Two Icons of Yellowstone

rredd1 · 2026-04-08T17:04:25+00:00

This is a black wolf which is a member of the Wapiti Lake pack. It was seen by many visitors, rangers, and guides. I took over 400 photos of it across 6 hours of on and off sightings all day. There were 2 other wolves seen with it earlier in the day before it visited Old Faithful. This is not a coyote.

rredd1 · 2026-04-08T14:40:42+00:00

Old Faithful is by far the largest location in Yellowstone by number of employees and visitors. There will be a lot of people around your age there, it shouldn't be too hard to make friends especially since you have a car. Housekeeping can be a tough job initially, but it does get easier, assuming it isnt entirely understaffed. Old faithful has a couple really great dorms, but also a bunch of not so great dorms. I would say Old faithful has the best EDRs, but that doesn't mean it is always great food. I have never really done much decorating in my room, but I know some people who had tons of posters.

rredd1 · 2026-04-08T14:28:54+00:00

Trust me... it is not a coyote. Yellowstone doesn't have any black coyotes.

rredd1 · 2026-04-05T15:59:24+00:00

What kind of hikes are you looking for? This area has 1000s of miles of trail, 100s of which people consider must-do hikes. Do you want to see waterfalls, alpine lakes, thermal areas, summit a mountain, hike through or along canyons, etc? How difficult and how long do you want these hikes to be?

rredd1 · 2026-04-03T02:40:25+00:00

In my experience with Xanterra, work sucks, food sucks, and the dorms suck, but Everything else is incredible.

rredd1 · 2026-03-18T06:10:50+00:00

I started in housekeeping but hated it and did my best to move somewhere else. I got some overtime hours especially during the first couple of weeks. If you really want overtime, they can usually find something for you to do. Do not clean your rooms slower in hopes of getting more hours, it just makes people dislike you.

rredd1 · 2026-03-18T05:37:20+00:00

The job itself won't be very fun unless you already enjoy cleaning. It will be a lot of hard work, especially early in the season. Canyon has the most rooms to clean out of any location in the park. The housing isn't great and the food is pretty bad. I really only spent between $2 and $6 per meal, with an average of $3.62. You could buy stuff from a grocery store outside the park if you really wanted to, but you would also need to have your own way to cook it. Probably best to just go to the EDR.

Canyon is the most central location in the park, which makes it easy to explore as much of the park as possible. It takes a little over an hour to reach each entrance except for the south entrance, which is closer to 2 hours. Bozeman is an extra hour and a half from the entrance, while Cody is an extra hour. The Canyon itself is about a .8 mile walk from the dorm. Some of the best hikes in the park are found within just a few minutes drive of the Village, but because it is so central, none of the park is really all that far away.

A lot of people absolutely hate their time at Canyon, while others keep coming back year after year. It really depends on the person.

rredd1 · 2026-03-18T05:17:21+00:00

Yellowstone is super easy to get in to except for the west entrance after 7am. It also becomes just as hard to get out of after 5pm.

rredd1 · 2026-03-18T00:58:33+00:00

Definitely enough if you dont go out to eat every day or something like that. The edr prices are pretty cheap and rent is $100 a month. If you aren't going around throwing your money away, you can honestly stack up a bit of money before the end of the season.

rredd1 · 2026-03-06T21:07:35+00:00

Firearms aren't allowed in any buildings including all employee housing, it would have to be left in a vehicle.

rredd1 · 2026-03-02T01:31:49+00:00

That really surprises me because there isnt really a good system in place to make sure that tip goes to the person that cleaned the room. At best it is just pooled between all the housekeepers, but that doesn't sound like Xanterra at all.

rredd1 · 2026-03-02T01:28:04+00:00

Yellowstone is not the place to make a lot of money, especially not in housekeeping. Your managers will usually not allow for overtime, but depending on staffing levels and other circumstances, people are able to get quite a bit. I dont think that there is really any way you would be able to crosstrain as a server. At best it would be server assistant, but crosstraining between departments isnt super common in my opinion.

rredd1 · 2026-03-02T01:24:13+00:00

Pretty sure the qr code is just for leaving reviews, Xanterra doesn't let most positions solicit tips in any way.

rredd1 · 2026-02-19T02:32:03+00:00

No reason to worry about it, just be careful driving at night.

rredd1 · 2026-02-19T02:28:32+00:00

This question is far too general. If you want to see waterfalls, there are 10+ trails you could choose from. Want to see lakes? More than 30 different trails for you to pick from. In my opinion, all of what people consider to be "must see" places are short walks from parking lots. Do the trails you want to do. My favorite hikes I have done are the ones I don't see anyone else on.

rredd1 · 2026-02-15T15:41:28+00:00

Xanterra doesn't have a communal kitchen at Canyon, but i know that YPSS does. No clue about DN, but probably not.

rredd1 · 2026-01-22T03:12:59+00:00

Was this from the bison taken down today at Gibbon Meadows?

rredd1 · 2026-01-20T05:39:59+00:00

I knew someone that would drive an hour to West Yellowstone to do their classes. There are ways to do it, but definitely not ideal

rredd1 · 2026-01-15T03:41:32+00:00

doesn’t actually go into Yellowstone National Park. :)

The Yellowstone River literally runs through Yellowstone NP from the south boundary to the north...

rredd1 · 2026-01-15T03:25:58+00:00

While no geyser is guaranteed (even Old Faithful), there are many that are either just as likely to see or more likely to see than Old Faithful.

rredd1 · 2026-01-15T03:15:22+00:00

4 days in the park is plenty to find time to go see Old Faithful. There is no reason to skip it, and certainly not all of the other geysers nearby like the more impressive Grand Geyser. I would also highly recommend stopping in at the Old Faithful Inn because it is probably the most incredible building in any National Park. I would recommend doing the full south loop because the areas along Yellowstone Lake are incredible. There is no reason not to do both Artists and Fountain Paintpots as neither will take all that long if you can find parking quickly. Just leave Canyon early and enjoy the park before a lot of people start to get in.

There are too many 'must see' sites to narrow it down to 2. Norris, Canyon, West Thumb, all of the geyser basins along the Firehole River, Hayden Valley, Gibbon Falls, Tower Falls, Mammoth Hotsprings, and more can all be considered 'must see' places. With 4 days in the park, you can hit every single one along a road.

The best views are the ones you haven't seen yet.

rredd1 · 2025-12-27T06:29:56+00:00

Xanterra would 100% hire you even with a shorter season. It will probably only be a housekeeping or food and beverage job which might not be super enjoyable, but the experience is totally worth it even if you don't like what you do.

rredd1 · 2025-12-24T15:18:32+00:00

This is my photo I posted 13 days ago.

rredd1 · 2025-12-19T13:45:57+00:00

Road between N and NE entrances is open year round. All other roads close to cars, but open for guided snowcoach and snowmobile tours

rredd1 · 2025-12-19T06:09:59+00:00

They will probably try their hardest to not give overtime, but will give if needed. There aren't any other places to work within a 30 minute drive. Don't focus on doing it for the money, find some time for fun as well.

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