Salt Lake City to Yellowstone and Grand Teton 3 Day Tour

The first antler arch was constructed in 1953 through the efforts and fundraising of the Jackson Hole Rotary Club. The National Elk Refuge, a protected haven where hundreds of elk come to take shelter during the winter months, sits just outside of the town of Jackson. Each spring the herd of elk naturally shed their antlers allowing locals and visitors alike to harvest the pieces for art and auction. By the late 1960’s the other three antler arches came into existence and completed the project. The four arches stood proudly for the sixty years that followed. But as antlers are in fact made up of bone, they eventually began to decompose causing the structures to lose their rigidity and foundational structure. By 2015 the final arch reconstruction was completed and the new adornments are expected to last at least another 50 years. The antler arches have become something of a Jackson Hole icon and a legacy to be passed onto future generations.

Grand Teton National Park is a national park of the United States in northwestern Wyoming. At approximately 310,000 acres (1,300 km2), the park includes the major peaks of the 40-mile-long (64 km) Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Grand Teton National Park is named for Grand Teton, the tallest mountain in the Teton Range. The naming of the mountains is attributed to early 19th-century French-speaking trappers—les trois tétons (the three teats) was later anglicized and shortened to Tetons. Grand Teton National Park is an almost pristine ecosystem and the same species of flora and fauna that have existed since prehistoric times can still be found there. More than 1,000 species of vascular plants, dozens of species of mammals, 300 species of birds, more than a dozen fish species, and a few species of reptiles and amphibians inhabit the park.

Nestled in the Rocky Mountains and often called the “backbone of America,” Yellowstone National Park sits atop a vast lava plateau between the Northern and Central Rockies in the western United States. Renowned for its geothermal wonders, the park showcases a primeval landscape shaped by the raw forces of water and fire. Its diverse terrain is divided into five main regions—the Mammoth Area, Roosevelt Area, Canyon Area, Geyser Area, and Lake Area—each boasting its own unique charm. Surpassing the limits of human artistry, Yellowstone offers some of the most magnificent and awe-inspiring scenery on Earth.

The West Thumb Geyser Basin including Potts Basin to the north, is the largest geyser basin on the shores of Yellowstone Lake. West Thumb is about the same size as another famous volcanic caldera, Crater Lake in Oregon, but much smaller than the great Yellowstone Caldera which last erupted about 640,000 years ago. West Thumb is a caldera within a caldera. West Thumb was created approximately 162,000 years ago when a magma chamber bulged up under the surface of the earth and subsequently cracked it along ring fracture zones. This in turn released the enclosed magma as lava and caused the surface above the emptied magma chamber to collapse. Water later filled the collapsed area of the caldera, forming an extension of Yellowstone Lake. This created the source of heat and water that feed the West Thumb Geyser Basin today.

The Norris Geyser Basin is the hottest geyser basin in the park and is located near the northwest edge of Yellowstone Caldera near Norris Junction and on the intersection of three major faults. The Basin consists of three main areas: Porcelain Basin, Back Basin, and One Hundred Springs Plain. Unlike most of other geyser basins in the park, the waters from Norris are acidic rather than alkaline. The difference in pH allows for a different class of bacterial thermophiles to live at Norris, creating different color patterns in and around the Norris Basin waters.

Artist Point is an overlook point on the edge of a cliff on the south rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The point is located east-northeast of Yellowstone Falls on the Yellowstone River. Artist Point was originally named in 1883 by Frank Jay Haynes who improperly believed that the point was the place at which painter Thomas Moran sketched his 1872 depictions of the falls. Later work determined that the sketches were made from the north rim, but the name Artist Point stuck. Artist Point is one of the most spectacular scenic areas in the Canyon Area of the Park. The sheer walls drop 700 feet to the bottom of the canyon. Upriver the powerful Lower Falls are still in view. Downriver the canyon widens and deepens to a maximum of 1,540 feet. The canyon walls are predominantly yellow but colors of blue, red, orange and brown are also present. The colors are ever changing and especially intensified after a rain with bright sunshine.

Located a quarter mile upstream of the larger Lower Falls, the Upper Yellowstone River Falls plunge 109 feet down an eroded lava cliff into the basin below. The brink of Upper Falls marks the junction between a hard rhyolite lava flow and weaker glassy lava that has been more heavily eroded.

The Mud Volcano blew itself apart in the early 20th century, but visitors can still see the impressive crater and other geothermal features in the surrounding area, such as the Mud Cauldron, Black Dragon's Caldron, and Dragon's Mouth Spring.

This valley, centrally located in Yellowstone National Park, is the first place to go to see wildlife in Yellowstone. As you drive along this beautiful, broad valley you are likely to see herds of bison, scattered elk (and the occasional herd), and the occasional grizzly bear. You are also likely to see waterfowl, including ducks, Canadian geese and pelicans, swimming in or lounging near the Yellowstone River.

Old Faithful Geyser earns its name from its remarkably consistent eruptions. It currently erupts every 60 to 110 minutes, with each display lasting four to five minutes. During an eruption, a towering column of water shoots more than 40 meters into the air, creating a spectacular and unforgettable sight. The Old Faithful Visitor Center posts eruption schedules in advance, allowing visitors to plan ahead and witness the geyser with confidence.

The Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, after Frying Pan Lake in New Zealand and Boiling Lake in Dominica. It is located in the Midway Geyser Basin. Grand Prismatic Spring was noted by geologists working in the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871, and named by them for its striking coloration. Its colors match most of those seen in the rainbow dispersion of white light by an optical prism: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.

The Paint Pots are mud fountains formed when mineral-rich rocks are dissolved by acidic hot springs. The thick, viscous mud allows you to watch bubbles slowly form and pop. Around the fountain, the dried mud resembles cracked oil paint, making the scene look like a pot of water brushed with pigments—like a painter’s canvas, alive with rich, colorful tones. The pool was named by Mrs E. N. McGowan, wife of Assistant Park Superintendent, Charles McGowan in 1883. She called it "Convolutus", the Latin name for the morning glory flower, which the spring resembles. By 1889, the name Morning Glory Pool had become common usage in the park. The feature has also been known as Morning Glory Spring. The distinct color of the pool is due to bacteria which inhabit the water. On a few rare occasions the Morning Glory Pool has erupted as a geyser, usually following an earthquake or other nearby seismic activity.

No vacation to Yellowstone National Park or Grand Teton National Park region is complete without an adventure into the wild at Yellowstone Bear World, a drive-thru wildlife park. Wildlife you will see includes Rocky Mountain Elk, Bison, White-tail Deer, Mule Deer, Rocky Mountain Goats, Moose, and of course American Black Bear and Grizzly Bear.

Great Salt Lake, lake in northern Utah, U.S., the largest inland body of salt water in the Western Hemisphere and one of the most saline inland bodies of water in the world. The lake is fed by the Bear, Weber, and Jordan rivers and has no outlet. The lake has fluctuated greatly in size, depending on the rates of evaporation and the flow of the rivers that feed it. Like the Dead Sea, the Great Salt Lake exists within an arid environment and has chemical characteristics like that of the oceans. However, it has a much greater salinity than the oceans, since natural evaporation exceeds the supply of water from the rivers feeding the lake.