YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — Ever wondered what Yellowstone National Park (YNP) looks like to a bird flying overhead?
National Park Service photographer Jacob W. Frank snapped a series of aerial photographs of YNP in mid-April, providing perspective to the park’s numerous hydrothermal features that can be hard to take in fully from the ground level.
Frank’s new photos help contextualize the layout of the park, highlighting the density of features in popular visitor areas.
Some of the new shots feature the otherworldly element of YNP’s landscape. Are these photos of Wyoming, or photos of the surface of the moon?
These photos also demonstrate the scale of some of the features, especially when compared to the size of the visitor boardwalks. Following the hydrothermal at Biscuit Basin last summer, which has kept the area closed indefinitely, YNP representatives emphasized that boardwalks are laid out carefully to protect visitors from dangerously hot features and are updated when new features emerge.
YNP’s entrances and internal roads are opening to visitors on a staggered schedule this spring. The South Entrance is expected to open on Friday, May 9.
