Geysers, hot springs, mudpots and fumaroles. Bears, wolves, bison and elk. The world’s first national park holds enough wonders and curiosities to warrant many repeat visits.

And in 2022, Yellowstone will mark 150 years as a national park. Originally slated to be a state park, Yellowstone earned its national park status in 1872 because the land it stretched across was part of three territories, none of which was yet a state. Today’s park – 96% in Wyoming, 3% in Montana and 1% in Idaho – encompasses 2.2 million acres.

That’s a lot to discover. Its hydrothermal features alone number some 10,000. Grand Prismatic Spring at Midway Geyser Basin is a stunner with bright rings of orange, yellow and green rimming its deep blue center, and of course watching Old Faithful erupt is a Yellowstone tradition.

Add encounters with formidable wildlife – keep your distance, please – and you’ve got an incredible crowd-pleaser with visitor numbers to match. (More than a million people visited the park in July 2021, the busiest month in the park’s history.)

Getting to top natural attractions early in the morning or later in the afternoon and visiting in the spring and fall can mean fewer people.

The park plans to celebrate 150 Years of Yellowstone with a series of activities, concentrated from March to August, that highlight the land’s tribal connections, examine successes and challenges in its ecosystems and look to the future. An emphasis on stewardship and visiting responsibly will encourage visitors to do their part to help protect the park for generations to come. – MH