86-607: Download coordinates as: The Grand Loop Road is a historic district which encompasses the primary road system in Yellowstone National Park . Much of the 140-mile (230 km) system was originally planned by Captain Hiram M. Chittenden of the US Army Corps of Engineers in the early days of the park, when it was under military administration. The Grand Loop Road provides access to the major features of
172-508: A Chicago, Burlington & Quincy connection opened via Cody and in 1908 a Union Pacific Railroad connection to West Yellowstone, followed by a 1927 Milwaukee Road connection to Gallatin Gateway near Bozeman , also motorcoaching visitors via West Yellowstone. Rail visitation fell off considerably by World War II and ceased regular service in favor of the automobile around the 1960s, though special excursions occasionally continued into
258-469: A New Deal relief agency for young men, played a major role between 1933 and 1942 in developing Yellowstone facilities. CCC projects included reforestation, campground development of many of the park's trails and campgrounds, trail construction, fire hazard reduction, and fire-fighting work. The CCC built the majority of the early visitor centers, campgrounds, and the current system of park roads. During World War II, tourist travel fell sharply, staffing
344-465: A U.S. Army detachment commanded by Lt. Gustavus Doane . The expedition spent about a month exploring the region, collecting specimens, and naming sites of interest. A Montana writer and lawyer named Cornelius Hedges, who had been a member of the Washburn expedition, proposed that the region should be set aside and protected as a national park; he wrote detailed articles about his observations for
430-750: A UN World Heritage Site on September 8, 1978. The park was placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger from 1995 to 2003 due to the effects of tourism, infection of wildlife, and issues with invasive species . In 2010, Yellowstone National Park was honored with its own quarter under the America the Beautiful Quarters Program. Justin Farrell explores three moral sensibilities that motivated activists in dealing with Yellowstone. First came
516-401: A comprehensive report, including large-format photographs by William Henry Jackson and paintings by Thomas Moran . The report helped to convince the U.S. Congress to withdraw this region from public auction . On March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed The Act of Dedication law that created Yellowstone National Park. Hayden, while not the only person to have thought of creating
602-437: A fierce furnace fire were burning beneath each one of them; and a hundred geysers, white torrents of boiling water and steam, like inverted waterfalls, are ever and anon rushing up out of the hot, black underworld. By 1915, 1,000 automobiles per year were entering the park, resulting in conflicts with horses and horse-drawn transportation. Horse travel on roads was eventually prohibited. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC),
688-536: A height of 106 to 185 feet (32 to 56 m) lasting from 1½ to 5 minutes. The average height of an eruption is 145 feet (44 m). Intervals between eruptions can range from 60 to 110 minutes, averaging 66½ minutes in 1939, slowly increasing to an average of 90 minutes apart since 2000, which may be the result of earthquakes affecting subterranean water levels. The disruptions have made earlier mathematical relationships inaccurate, but have actually made Old Faithful more predictable in terms of its next eruption. After
774-532: A mathematical relationship between the duration and intervals of the eruptions in 1938. Old Faithful is not the tallest or largest geyser in the park; those titles belong to the less predictable Steamboat Geyser . The reliability of Old Faithful can be attributed to the fact that it is not connected to any other thermal features of the Upper Geyser Basin . Eruptions can shoot 3,700 to 8,400 US gallons (14,000 to 32,000 L) of boiling water to
860-562: A mountain of glass and yellow rock. These reports were largely ignored because Bridger was a known "spinner of yarns". In 1859, a U.S. Army Surveyor named Captain William F. Raynolds embarked on a two-year survey of the southern central Rockies . After wintering in Wyoming, in May 1860, Raynolds and his party—which included geologist Ferdinand V. Hayden and guide Jim Bridger—attempted to cross
946-419: A park in the region, was its first and most enthusiastic advocate. He believed in "setting aside the area as a pleasure ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people" and warned that there were those who would come and "make merchandise of these beautiful specimens". Worrying the area could face the same fate as Niagara Falls , he concluded the site should "be as free as the air or Water". In his report to
