Arguably the nation’s 1st and
most famous national park is Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.
The park owes its many strange geographical features, like geysers
and boiling mud, to the fact that it was formed 640,000 years
ago by a cataclysmic volcanic eruption that covered ½ of
North America in ash and formed a caldera 30 miles wide and 45
miles long. Geologists now believe that eruptions like this are
periodic. Depending on whom you ask, Yellowstone is either due
for another eruption in 60,000 years, or is overdue by about 40,000.
Given the devastation such an eruption would cause not only in
the U.S. but also throughout the entire world, it might be a good
idea to enjoy the park, and everything else, why you still can.
The park’s rugged, and at times alarming, beauty can be
experienced in a number of ways. Biking is permitted on public
roads, parking areas and designated biking routes like those on
Old Gardiner Road and Blacktail Plateau Drive. Cross-country skiing
on the parks unplowed road is a popular winter activity. There
are some 1,200 miles of trails for hiking and backpacking, many
of them found in the volatile, geyser-strewn Mammoth Country section
of the park.
Outdoors adventures on the water are also available in Yellowstone
National Park. The rapids of Yankee Jim Canyon on Yellowstone
River are whitewater-rafting favorites. Fishing opportunities
abound in the Lamas River Valley’s tributary trout streams.
Yellowstone Lake in the heart of Lake Country is a massive alpine
lake with the biggest inland population of Cutthroat Trout in
the country. Yellowstone is famous for its geothermal activity.
The Mammoth Hot Springs and the Norris Geyser Basin are located
in Mammoth Country. The aptly named Geyser Country is home to
180 of the parks 250 geysers, including Old Faithful, which shoots
150 plumes of water into the air every 90 minutes or so.
The highest concentration of wildlife in the lower 48 states can
be found in Yellowstone National Park. Visitors can expect to
see Moose, Bison, Bighorn Sheep and the largest herd of Elk in
the United States. Mighty North American predators like Black
and Grizzly Bears, Wolverines, Lynx and over 100 endangered Grey
Wolves hunt Yellowstone’s mountains, woods and valleys.
The park is also home to rare birds like Bald Eagles, Trumpeter
Swans and Whooping Cranes. Visitors should be well-mannered guests
in these creatures’ home. If you’re close enough to
make an animal move, then you’re too close.
There are a dozen 1st come/1st served campgrounds in Wyoming’s
Yellowstone National Park, 7 of which are run by the NPS. These
sites fill up fast. Xantera Parks & Resorts ((307) 344-7311)
provide reservation-only campsites and other lodging, but plans
should still be made well in advance. Backcountry camping is allowed
with a permit.
