Access note
An NPS access review from 2023 reported no accessible picnic tables and an inaccessible vault-toilet interior. Check current conditions if accessible facilities matter.
Overview
About Nez Perce Ford Picnic Area
Why stop
- Riverside tables sit among shade trees.
Heads up
- No canyon view from the picnic area.
Map
Where it is
Loading the Yellowstone map
Full mapPlan your stop
Before you go
Access note
5 active Yellowstone alerts
- ClosureBiscuit Basin closed after hydrothermal explosionBiscuit Basin’s parking lot, boardwalk, and Firehole River are closed to all travel.Official details
- ClosureMost Yellowstone roads close to regular vehicles November 1Most Yellowstone roads and the West, South, and East entrances are scheduled to close to regular vehicles November 1, 2026, as the park prepares for winter operations.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Yellowstone Tour Guide
Hear Yellowstone as you drive it.
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
A Meal Inside a Burned Tree0:00 / 0:30
“A recently burned tree can hold a meal for a black-backed woodpecker. Beetle larvae feed beneath the bark and tunnel into the wood, and these birds specialize in getting them out.”
Plays on the road 0.7 mi from Nez Perce Ford Picnic Area in the Parkwolf Yellowstone Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Mud Volcano and Dragon’s Mouth
- Sulphur Caldron
- Hayden Valley Overlook
- LeHardys Rapids
- 243 audio storiesacross Yellowstone’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Wolf, Grizzly Bear, Bison, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 167 trails, 192 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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
More about Nez Perce Ford Picnic Area
A quiet river stopNez Perce Ford Picnic Area is a developed picnic area beside the Yellowstone River, with tables…
Nez Perce Ford Picnic Area is a developed picnic area beside the Yellowstone River, with tables in a pine grove and near the water. It makes a good pause for lunch; visitors also report anglers and birds along the river. Think of it as a riverside break, not a canyon-view stop.
Picnic basicsThe park lists 20 tables and one toilet here; the site page identifies the toilet as a vault…
The park lists 20 tables and one toilet here; the site page identifies the toilet as a vault toilet. Madison is Yellowstone’s only picnic area with potable water, so bring drinking water here. Camp stoves and self-contained grills are allowed at picnic areas; campfires are allowed only where fire grates are provided.
A short spurA roughly 0.3-mile spur leads from the main road to the picnic area.
A roughly 0.3-mile spur leads from the main road to the picnic area.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Yellowstone
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.