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#17327803437311032-452: A portion of what later became the park, during the winter of 1807–1808. He observed at least one geothermal area in the northeastern section of the park, near Tower Fall . After surviving wounds he suffered in a battle with members of the Crow and Blackfoot tribes in 1809, Colter described a place of " fire and brimstone " that most people dismissed as delirium; the supposedly mystical place
1118-595: A thousand indigenous archaeological sites . Yellowstone National Park spans an area of 3,468.4 sq mi (8,983 km ), with lakes, canyons, rivers, and mountain ranges . Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest high-elevation lakes in North America and is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera , the largest super volcano on the continent. The caldera is considered a dormant volcano . It has erupted with tremendous force several times in
1204-661: Is a topographic feature that separates the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean water drainages. About one-third of the park lies on the west side of the divide. The origins of the Yellowstone and Snake Rivers are near each other but on opposite sides of the divide. As a result, the waters of the Snake River flow to the Pacific Ocean, while those of the Yellowstone find their way to the Gulf of Mexico . The park sits on
1290-555: Is believed to be linked to the somewhat older volcanism of the Snake River Plain. Yellowstone is thus the active part of a hotspot that has moved northeast over time. The origin of this hotspot volcanism is disputed. One theory holds that a mantle plume has caused the Yellowstone hotspot to migrate northeast, while another theory explains migrating hotspot volcanism as the result of the fragmentation and dynamics of
1376-485: Is the oldest and largest public bison herd in the United States. Forest fires occur in the park each year; in the large forest fires of 1988 , nearly one-third of the park was burnt. Yellowstone has numerous recreational opportunities, including hiking, camping , boating , fishing, and sightseeing . Paved roads provide close access to the major geothermal areas as well as some of the lakes and waterfalls. During
1462-419: Is up to 400 feet (120 m) deep and has 110 miles (180 km) of shoreline. At an elevation of 7,733 feet (2,357 m) above sea level, Yellowstone Lake is the largest high-elevation lake in North America. Forests comprise 80 percent of the land area of the park; most of the rest is grassland . The Continental Divide of North America runs diagonally through the southwestern part of the park. The divide
1548-427: The 2013 United States federal government shutdown . The expansive cultural history of the park has been documented by the 1,000 archeological sites that have been discovered. The park has 1,106 historic structures and features, and of these Obsidian Cliff and five buildings have been designated National Historic Landmarks . Yellowstone was designated an International Biosphere Reserve on October 26, 1976, and
1634-508: The Absaroka Range . The park is 63 miles (101 km) north to south, and 54 miles (87 km) west to east by air. Yellowstone is 2,219,789 acres (8,983 km ; 3,468 sq mi) in area, larger than either of the states of Rhode Island or Delaware . Rivers and lakes cover five percent of the land area, with the largest water body being Yellowstone Lake at 87,040 acres (352 km ; 136 sq mi). Yellowstone Lake
1720-835: The Borah Peak earthquake in central Idaho in October 1983, the eruption intervals of Old Faithful were noticeably lengthened. The time between eruptions has a bimodal distribution , with the mean interval being either 65 or 91 minutes, and is dependent on the length of the prior eruption. Within a margin of error of ±10 minutes, Old Faithful will erupt either 65 minutes after an eruption lasting less than 2½ minutes, or 91 minutes after an eruption lasting more than 2½ minutes. Between 1983 and 1994, four probes containing temperature and pressure measurement devices and video equipment were lowered into Old Faithful. The probes were lowered as deep as 72 feet (22 m). Temperature measurements of
1806-495: The Committee on Public Lands , he concluded that if the bill failed to become law, "the vandals who are now waiting to enter into this wonder-land, will in a single season despoil, beyond recovery, these remarkable curiosities, which have required all the cunning skill of nature thousands of years to prepare". Hayden and his 1871 party recognized Yellowstone as a unique place that should be available for further research. He also
