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Yellowstone

Yellowstone
Photo by Rolf Hicker: Travel Stock Photography
Yellowstone National Park is located in the seismically most active area of the Rocky Mountains and shows globally unparalleled surficial geothermal activity.

This leads to the existence of 200 species of petrified plants and features like geysers (with 200-250 in number, more than all of the rest of the world combined), hot springs, mud pots and fumaroles.

Furthermore, the park is the habitat of a great number of grizzly bears.

Year Decision Comments
2006Name changeFrom "Yellowstone" to "Yellowstone National Park"
2003Removed from Danger list
1995In Danger
1978 Inscribed Reasons for inscription
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Reviews

Ian Cade (England):
Simply magnificent!

Natural World Heritage Sites are not really my specialty; however when one is as impressive as this it really has an effect. This was WHS number 200 for me and I couldn’t have picked a better place to celebrate the milestone. Not only is the park full of a vast array of natural wonders but its designation as arguably the world’s first ‘national park preserved for the good of the citizens and generations to come’ is what has eventually led to this list of UNESCO’s that I spend so much time on.

We visited over two, very cold, days in late October. The majority of the parks amenities had closed down, this did limit our eating options a little, but it did mean that there were fewer people in and around the park, and many times it felt like we had the place to ourselves. The only time when there were crowds was for the eruption of Old Faithful, but this was to be expected.

The night before our visit we were having dinner at our friend’s home and they stated that the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone was their distinct highlight of the park. I’m really glad they did, up until then it was something that I only had earmarked as a ‘maybe’ however we made it the basis of our first day in the park and I was exceptionally happy we did. The two waterfalls at its western end were magnificent and being so close to them you could really feel how the power of the water could have created such an impressive canyon. The fact that there was snow swirling around as we looked out from our perch just added to it. By the time we had made it around to Artist’s Point the sun was beaming and really bought out the near sulphurous colours of the rocks. So thank you Tommay and Doris for such a great recommendation, I hope you enjoy the reviews and can excuse the spelling and grammar mistakes!

Our second day focused on the geothermal features of the park a little more. The distinct highlight for me was getting enveloped in the steam at the Grand Prismatic Spring, enjoying the brief warmth it gave on a bitingly cold day, and being astonished when there was a brief clearing of fog to see the wonderful array of colours in the water. Our trip to the West Thumb Geyser Basin gave us a great view of the Lake at the heart of the park, as well as letting us get up close to some deer and a massive stag that were attracted by the heat from the pools and seemed to revel in penning in us humans by blocking off the board-walks. The presence of so many animals made the whole park more enjoyable. Previous trips to natural WHS have been distinctly underwhelming in regards to animal sightings, but here without even trying we got great views of many different birds and animals, perhaps most memorable was rounding a corner to find a bison in the road that was probably bigger than our car.

After finishing up at West Thumb we headed south out of the park through the magnificent Grand Teton National Park, reminding us that Yellowstone is very much part of the Rocky Mountains.
As with Rome and Angkor 2 days of just seeing the highlights left me wanting so much more, that is why I have no problem stating that this is one of the finest World Heritage Sites I have visited.

[Site 10: Experience 8]
Date posted: November 2012
Laura Barber (USA):
Yellowstone is an amazing park! It is unlike anything else you have ever experienced. that first look at Old Faithful going up sends chills through you. The beauty of the park lies not only in its' geological uniqueness but but its' rolling plains where you can see bison, deer, wolves, bear....The geysers are beautiful both in their silence and their explosions. Looking into some of those blue pools is like looking into eyes. I happened to experience a sunset by the Old Faithful area. It was one of the most amazing experiences. the sky was a dark orange and the smoke of the geysers intertwined with it. There is so much to do in Yellowstone and a variety of choices on where you can stay. due to its' location; we combined it with a trip to the Tetons.
Date posted: November 2011
Keith Warren (United States):
My family has been to Yellowstone twice, camping on both occasions. In addition to the stunning beauty and remarkable geology, it is simply the best place to watch animals in the United States. None of us will ever forget the morning we woke up with a very large bull bison in the campsite next to ours!
Date posted: January 2011
James Kovacs (USA):
Yellowstone Park is a true treasure. It is my favorite
national park in the USA. The combination of seeing
big game animals and geothermic activity makes for an
extremely memorable experience. The only downside
to Yellowstone is people. It gets hordes of tourists.
Date posted: February 2006
Ben Pastore (USA):
My visit coincided with the devastating forest fires of 1994, but not to worry, this is all part of the cycle. The park is so big that there was plenty of unravaged alpine beauty around. The geothermic activity provided an interesting albeit smelly change in scenery. Plus, wildlife is ever-present, especially the very large, very free-roaming buffalo.
Date posted: June 2005
George S. Eisele (Indiana USA):
I have not visited Yellowstone for the past 39 years, but the memories are vivid! No one can write an adequate review of a place like this. It makes you feel as if you're on another planet, with its bubbling hot springs and geysers, spectacular waterfalls, huge lake, rugged mountains, and array of wildlife. Moose, elk, and buffalo are fairly easy to find, and forty years ago, brown bears, or shall I say ignorant or simply stupid tourists, were a problem along the roads! You can hear coyotes in the distance in the summer evenings. This is also a bird lovers' paradise. 39 years of time gone by make it impossible for me to review accomodations, but nature promises to more than accomodate all of your thirst for all that is rugged, raw, and wild. I know I shall not have the privilege of visiting WH sites on other continents, so I know I'll miss a lot, but if you live in North America, and do not take advantage of any opportunity to visit Yellowstone before you leave the earth, you are truly a tragic person!!! :-)
 
Suranga Hettiarachchi (Sri Lanka, live in USA):
I visited Yellowstone National Park in Summer 2001, It is one of the most remarkable natural wonders I have ever seen. The surraounding cliffs of upper Yellowstone Water Fall is actually
Yellow, and emerald color bubbling hot water pools were scary but gushing Old Faithfull is really astonishing.The freely wondering Buffalo and other park animals and evergreen trees brings the nature so close to our hearts. Yellowstone is simply great. Glad I went there.
 


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