Of the 5 entrances to Yellowstone National Park, the West Yellowstone entrance is the best entryway. Not only is it the most dependable entrance year round, but, if you want to see the park’s greatest hits with the least amount of driving, this is the gate for you.

Sure, there are a few things to keep in mind while planning your Western entry: 

• The first being that the gate and the nearby town are both called essentially the same thing West Yellowstone 
• The second being that although there is a Yellowstone Airport near West Yellowstone – you probably don’t want to fly in there.

But – really – knowing more about this entry will only make you more certain that West truly is the best.

**Special Note : With a close proximity to many of Yellowstone’s most well known sights as well as the overall shortest hotel-bed-to-front-gate distance. Entering through the West Yellowstone gate automatically checks off most of the boxes on ‘how to avoid the crowds’ lists by getting you there earlier than if you stayed and visited through any other gate.**

Here are our top 7 benefits of choosing Yellowstone’s West Gate as your Park point of entry :

• Most Accessible : It may seem hard to imagine but even in today’s day-and-age, this 3,400 square mile National Park is not easy to get to from any major city. Of all the options though, the West Entry is the closest to larger cities, well known destinations and the closest easy access airport.

A Note on Flights :: A quick google search will tell you that the closest major airport to Yellowstone is Salt Lake City (roughly 5 hours away from the South Entrance) and that the closest small airport is the Yellowstone Airport (a relatively useless airport for most of us). But, Google is wrong. Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport, Idaho Falls & Jackson Hole Airport are actually very accessible airports and serviced by many major airlines. The closest airport though is Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport and is only about 1.5 – 2 hours from the West Entrance. (It’s also a super easy drive, just about 3 turns from the airport all the way to the West Yellowstone gateway.)

• Closest to the Most Well Known Attractions : While each gate has its own benefits, no gate brings you closer to the key Yellowstone highlights than the West Entry. From this gateway to the park to Old Faithful is just under an hour, from a West Yellowstone Hotel – you can go from your bed to the geyser in just about an hour even.

• Biggest Bang Per Hour : Sure, I’ve alluded to this all along, but I want to layout that Yellowstone is literally a massive park – the grand ring road is about 140 miles and can take up to 7 hours of straight driving to circle in the high season. The time and distance really matter if you’re on checking out Yellowstone for a day or two. The West entrance hits 80% of Yellowstone’s most well known sites all within the first couple of hours.

So, what are the hits? I’m talking about the things that really make Yellowstone stand out : Old Faithful, the geothermic pools (which I call paint pots), bison/bison/bison and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. There are many other things to see in the park – but these are the most photographed areas of the park for a reason.

• Closest and Most Robust Accommodations and Dining : Just outside of Yellowstone’s Western Gate is the town of West Yellowstone. It’s a small town that’s ready for tourists with a pretty good range of hotel options, dining and souvenir shops. Of all the access points to the National Park, this is by far the closest and most robust option if you want to do a multi-day trip to Yellowstone without staying directly in the park.

• Ready-to-Eat Boxed Lunches (*Seasonally*) : West Yellowstone is not only home to most of the closest dining outside the park, many of the restaurants offer to-go boxed lunches which you can order and pick-up on your way. Especially during the high season, bring a lunch with you into the park will help avoid some major hang-ups. These are only available during the summer season however – which in the city of West Yellowstone begins about May (which actually lags a bit behind the park’s summer reopening in April).

• The Best (if not only) Year-Round Option : Few of the entrances offer as much of a year-round experience as West Yellowstone. This is the best destination for winter visits which usually involve guides and snowmobiles, throughout the warmer months there are bike rentals.

• There’s More to West Yellowstone than the National Park : Obviously you’re looking at Yellowstone entry gates so that you can plan your best/most-jam-packed National Park extravaganza, but sometimes taking a break from the Park helps to enjoy the whole vacation. Like so many National Parks, Yellowstone isn’t the only sight in the area, the surrounding landscape is also lush and beautiful. Staying in West Yellowstone give you access to less traveled hikes, fishing, animal sightings. There are also the town’s attractions such as The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center.

**If you are wanting to explore other entrances, check out YellowstoneNationalPark.com for a breakdown of what each entrance has to offer.**