The Best Picnic Spots on Yellowstone’s Upper Loop
- Eric Beuning
- Mar 19
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 12
As a born-again travel writer, I love a good picnic, and there's no place better than Yellowstone. I can honestly tell you that I’ve never had a good meal that was worth the money in any of our country’s national parks. Yellowstone is no exception. Even a humble ham sandwich is worth its weight in blood diamonds.
When I travel, I do everything I can to have a picnic lunch. Be it a collapsible soft-sided cooler with a bag of ice from the hotel ice machine and some handmade sandwiches, or hot dogs grilled on the portable gas griddle I keep in the back of the truck.
Since Yellowstone is festooned with great spots for a scenic picnic. So, I thought I would break down some of my favorites on the North Loop, including a few lesser-known gems.
Yellowstone River Picnic Area
Situated about a mile east of Tower-Roosevelt Junction in the Lamar Valley, the Yellowstone River Picnic Area offers breathtaking views of the Yellowstone River. If you come into the park via the Northeast entrance, it's my top spot for a picnic.
The picnic area is equipped with picnic tables, four cooking grates, and an accessible vault toilet without running water. However, this being in the heart of the Lamar Valley, near fresh water, it’s not the kind of place I would start grilling up bacon cheeseburgers. This is more of a pull the sandwiches out of the cooler after taking a look around to see if there are any animals around.
This is also the parking area for the Specimen Ridge Trail, which follows the near. If you want to take a little hike, the trail ascends quickly, leveling out to provide expansive vistas of the river valley. It’s a great little walk to stretch your legs after eating before getting back in the car.
Lava Creek Picnic Area
Just a few miles to the east of Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower-Roosevelt, the Lava Creek Picnic Area is a lesser-used spot for a quick meal. It's a quieter location, perfect for those seeking a peaceful meal. However, there are not always picnic tables, so it’s really more of a pit stop to eat in the car and take a nice little hike afterward.
One of the under-sung things about it is that the pit toilets here are seldom used and relatively clean compared to some of the more popular picnic spots. However, there’s no running water.
Sheepeater Cliff Picnic Area
You’ll find the Sheepeater Cliff Picnic Area just a few miles south of Mammoth Hot Springs.
It’s a tucked-away gem just off the North Grand Loop Road that’s known for its striking basalt columns formed by ancient lava flows.
The flat terrain near the Gardiner River makes it a good spot for a family picnic. Assuming there aren’t any animals present, it’s a good spot to let the kids run around before and after eating. The vault toilets here are sometimes closed, and there’s no running water. So come prepared just in case.
Tower Fall Picnic Area
Tower Fall is just south of Tower Junction and has a general store in the trailhead parking lot.
If you didn’t pack a picnic lunch, you can stop here and cobble together a basic meal at souvenir shop prices. There are even some basic bathroom facilities, but you’ll probably have to wait in line during the peak part of the day.
The other thing that’s nice about it is there’s a 132-foot waterfall just a short walk from the parking area. You’ll even find a few picnic tables amidst towering pine trees. Yet in my experience, they’re usually in use and left messy. So, it might just be easier to eat a quick picnic lunch on the hood of your car or tailgate of your truck.
Calcite Springs Overlook
This lesser-known gem of a picnic spot is just a few miles south of Tower Junction, and just north of Tower Fall. It offers panoramic views of the Yellowstone River winding through basalt columns, as a nice little teaser on your way to Yellowstone Canyon.
However, it isn’t technically designated as a picnic area, there are no restroom facilities on this overlook and the closest facilities are at Tower Fall or Roosevelt Lodge. So, I recommend choosing this as your fallback place for a picnic, if you couldn’t find any parking at Tower Fall Picnic Area.
Beaver Lake Picnic Area
This is a secret gem down a “Blink and You’ll Miss It” little side road on Yellowstone’s Upper Loop about five miles north of the Norris Geyser Basin.
The last time I drove past it, there was just a tiny sign on the northbound side of the road. This means other people won’t know it’s there and you won’t have to wrestle with parking. You could even do things like change a diaper or change your shirt with more dignity than a lot of the crowded parking lots in the park.
The last time I was there, it had a handful of picnic tables and barely used vault toilets. There's a little trail into the swamp. It’s the sort of thing that looks like it’s dry, right up until your shoes are sopping wet.
Gibbon Meadows Picnic Area
As you’re driving south from Mammoth toward the Norris Geyser Basin the Gibbon Meadows picnic area just looks like a side road leading to a wayside rest. The last time I was there, it didn’t even have any signage, and there was an open gate on the southbound exit.
Since it’s not advertised as a picnic area, most of the people stopping here aren’t there to eat, which gives you a good chance of finding an open picnic table. The trees along the parking lot and picnic area even offer perfect dappled shade!
WILDLIFE NOTE
The creek here is wadable, and sometimes there are even downed trees that tourists use as a natural bridge to cross it. A short walk through this area will bring you to a meadow, where there’s an above-average chance of seeing wildlife. It’s also nearly impossible to walk through this area without picking up a few wood ticks.
This is not the time to let your kids lead the way on what you think will be a cute little family hike. An adult with binoculars and their head on a swivel should go first to see if there’s a chance of spotting bison or a bear on the distant edge of the meadow.
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