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Northwest Region

No words on a website can properly describe northwest Wyoming. Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park are so amazing, they draw millions of people each year from around the globe.

Yellowstone, our first national park, sits atop North America's largest active volcano system. This isn't a place where you watch the steaming vents through binoculars, but rather, from boardwalks that weave between them. You'll see colored thermal pools and geysers that burst through the earth's crust and spray over a hundred feet in the air. You are virtually guaranteed a show at Old Faithful, which erupts at least once every two hours. It's made all the better with some ice cream from the nearby historical lodge.

If you haven't visited Yellowstone before, you're in for a treat. The wildfires that ravaged the park in 1988 have brought new life to the park, and young trees, lush grass, and colorful wildflowers have long since taken root. You'll also find one of the most balanced ecosystems anywhere, and wildlife viewing is among the most popular reasons people come to visit. Favorites include both black and grizzly bears, wolves, moose, and bison. Of course, these animals are not confined to the park's boundaries - there is a lot of wildlife viewing to be done in the Tetons and adjacent Shoshone National Forest. To learn more about bears and wolves, and see them up close, visit the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone.

If mountain views, or engineering feats, thrill you, a drive along the paved highway across Beartooth Pass is in order. Here, you'll get an incredible 360-degree alpine view of mountains that stretch across northwest Wyoming and southern Montana. If you can't squeeze that in, don't worry. It's nearly impossible to get to the northwest region without traversing along at least one designated scenic byway.

Grand Teton National Park is found just south of Yellowstone. Perhaps no other mountains in the world find themselves on more posters and postcards than the Tetons. With a 7,500-foot vertical rise from the valley below, these jagged peaks are dramatic and special. There is plenty to do in nearby Jackson, and while you're in the area, be sure to check out the new Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center. Also new this year is a bigger and more modern tramway at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

 

     

Yellowstone National Park

Geyser Basin in Yellowstone

Beartooth highway

Beartooth Lake

Geyser Basin

Paint pots

Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center

American Bison

Hayden Valley

Camping in the Tetons

Grand Tetons

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