The Yellowstone Park is an American national park located in the western United States, most of which is in the northwest corner of Wyoming with small parts extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. Yellowstone was the first national park in the U.S. and is also widely held to be the first national park in the world. The park is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially the Old Faithful geyser, one of its most popular. While it represents many types of biomes, the subalpine forest is the most abundant.

Except for visits by mountain men during the early-to-mid 1800s, organized exploration did not begin until the late 1860s. Once the park was created, the management and control of it originally fell under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of the Interior, with the Secretary of the Interior being the first supervisor. However, the U.S. Army was eventually commissioned to oversee the management of Yellowstone for 30 years between 1886 and 1916.

In 1916, the National Park Service was created and the administration of the park was transferred to the National Park Service in 1917. Since that time, hundreds of structures have been built and are protected for their architectural and historical significance. Too, researchers have examined more than a thousand archaeological sites.

Hundreds of species of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians have been documented, including several that are either endangered or threatened. The vast forests and grasslands also include unique species of plants. Yellowstone Park is the largest, and most famous megafauna location in the contiguous United States. Grizzly bears, cougars, wolves, and free-ranging herds of bison and elk live in this park. The Yellowstone Park bison herd is the oldest and largest public bison herd in the United States. Forest fires occur in the park each year; in the large forest fires of 1988, nearly one-third of the park was burnt.

Yellowstone has numerous recreational opportunities, including hiking, camping, boating, fishing, and sightseeing. Paved roads provide close access to the major geothermal areas as well as some of the lakes and waterfalls.

During the winter season, visitors often access the park by way of guided tours that use either snow coaches or snowmobiles.

Yellowstone National Park spans an area of 3,468.4 sqare mile, in which aare, it comprising lakes, canyons, rivers, and mountain ranges. Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest high-elevation lakes in North America and is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest super volcano on the continent. The caldera is considered a dormant volcano, but has erupted with tremendous force several times in the last two million years. More than half of all the geysers and hydrothermal features in the world are found in Yellowstone, and these are fueled by this ongoing volcanic hot spot. Lava flows and rocks from volcanic eruptions cover most of the land area of Yellowstone.

In 1978, Yellowstone was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Yellowstone Campgrounds

Yellowstone River