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Writer's pictureNaz

Getting to Yellowstone National Park

Updated: Oct 12, 2023


Yellowstone National Park

If you love the outdoors, you'll love Montana. Wildlife viewing, skiing, fly fishing, incredible hikes - Montana has it all - but by far its biggest tourist destination is Yellowstone National Park with more than 4 million visitors annually.


When visiting Yellowstone, you're going to want to fly into Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport, in Bozeman, Montana. From Los Angeles, you can often find roundtrip direct flights (usually with United) for around $200.


Bozeman itself is a cute little college town - home to the Montana State Bobcats - and it certainly shouldn't be overlooked.


For a Yellowstone trip, I typically book a VRBO walking distance to Main Street for the night of my arrival. Main Street in Bozeman has plenty of shopping, bars, and restaurants and is especially fun on Thursday evenings in the Summer when it hosts "Music on Main."

Main Street in Bozeman, MT
Main Street in Bozeman, MT

From Bozeman you've got two potential routes to Yellowstone, both a little less that 2 hours of driving: (1) passed Big Sky into West Yellowstone or (2) through the "gateway to Yellowstone" by heading south when you hit Livingston on I-90. I've done both routes and the Big Sky route is a more beautiful drive -hugging the Gallatin River much of the way - but if I could only do one route, I'd enter Yellowstone via Livingston.

Gallatin River, Montana
Gallatin River on the Big Sky route to West Yellowstone

Livingston is a short 30 minute drive from Bozeman. This lovely small town has the exact Old West vibes you'd expect from Montana. Anthony Bourdain visited Livingston on both his No Reservations and Parts Unknown series. I like to stop for breakfast in Livingston - I love Pinky's Cafe - and then head south to the park.


From Livingston you're about an hour and a half from the entrance to Yellowstone.

Roosevelt Arch, Yellowstone
The Roosevelt Arch at the Northern entrance to Yellowstone National Park

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