Photography

Images From Yellowstone: America’s First National Park

Earlier this month, Mario Tama, a photojournalist with Getty Images, traveled to Yellowstone National Park to photograph some of its spectacular scenery and wildlife, ahead of upcoming commemorative events celebrating America’s 250th anniversary.

By Alan Taylor
An aerial view of visitors walking on a boardwalk beside a large pool of steaming water that is a rusty-orange color at the edges and turns a brilliant greenish-blue as it gets deeper
Mario Tama / Getty
An aerial view of visitors walking around Grand Prismatic Spring in the Midway Geyser Basin on May 24, 2026, in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in the United States at more than 300 feet wide at its widest point, and more than 120 feet deep. The colors outside the pool’s blue center are created by “thermophiles”: heat-loving microscopic organisms that flourish in many of Yellowstone’s hot springs.
A bison with molting (shedding) fur stands near a tree.
Mario Tama / Getty
A bison with molting (shedding) fur stands near a tree in Yellowstone National Park on May 19, 2026.
A broad view of a distant waterfall into a steep canyon, surrounded by snow-covered hills
Mario Tama / Getty
A view of the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River, seen after a recent snowfall, in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone on May 21, 2026
Several people are seen in silhouette, standing in front of large clouds of steam rising from a geyser basin.
Mario Tama / Getty
Visitors gather as steam rises from the Midway Geyser Basin on May 16, 2026.
People stand on the side of a road, pointing and using cameras on tripods, next to several signs that are posted on traffic cones that read
Mario Tama / Getty
A “Bear Danger” sign is posted as visitors look for wildlife in Lamar Valley on May 18, 2026, in Yellowstone National Park.
A grizzly bear walks through grasslands.
Mario Tama / Getty
A grizzly bear walks through grasslands on May 23, 2026, in Yellowstone.
Many cars and trucks are stopped alongside a park road; people stand outside, pointing and using binoculars and cameras, looking for a grizzly bear.
Mario Tama / Getty
Yellowstone visitors attempt to photograph and catch a glimpse of a grizzly bear on May 17, 2026.
Steam rises above a terraced section of a hot spring, seen at sunrise.
Mario Tama / Getty
The sun rises above Mammoth Hot Springs on May 19, 2026, in Yellowstone National Park.
A bison grazes near a steaming geyser.
Mario Tama / Getty
A bison grazes near Midway Geyser Basin on May 23, 2026.
People gather inside a tall, open space in a historic building built from rough-hewn logs.
Mario Tama / Getty
Visitors gather beneath an American flag in the Old Faithful Inn, a national historic landmark, on May 20, 2026. Completed in 1904, just a short walk from Old Faithful Geyser, the hotel stands as one of the world’s largest log structures and features a 76-foot-tall lobby and 500-ton stone fireplace.
A person poses for a photo, on a boardwalk near a grazing bison.
Mario Tama / Getty
A person poses for a photo near a grazing bison on May 19, 2026.
Several horseback riders herd a group of horses and mules along a country road.
Mario Tama / Getty
Horseback riders participate in the Hell’s A-Roarin’ Horse Drive, a fundraiser for disabled veterans, in the gateway town of Gardiner on May 23, 2026, in Gardiner, Montana. Every Memorial Day weekend, Warren and Susan Johnson drive their horses and mules from the Gardiner Rodeo Grounds out to the Johnsons’ ranch, located a half mile from Yellowstone National Park, for the summer.
An aerial view of a herd of horses being driven down a road in a rural town
Mario Tama / Getty
An aerial view of the Hell’s A-Roarin’ Horse Drive passing through the gateway town of Gardiner on May 23, 2026.
A herd of elk, grazing beneath a small mountain
Mario Tama / Getty
A herd of elk, grazing in Yellowstone on May 19, 2026
A park ranger on horseback, seen in silhouette on the ridge of a hill
Mario Tama / Getty
A National Park Service ranger on horseback patrols for elk to help keep them safe from grizzly bears during calving season, on May 20, 2026.
Bison walk along a roadway as drivers wait.
Mario Tama / Getty
Bison walk along a roadway as drivers wait during a “bison jam” on May 19, 2026.
An aerial view of many cars lined up at a park entrance, surrounded by a pine forest
Mario Tama / Getty
Memorial Day–weekend visitors wait in line to enter Yellowstone National Park on May 24, 2026, in West Yellowstone, Montana.
A snow-covered forested hillside, with a bison grazing at its base
Mario Tama / Getty
A bison grazes after a recent snowfall on May 21, 2026.
A young calf nuzzles an adult bison as snow falls.
Mario Tama / Getty
A young calf nuzzles an adult bison as snow falls in the Hayden Valley on May 21, 2026, in Yellowstone National Park. Affectionately known as “red dogs,” bison calves are normally born in April or May in Yellowstone.
A bison stands while grazing, as snow falls.
Mario Tama / Getty
A bison stands while grazing, as snow falls in Hayden Valley on May 21, 2026.
Several people watch a nearby geyser erupt.
Mario Tama / Getty
People watch Castle Geyser erupt in Upper Geyser Basin on May 22, 2026, in Yellowstone National Park, in Wyoming.

About the Author

Alan Taylor is a senior editor at The Atlantic.
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