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#17327803437311892-528: The Continental Divide over Two Ocean Plateau from the Wind River drainage in northwest Wyoming. Heavy spring snows prevented their passage but had they been able to traverse the divide, the party would have been the first organized survey to enter the Yellowstone region. The American Civil War hampered further organized explorations until the late 1860s. The first detailed expedition to
1978-854: The Gallatin Range to the northwest, the Beartooth Mountains in the north, the Absaroka Range to the east, the Teton Range to the south, and the Madison Range to the west. The most prominent summit on the Yellowstone Plateau is Mount Washburn at 10,243 feet (3,122 m). Yellowstone National Park has one of the world's largest petrified forests , trees which were long ago buried by ash and soil and transformed from wood to mineral materials. This ash and other volcanic debris are believed to have come from
2064-506: The Helena Herald newspaper between 1870 and 1871. Hedges essentially restated comments made in October 1865 by acting Montana Territorial Governor Thomas Francis Meagher , who had previously commented that the region should be protected. Others made similar suggestions. An 1871 letter to Ferdinand V. Hayden from Jay Cooke , a businessman who wanted to bring tourists to the region, encouraged him to mention it in his official report of
2150-609: The Henry's Fork Caldera and depositing the Mesa Falls Tuff . Each of the three climactic eruptions released vast amounts of ash that blanketed much of central North America, falling many hundreds of miles away. The amount of ash and gases released into the atmosphere probably caused significant impacts on world weather patterns and led to the extinction of some species, primarily in North America. A subsequent caldera-forming eruption occurred about 160,000 years ago. It formed
2236-620: The Lava Creek Tuff , a welded tuff geologic formation . The most violent known eruption, which occurred 2.1 million years ago, ejected 588 cu mi (2,450 km ) of volcanic material and created the rock formation known as the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff and the Island Park Caldera . A smaller eruption ejected 67 cu mi (280 km ) of material 1.3 million years ago, forming
2322-570: The Lewis and Clark Expedition entered present-day Montana in 1805 they encountered the Nez Perce , Crow , and Shoshone tribes who described to them the Yellowstone region to the south, but they chose not to investigate. In 1806, John Colter , a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, left to join a group of fur trappers . After splitting up with the other trappers in 1807, Colter passed through
2408-662: The U.S. Department of the Interior , the first Secretary of the Interior to supervise the park being Columbus Delano . However, the U.S. Army was eventually commissioned to oversee the management of Yellowstone for 30 years between 1886 and 1916. In 1917, the administration of the park was transferred to the National Park Service , which had been created the previous year. Hundreds of structures have been built and are protected for their architectural and historical significance , and researchers have examined more than
2494-413: The Upper Geyser Basin . The first geyser that they saw was Old Faithful. Nathaniel P. Langford wrote in his 1871 Scribner's account of the expedition: It spouted at regular intervals nine times during our stay, the columns of boiling water being thrown from ninety to one hundred and twenty-five feet at each discharge, which lasted from fifteen to twenty minutes. We gave it the name of "Old Faithful." In
2580-592: The Yellowstone Plateau , at an average elevation of 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above sea level. The plateau is bounded on nearly all sides by mountain ranges of the Middle Rocky Mountains , which range from 9,000 to 11,000 feet (2,700 to 3,400 m) in elevation. The highest point in the park is atop Eagle Peak (11,358 feet or 3,462 metres) and the lowest is along Reese Creek (5,282 feet or 1,610 metres). Nearby mountain ranges include
2666-478: The subalpine forest is the most abundant. It is part of the South Central Rockies forests ecoregion . While Native Americans have lived in the Yellowstone region for at least 11,000 years, aside from visits by mountain men during the early-to-mid-19th century, organized exploration did not begin until the late 1860s. Management and control of the park originally fell under the jurisdiction of
