Picnic area · Yellowstone National Park
Ten picnic tables beside the Gibbon River and a broad meadow.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Yellowstone Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Yellowstone National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Yellowstone audio tourRecorded for this area
Rust Caught in a Living Mat“Chocolate Pots, beside the Gibbon River, gets much of its rusty color from iron. The spring water carries dissolved iron, which forms orange-red mineral deposits.”
Plays on the road 0.3 mi from Gibbon Meadows Picnic Area in the Parkwolf Yellowstone Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“First time driving through a national park. We used the Yellowstone tour on grand loop Road and it’s just like having a tour guide in your car with you.”
Guide
Gibbon Meadows Picnic Area is a small roadside picnic spot beside the Gibbon River, where open meadow meets forest. It makes a useful lunch or rest stop on the Grand Loop Road; the parking area is small, so it can feel tight for a large group.
Anglers use this stretch of the Gibbon, some visitors wade at the river’s edge, and elk sometimes graze in the meadow. Wildlife sightings are seasonal, so the picnic tables and riverside setting are the reliable reasons to stop.
Wildlife
713 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
743 sightingsWolfMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
5,273 sightingsBisonMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
3,258 sightingsElkMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
397 sightingsMooseMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
1,494 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Yellowstone. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyArtists Paintpots Trail1 mi · 45 min · 0.7 mi awayA short loop past bubbling mud and a steep climb.
ModerateMonument Geyser Basin Trail2.4 mi · 2 hr · 1.6 mi awayA steep climb from the Gibbon River to a pale thermal basin.
EasyPorcelain Basin Trail1 mi · 45 min · 2.5 mi awayLoop past steaming geysers and vivid runoff in a pale basin.
EasyBack Basin Trail1.5 mi · 1.3 hr · 2.5 mi awayA wooded thermal loop with geysers scattered through the pines.
ModerateSolfatara Creek Trail6.3 mi · 3.5 hr · 3.4 mi awayA long thermal creek walk through forest, meadows, and hot springs
Sight · 1.1 mi awayArtists PaintpotsA short loop through bubbling mud, bright pools, and small geysers.Sight · 1.6 mi awayMonument Geyser BasinA steep hike to a hillside of pale, steaming silica spires.
Sight · 1.9 mi awayBeryl SpringA bright blue roadside spring with a vent you can hear.
Sight · 2.2 mi awayPorkchop GeyserA quiet pool with a very loud history.
Sight · 2.4 mi awayMinute GeyserA low spout and a cautionary story about visitor damage.
Sight · 2.4 mi awayEchinus GeyserA 66-foot acidic geyser with sea-urchin spines around a red rim.
Sight · 2.4 mi awaySteamboat GeyserThe world’s tallest active geyser—and you can’t plan its eruptions.
Sight · 2.4 mi awayEmerald SpringSulfur yellow and reflected blue light make this hot spring emerald.Parkwolf’s Yellowstone ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
