Yellowstone National Park. Part 2. Aug, 2025

We continue our journey through one of the most “alien-like” national parks in the United States — Yellowstone. Once again, we admire the wilderness, stop by a scenic lake, walk through another geyser basin with strange and surreal landscapes, and see the tallest geyser in the world. We also try a local forest treat — huckleberries — before hitting the road.

We then drive across the border from the United States into Canada, entering the province of Alberta, and spend some time getting to know the city of Calgary

The first part of the trip can be viewed here

Day 4. Lake, Geysers  

Today we had a late wake-up — no more “bison hunting” needed :) Everyone slowly gathered for a delicious breakfast 

Then, as usual, we entered the park through the West Entrance and almost immediately got stuck in a traffic jam. Only after about an hour did we realize the reason: it was a deer traffic jam.

The deer were either crossing the road, forcing cars to stop for a few photos, or peacefully grazing by the roadside, gathering crowds of spectators around them. And the road is narrow — just one lane in each direction… So of course, we couldn’t help but stop as well

Stop #1. Parking: Gibbon Falls Picnic Area.

We make a short stop near the beautiful waterfalls — Gibbon Falls 

Stop #2.
And just 15 minutes later, we arrive at another “alien-like” place — Norris Basin. This is the hottest and most dynamic area of Yellowstone. It sits right above the intersection of several major geological faults. Here, magma lies closest to the surface, which is why the underground water temperatures are especially high. As a result, the basin is unstable: hot springs and geysers frequently change, with new ones appearing and old ones disappearing.

At the entrance, there is a sign

First, we turn right — toward Porcelain Basin. We walk along the wooden boardwalk, and in front of us a white valley unfolds, with jets of steam rising everywhere from the ground. The air is filled with the smell of sulfur, and it feels as if we’ve arrived on another planet 

We walk past pools that, at first glance, look calm and beautiful, but in reality are deep and extremely hot, as well as bubbling — and no less dangerous — mud pools. We also see what happens to the trees due to the constant release of acidic steam 

We return to the start of the trail, back to the sign, and now turn left. We enter the Back Basin.

Here, the landscapes are similar. And here is the beautiful color of the water

We approached the world’s tallest active geyser — Steamboat Geyser. It is very unpredictable and last erupted in April of this year. Jets of water shoot up to an incredible height of up to 91 meters (300 feet)! And we saw the geyser in a calm, resting state 

Stop #3.
We now head toward Yellowstone Lake, and about 45 minutes later we stop at the Fishing Bridge Visitor Center. Here you can grab a bite to eat and buy souvenirs.

In particular, products made from the local mountain berry — huckleberry — are very popular: honey, jam, candies, sauces, and much more. This berry is similar to blueberries but grows only in the mountainous regions of North America, and it’s especially common here, making huckleberry products a true local specialty

Stop #4.
We continue driving, heading toward the southern part of the lake — West Thumb Geyser Basin, a geyser basin on the western shore of Yellowstone Lake. Here, hot springs and thermal pools sit right next to the water, and steam rises directly from the lake’s edge. The drive took us about 30 minutes.

Along the way, on a hillside, we spotted a mother bear with her cub, picking berries from a bush. Most likely, they were the familiar huckleberries. By the time we reached for our cameras, the mother had already hidden, while the well-fed cub started running around

And here we are already on the shore of the lake 

In the evening, we celebrated our family anniversary — 33 years 

Day 5. Rest

In just a few days, we completed everything on our planned itinerary, so today we decided to simply rest.

We drove to the small town of West Yellowstone, only about 20 minutes from our cottage, to enjoy a bit of “civilization” and browse the souvenir shops

And of course, there was also huckleberry ice cream — which had already become our daily tradition 

Day 6. Road to Calgary

We leave Yellowstone in the morning, and after about 8.5 hours we arrive in Canada, in the city of Calgary. We are already being welcomed there.

Calgary is the center of Canadian beef: thousands of cattle graze on the prairies, and local steaks are considered some of the best in the country

We check into a hotel downtown and then head out to explore the city. Across the Bow River — which originates in the Rocky Mountains and flows right through Calgary — there are several beautiful bridges. One that stood out in particular was the Centre Street Bridge, decorated with lion statues. From it, there is a picturesque view of the river and Calgary’s skyscrapers. Along the riverbank, there are well-maintained pathways for walking and cycling

We walk through the streets. We haven’t seen rowan trees in a long time. We haven’t come across them in Toronto 

And these are the local houses 

At sunset, we went up to the Crescent Heights Lookout Point. From here, all of Calgary lies like on an open map: the Bow River and the city center in golden sunlight look absolutely incredible. After that, we took a walk in Prince’s Island Park

And when it got dark, the dancing began 

Day 7. Calgary and Return to Toronto

We fly back home to Toronto in the afternoon, and in the morning we have time to meet with relatives and take one more walk through downtown Calgary. We met up and went for a walk

We even managed to stop by a Ukrainian café. The cakes were excellent 

A very charming city center 

And just like that, our short but very eventful vacation comes to an end.

And to finish, I’d like to share this cute video of a bison just casually walking along the side of the road