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2752-662: The subducted Farallon Plate in Earth's interior. The Yellowstone Caldera is the largest volcanic system in North America, and worldwide it is only rivaled by the Lake Toba Caldera on Sumatra . It has been termed a " supervolcano " because the caldera was formed by exceptionally large explosive eruptions. The magma chamber that lies under Yellowstone is estimated to be a single connected chamber, about 37 miles (60 km) long, 18 miles (29 km) wide, and 3 to 7 miles (4.8 to 11.3 km) deep. The current caldera
2838-520: The 1870s and 1880s, Native American tribes were effectively excluded from the national park. Under a half-dozen tribes had made seasonal use of the Yellowstone area- the only year-round residents were small bands of Eastern Shoshone known as " Sheepeaters ". They left the area under the assurances of a treaty negotiated in 1868, under which the Sheepeaters ceded their lands but retained the right to hunt in Yellowstone. The United States never ratified
2924-569: The 1950s, an obsidian point of Clovis origin was found that dated from approximately 11,000 years ago. These Paleo-Indians , of the Clovis culture, used the significant amounts of obsidian found in the park to make cutting tools and weapons. Arrowheads made of Yellowstone obsidian have been found as far away as the Mississippi Valley , indicating that a regular obsidian trade existed between local tribes and tribes farther east. When
3010-552: The Firehole River south and east. In a relatively short distance, the road travels through the three most notable geyser basins in the park: Lower Geyser Basin, Midway Geyser Basin and Upper Geyser Basin. The Old Faithful Historic District is located on Grand Loop Rd. adjacent to the Upper Geyser Basin. Turning east from Old Faithful the road crosses the Continental Divide over Craig Pass , and descends to
3096-699: The French name in English as "Yellow Stone". Although it is commonly believed that the river was named for the yellow rocks seen in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone , the Native American name source is unclear. The human history of the park began at least 11,000 years ago when Native Americans began to hunt and fish in the region. During the construction of the post office in Gardiner, Montana , in
3182-683: The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, where the Yellowstone River continues to carve into the ancient lava flows. The canyon is a classic V-shaped valley , indicative of river-type erosion rather than erosion caused by glaciation . Old Faithful Old Faithful is a cone geyser in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, United States . It was named in 1870 during the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition and
3268-626: The Nez Perce were friendly to the tourists and other people they encountered in the park; some were not. Nine park visitors were briefly taken captive. Despite Joseph and other chiefs ordering that no one should be harmed, at least two people were killed and several wounded. One of the areas where encounters occurred was in Lower Geyser Basin and east along a branch of the Firehole River to Mary Mountain and beyond. That stream
3354-585: The Northeast Entrance Road to Cooke City, Montana . From Tower Junction, the road travels north and then west through the Gallatin Range to complete the loop at Mammoth Hot Springs. Counterclockwise (CCW) reads down; clockwise (CW) reads up. Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is a national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho . It
3440-507: The Park Protection Act, which saved the park. The Lacey Act of 1900 provided legal support for the officials prosecuting poachers. With the funding and manpower necessary to keep a diligent watch, the army developed its own policies and regulations that permitted public access while protecting park wildlife and natural resources. When the National Park Service was created in 1916, many of the management principles developed by
3526-501: The West Thumb Geyser Basin on the shore of Yellowstone Lake . West Thumb ( 44°24′49″N 110°34′42″W / 44.41361°N 110.57833°W / 44.41361; -110.57833 ( Grand Loop Road-West Thumb ) ) is the southernmost point on Great Loop Rd. Here the road junctions with South Entrance Road which continues south to Grand Teton National Park . Grand Loop Rd. continues north along
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3612-659: The Yellowstone area was the Cook–Folsom–Peterson Expedition of 1869, which consisted of three privately funded explorers. The Folsom party followed the Yellowstone River to Yellowstone Lake. The members of the Folsom party kept a journal and based on the information it reported, a party of Montana residents organized the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition in 1870. It was headed by the surveyor-general of Montana Henry Washburn , and included Nathaniel P. Langford (who later became known as "National Park" Langford) and
