5:00 AM protected
Clockwise lower loop
Day timeline
A live projection using published drive times, stop pacing, parking search, and construction buffers. Nothing is auto-skipped.
Depart
5:00 AM
Sunset
8:22 PM
Projected
1:32 AM (next day)
full modeOn baseline21 included stops
7:30 AM protected
Yellowstone South Entrance
Pause for the road board, pass check, and the mental shift from highway travel to wildlife country.
5 minrequired
2
8:00 AM
Lewis Falls
A short pullout view introduces the river that drains Yellowstone's southern high country.
8 minquick stop
8:45 AM protected
West Thumb Geyser Basin
A compact boardwalk places geyser pools at the edge of Yellowstone Lake and opens the geology of the day.
35 minessential
4
10:18 AM
Lake Yellowstone Hotel
A porch-and-shore pause connects Yellowstone's largest lake with the architecture of early park tourism.
20 minhigh value
5
11:03 AM
Mud Volcano
Acid, clay, steam, and a resonant cave make this Yellowstone's most theatrical short thermal stop.
25 minhigh value
11:51 AM protected
Hayden Valley
The treeless valley is a geologic memory of water—and one of the loop's best wildlife stages.
20 minessential
12:31 PM protected
Artist Point
The classic sightline places 308-foot Lower Falls inside a canyon colored by water, heat, and iron.
25 minessential
8
1:20 PM
Brink of Upper Falls
A short overlook trades canyon panorama for the immediate power of the Yellowstone River.
15 minhigh value
9
1:47 PM
Canyon Village Reset
The loop's planned service reset: restrooms, water, food, fuel, and an honest schedule check.
20 minservice
10
2:50 PM
Norris Geyser Basin
Acidic water, shifting vents, and a documented explosion make Norris the loop's most demanding thermal chapter.
40 minhigh value
11
4:05 PM
Gibbon Falls
An accessible roadside overlook shows the Gibbon River dropping across a remnant of Yellowstone's caldera rim.
8 minquick stop
12
4:40 PM
Madison Junction
The Firehole and Gibbon form the Madison beside a famous campfire story that NPS now explicitly corrects.
8 minoptional
13
5:13 PM
Fountain Paint Pot
A compact loop combines hot springs, geysers, fumaroles, and mudpots—and a microorganism that changed biology.
25 minhigh value
12 min drive · +7 buffer
Continue to Prismatic Boardwalk
15
6:05 PM
Grand Prismatic Boardwalk
The Midway boardwalk puts steam, runoff, and microbial color at eye level on an accessible route.
30 minhigh value
16
6:58 PM
Grand Prismatic Overlook
The elevated view reveals the spring's full shape, but the spur starts at 14% and reaches 19% grades.
35 minhigh value
17
7:58 PM
Black Sand Basin
A compact basin offers Emerald Pool and Cliff Geyser—but is the first stop to release when the day slips.
20 minoptional
8:33 PM protected
Old Faithful & the Inn
Catch the eruption window, then use the Inn as meaningful slack—not as a reason to delay the upstream day.
60 minessential
19
10:08 PM
Kepler Cascades
A short accessible boardwalk gives a final water break before Craig Pass and the Continental Divide.
8 minquick stop
20
10:35 PM
Isa Lake & Craig Pass
At the Continental Divide, a charming two-ocean claim survives only with an important NPS hedge.
6 minoptional
1:32 AM protected
Jackson Return
Not in this projection
- Firehole Lakeclosure
Why the late return?
The loop is bigger than it looks
Published junction times add up to more than five hours of in-park driving. Jackson adds another two-and-a-half to three hours, before parking, wildlife jams, road work, or a single boardwalk.
Review road safety