Yellowstone National Park Feature

There are a couple of factors to consider when deciding on which community to stay overnight in at the park. Some of these include deciding if you want to camp or if you want a hotel. But just as important is assessing your overnight accommodations based on the length of your trip. If you're only going to spend a day or two in the park, choose one location in the area that is most important for you to visit.

If you've never been to the park before and you only have a day or two, you'll probably want to choose Old Faithful, so you're near Yellowstone's most famous geyser. But if you're more interested in seeing the wildlife, you may want to choose the Canyon or Lake area so you're near Hayden and Pelican valleys.

On the other hand, if you're going to spend five days to a week or more in the park, you'll benefit from splitting your time between two or more regions of this huge park (such as Old Faithful and Canyon) so you aren't spending all of your time driving to the various communities.