3698-482: The administrative records of Yellowstone, as well as resource management records, records from major projects, and donated manuscripts and personal papers. The archives are affiliated with the National Archives and Records Administration . Yellowstone National Park occupies a roughly square parcel of volcanic complex that jogs slightly beyond the northwestern corner of Wyoming. Approximately 96 percent of
3784-609: The army were adopted by the new agency. The army turned control over to the National Park Service on October 31, 1918. In 1898, the naturalist John Muir described the park as follows: However orderly your excursions or aimless, again and again amid the calmest, stillest scenery you will be brought to a standstill hushed and awe-stricken before phenomena wholly new to you. Boiling springs and huge deep pools of purest green and azure water, thousands of them, are plashing and heaving in these high, cool mountains as if
3870-647: The canyon the Gibbon River merges with the Firehole River to form the Madison River . At this point—Madison Junction ( 44°38′43″N 110°51′29″W / 44.64528°N 110.85806°W / 44.64528; -110.85806 ( Grand Loop Road-Madison Junction ) ), the road junctions with West Entrance Road which follows the Madison River west out of the park and to West Yellowstone, Montana . Grand Loop Rd. continues to follow
3956-664: The canyon. From Obsidian Canyon, the road continues south into the Norris Valley and the Norris Geyser Basin ( 44°43′38″N 110°41′47″W / 44.72722°N 110.69639°W / 44.72722; -110.69639 ( Grand Loop Road-Norris Junction ) ). Here, the road meets the Gibbon River and follows it into the Gibbon Geyser Basin and Gibbon Canyon. Emerging from
4042-593: The command of George Armstrong Custer , was assigned to organize and lead an expedition to Montana and the newly established Yellowstone Park. Observations about the lawlessness and exploitation of park resources were included in Ludlow's Report of a Reconnaissance to the Yellowstone National Park . The report included letters and attachments by other expedition members, including naturalist and mineralogist George Bird Grinnell . Grinnell documented
4128-612: The early 1980s. Ongoing poaching and destruction of natural resources continued unabated until the U.S. Army arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs in 1886 and built Camp Sheridan . Over the next 22 years, as the army constructed permanent structures, Camp Sheridan was renamed Fort Yellowstone . On May 7, 1894, the Boone and Crockett Club , acting through the personality of George G. Vest, Arnold Hague, William Hallett Phillips, W. A. Wadsworth, Archibald Rogers, Theodore Roosevelt , and George Bird Grinnell were successful in carrying through
4214-476: The early days of the park, Old Faithful was often used as a laundry: Old Faithful is sometimes degraded by being made a laundry. Garments placed in the crater during quiescence are ejected thoroughly washed when the eruption takes place. Gen. Sheridan 's men, in 1882, found that linen and cotton fabrics were uninjured by the action of the water, but woolen clothes were torn to shreds. More than 1,000,000 eruptions have been recorded. Harry Woodward first described
4300-664: The federal land-use restrictions. After the park's official formation, Nathaniel Langford was appointed as the park's first superintendent in 1872 by the Secretary of Interior Columbus Delano , the first overseer and controller of the park. Langford served for five years but was denied a salary, funding, and staff. Langford lacked the means to improve the land or properly protect the park, and without formal policy or regulations, he had few legal methods to enforce such protection. This left Yellowstone vulnerable to poachers , vandals , and others seeking to raid its resources. He addressed
4386-430: The fires, leading to a systematic re-evaluation of fire management policies. The fire season of 1988 was considered normal until a combination of drought and heat by mid-July contributed to an extreme fire danger. On " Black Saturday ", August 20, 1988, strong winds expanded the fires rapidly, and more than 150,000 acres (610 km ; 230 sq mi) burned. On October 1, 2013, Yellowstone National Park closed due to
