The Roads of Yellowstone
Yellowstone’s roads can seem endless at times. The interior park road (the Grand Loop Road) is essentially a huge figure eight, with five entrance roads providing access at various points. Each intersection is named for an area feature, and road sections are normally referred to in this way to avoid confusion. It is very important during a visit here to know the route you plan to take. It can take several hours to go from one end of the park to the other, and without careful planning you could spend all day in the car without seeing any of what you had planned to.
Use our detailed descriptions of the road sections listed below to help plan your visit. The sections of the Grand Loop Road are generally listed below in a clockwise fashion starting at the West Entrance Road. The mile by mile pages beyond always follow the clockwise pattern, except in the case of the entrance roads, which always go from park border to interior.
East Entrance Road
Start Point: Mile 0 – East Entrance
End Point: Mile 26.4 – Fishing Bridge Junction
North Entrance Road
Start Point: Mile 0 – North Entrance
End Point: Mile 5.3 – Mammoth Junction
Northeast Entrance Road
Start Point: Mile 0 – Northeast Entrance
End Point: Mile 29.1 – Tower Junction
South Entrance Road
Start Point: Mile 0 – South Entrance
End Point: Mile 21.8 – West Thumb Junction
West Entrance Road
Start Point: Mile 0 – West Entrance
End Point: Mile 14.1 – Madison Junction
Madison to Norris
Start Point: Mile 0 – Madison Junction
End Point: Mile 13.6 – Norris Junction
Norris to Mammoth
Start Point: Mile 0 – Norris Junction
End Point: Mile 21.4 – Mammoth Junction
Mammoth to Tower
Start Point: Mile 0 – Mammoth Junction
End Point: Mile 18.4 – Tower Junction
Tower to Canyon
Start Point: Mile 0 – Tower Junction
End Point: Mile 18.6 – Canyon Junction
Norris to Canyon
Start Point: Mile 0 – Norris Junction
End Point: Mile 11.8 – Canyon Junction
Canyon to Fishing Bridge
Start Point: Mile 0 – Canyon Junction
End Point: Mile 15.6 – Fishing Bridge Junction
Fishing Bridge to West Thumb
Start Point: Mile 0 – Fishing Bridge Junction
End Point: Mile 21.0 – West Thumb Junction
West Thumb to Old Faithful
Start Point: Mile 0 – West Thumb Junction
End Point: Mile 15.6 – Old Faithful Interchange
Old Faithful to Madison
Start Point: Mile 0 – Old Faithful Interchange
End Point: Mile 16.1 – Madison Junction