Yellowstone National Park is a premiere U.S. destination, attracting visitors from worldwide. In fact, more than 2.3 million visitors annually are drawn to this spectacular geologic region.
Yellowstone National Park is teaming with fun facts, including:
- Established on March 1, 1872, this area was granted National Park status more than 20 years before Idaho, Montana and Wyoming were granted statehood.
- Worldwide there are only 30 active super volcanoes. Yellowstone Park is not only a super volcano, but also the only one located on land.
- Yellowstone includes 10,000 thermal features and 300 active geysers.
- The park includes 40 major waterfalls.
- Producing 3.3 million acre-feet of water annually, Yellowstone is a rich source of water in the U.S., especially the western states.
- The Greater Yellowstone area includes the origination of 12 major rivers.
- The Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in the U.S. and North America, pumping out more than 4,000 gallons of water per minute.
- The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is 1,500 feet deep, between 1,500 to 4,000 feet wide and 20 miles long.
- A lodgepole pine has an average lifespan of 200 years.
- Moose can keep their heads underwater for as long as three minutes.
- Grizzly bears eat an average of 35 pounds of food per day.
- The 1988 wildfires burned 26-percent of the forest’s canopy.
- Yellowstone boasts average temperatures of 35 degrees Fahrenheit, with warmer summer temperatures and frigid wintertime conditions.
- At 54 miles wide and 63 miles long, Yellowstone National Park comprises a massive area of land. In fact, the park is larger than both Delaware and Rhode Island combined.
- Approximately 80-percent of the park is forested, 15-percent is grassland and five-percent is water.
- Old Faithful erupts approximately every 91 minutes.
- One-percent of Yellowstone National Park is located in Idaho, three-percent in Montana and 96-percent in Wyoming.
- The park experiences more than 2,000 earthquakes per year.
- The park includes 287 backcountry campsites, 950 miles of backcountry hiking trails, 97 trailheads, 466 miles of roads and five park entrances.
- Yellowstone has one jail, one F.B.I. agent and one federal judge.
- Yellowstone is of the world’s largest calderas – a volcanic feature that is formed following a massive volcanic eruption – measured at 30 by 45 miles.
As an ideal base exploration destination, Yellowstone Holiday offers cabins at Hebgen Lake and a Yellowstone RV park, perfect for idyllic Yellowstone vacations.