There are over 40 picnic areas in Yellowstone. All have picnic tables, most have pit toilets and some have fire grates . None have drinking water. Gas stoves may be used at all picnic areas but fires are only allowed in fire grates. Overnight camping is not allowed in picnic areas.

Plan to pack a picnic lunch. In Yellowstone, it is hard to schedule your sightseeing so that you will be in a food service area at the same time that you want to eat. Also, it is a nice way to slow down and see a small area of forest. Even though a picnic lunch requires more planning and a little more work, I always feel more relaxed after a picnic lunch than I do when I try to eat at one of the park restaurants.

My favorite picnic areas are along Yellowstone Lake but there are also nice picnic areas located in other parts of the park. Lava Creek picnic area, located just upstream from Undine Falls between Mammoth and Roosevelt, Canyon picnic area, located just across the bridge as you head out to Artist Point at the Canyon, and the picnic areas on Craig pass and Dunraven pass are all nice.

The one part of the park that I have not found an overly nice picnic area in is the area between Old Faithful and Norris. The problem here is that they recently closed my favorite picnic area in the park which was located along this section of road and the other main picnic area, located below Gibbon Falls, was heavily burned in the 1988 fires.

Comments and Questions are Welcome.

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