8 million visited Yellowstone, and 4.5 million visited the Grand Canyon. The least-visited national park is the remote Gates of the Arctic in Alaska, with 7,000 visitors in 2021.