Yellowstone National Park Size: Acres, Miles & Comparisons

The National Park Service reports that Yellowstone covers 2,221,766 acres, or about 3,472 square miles (roughly 899,116 hectares). Those figures describe the park's reported area; NPS notes that the area figures have not been scientifically verified. See the National Park Service's Yellowstone park facts.

NPS gives Yellowstone's approximate span as 63 air miles north to south and 54 air miles east to west. These are straight-line geographic spans, not road-trip or driving distances. Roads wind through mountainous terrain, so travel distances inside the park are longer and depend on the route.

One square mile contains 640 acres, so 2,221,766 acres converts to about 3,472 square miles. Acreage measures area, while the north-to-south and east-to-west figures describe broad spans. Because the park has an irregular boundary, those spans do not mean Yellowstone is a rectangle. For scale, see our one-acre size and visual guide.