We entered the Park 3 days after the east entrance opened for the season; so the Lake and its surroundings were still in the process of emerging from winter. There was ice on the water, snow on the trees & banks; and it was all spectacular. We're looking forward to seeing the views in other seasons; but this was a beautiful introduction to the area.

The park itself was awesome. The hotel room was very small (Grant Village Lodge), but the room was clean. The beds are only fulls, not queens. As for the food management company, they are terrible! I guess the hours are supposed to change next year, but don't expect the small restaurants to be open as long as the general store that it is in. The general stores are closed at 6:00, which doesn't make much sense since you'll spend most of your day out in the park and then come back to get something from a general store that's not even open at around that hour. The food service restaurants inside of the general stores closing hour earlier, at 5:00. So if you're planning on eating, be there before 5:00. That of course digs into your timing for traveling around the park. There are full service restaurants available, but three of them require reservations and you can only reserve at those if you stay in the park. We ate at the Grant dining room where the food was decent. The Lakeshore Lodge that serves tacos was atrocious. Essentially, expect bare bones, food quality with teenagers doing all the work because they can't find people to come to the park to work. And since you have no other options for food outside of bringing your own cooler, I think they're feeling is... Good luck to you! One last thing to mention, if you happen to be coming in from the south side of the park near Jackson's hole, expect to be charged for two national parks. Parks. We had to pay $35 to go through the Teton Park just to get to Yellowstone and then pay another $35. It would have taken hours to go over to the eastern entrance instead to avoid this. Any person who comes in from any of the other entrances and then comes down through the park of Yellowstone into teton, doesn't have to pay. It's a really lame situation for those coming in from the south. All other entrances pay $35 into Yellowstone and have access to Teton without a charge. If you come in from the south, expect to pay $70 total.

We booked a two hour guided fishing tour last minute due to a cancellation- we were happy there was an opening. Our guide was Jack and he was AMAZING. Four of us went and two of our group fished. To get off the road and out of the car onto a boat skimming across the water of Lake Yellowstone was incredible. A knowledgeable guide, Jack was also personable and made the 2 hour trip fun and informative. The guys caught fish and we ladies relaxed on the boat, taking in the sights. We heartily recommend the experience.

Being where it is I was amazed at the size of Yellowstone Lake. The waters appear to be very clear. Yellowstone Lake lies in the caldera of an ancient but still active volcano. 640,000 years ago the dome of the caldera collapsed creating the Lake as we know it today. Before the collapse Yellowstone Lake actually covered most of the Hayden Valley. There is a section of the Lake known as the West Thumb.

We saw this beautiful lake as we drove from the Old Faithful area to Lake Lodge cabins. It’s a huge lake with mountains in the background. It also has some geothermal activity going on along the shores. It was lovely to admire.