West Yellowstone is a small town in southwestern Montana with a population of around 1300 people. It is located a mile west of the West Entrance to Yellowstone National Park.
West Yellowstone has served as a gateway community to Yellowstone since the early 1900s, and was incorporated in 1966. More than 4 million people visit the town annually.
If my family had planned a vacation to Yellowstone National Park when I was a child, we probably would have stayed at West Yellowstone. It has major hotel chains, restaurants and fast food chains (including a McDonald’s), and enough things to do to occupy the rest of the vacation once the novelty of bear jams had worn out.
If you are going to stay outside of the park, West Yellowstone is convenient to Madison and Old Faithful. The town of West Yellowstone is:
~ 14 miles from Madison Junction
~ 31 miles from Old Faithful
~ 48 miles from West Thumb
~ 49 miles from Mammoth
~ 57 miles from Lake Village
~ 58 miles from Tower Junction
The West Entrance to Yellowstone National Park opens in mid-April (weather permitting) and closes in early November. It has the earliest spring opening date of any entrance in the park that closes (the north and northeast entrances remain open).
West Yellowstone Hotels
West Yellowstone contains dozens of hotels, motels, inns and lodges. Options from the national chains include Days Inn by Wyndham, Holiday Inn, Yellowstone Lodge, Best Western Weston Inn and Best Western Desert Inn.
Nearby Airports
There are three regional airports within 150 miles of West Yellowstone. Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport (BZN) is 90 miles away, Idaho Falls Regional Airport (IDA) is 110 miles away and Jackson Hole Airport (JAC) is 140 miles away. Bozeman is located north of West Yellowstone via US Highway 191.
Our Visit to West Yellowstone
We came to West Yellowstone a couple times as part of our trip to Yellowstone National Park. We drove through there once in order to reach Idaho, while checking another state of our bucket list. We also went there to pick up groceries to cook at our campsite, and as part of that trip we stopped at Dairy Queen for a blizzard. We were celebrating and the ice cream hit the spot.
Other Towns
Gardiner is known as the historic 4-Season Gateway to Yellowstone, since the northern entrance to the park does not close and wheeled vehicle access to the park road remains open even in winter. The north entrance here was also the first entrance to the park, and contains the Roosevelt Arch dedicated by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903. Gardiner has a population of around 900. National hotel chains include the Super 8 by Wyndham, Comfort Inn and Travelodge. It also has a number of bars, pizza joints, a Subway restaurant, a cafe and other dining options.