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#17327803437314472-501: The last two million years. Well over half of the world's geysers and hydrothermal features are in Yellowstone, fueled by this ongoing volcanism. Lava flows and rocks from volcanic eruptions cover most of the land area of Yellowstone. The park is the centerpiece of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem , the largest remaining nearly intact ecosystem in the Earth's northern temperate zone . In 1978, Yellowstone
4558-469: The laws of the United States, and dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people; and all persons who shall locate, or settle upon, or occupy the same or any part thereof, except as hereinafter provided, shall be considered trespassers and removed there from ... Approved March 1, 1872. Signed by: There was considerable local opposition to Yellowstone National Park during its early years. Some of
4644-420: The locals feared that the regional economy would be unable to thrive if there remained strict federal prohibitions against resource development or settlement within park boundaries and local entrepreneurs advocated reducing the size of the park so that mining, hunting, and logging activities could be developed. To this end, numerous bills were introduced into Congress by Montana representatives who sought to remove
4730-502: The mountain country of present-day Wyoming, including the Grand Tetons , after joining F V. Hayden 's Geological Survey in 1873. Yount is the first national park ranger, and Yount's Peak, at the head of the Yellowstone River, was named in his honor. These measures still proved to be insufficient in protecting the park, as neither Norris nor the three superintendents who followed, were given sufficient manpower or resources. During
4816-476: The national parks. In a paper known as the Leopold Report , the committee observed that culling programs at other national parks had been ineffective, and recommended the management of Yellowstone's elk population. The wildfires during the summer of 1988 were the largest in the history of the park. Approximately 793,880 acres (3,210 km ; 1,240 sq mi) or 36% of the parkland was impacted by
4902-469: The northern entrance area in 1883, which helped to increase visitation from 300 in 1872 to 5,000 in 1883. The spur line was completed in fall of that year from Livingston to Cinnabar for stage connection to Mammoth , then in 1902 extended to Gardiner station , where passengers also switched to stagecoach . Visitors in these early years faced poor and dusty roads plus limited services, with automobiles first admitted in phases beginning only in 1915. By 1901
4988-511: The park area itself as the central part of Yellowstone is the massive caldera of a supervolcano. The park contains 290 waterfalls of at least 15 feet (4.6 m), the highest being the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River at 308 feet (94 m). Three deep canyons are located in the park, cut through the volcanic tuff of the Yellowstone Plateau by rivers over the last 640,000 years. The Lewis River flows through Lewis Canyon in
5074-599: The park, including the Upper, Midway and Lower geyser basins, Mammoth Hot Springs , Tower Fall , the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Yellowstone Lake . A number of other historic districts adjoin the Grand Loop in Yellowstone, including Mammoth Hot Springs , North Entrance Road , Roosevelt Lodge , Lake Fish Hatchery and Old Faithful historic districts . Grand Loop Rd. includes unsigned portions of US 20 , US 89 , US 191 and US 287 , all of which traverse
5160-620: The park. In the northwest section of the park, new geysers were found, and many existing hot springs became turbid. It was the most powerful earthquake to hit the region in recorded history. In 1963, after several years of public controversy regarding the forced reduction of the elk population in Yellowstone, the United States Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall appointed an advisory board to collect scientific data to inform future wildlife management of
5246-547: The park. The road was named by Harry W. Frantz in 1923, who served as the park's publicist before beginning a long career as a journalist. Beginning at the junction of the North Entrance Road and Grand Loop Rd. at Yellowstone National Park headquarters at Fort Yellowstone near Mammoth Hot Springs 44°58′34″N 110°42′2″W / 44.97611°N 110.70056°W / 44.97611; -110.70056 ( Grand Loop Road-Mammoth Hot Springs ) ,
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#17327803437315332-409: The poaching of buffalo , deer , elk , and antelope for hides : "It is estimated that during the winter of 1874–1875, not less than 3,000 buffalo and mule deer suffer even more severely than the elk, and the antelope nearly as much." As a result, Langford was forced to step down in 1877. Having traveled through Yellowstone and witnessed land management problems, Philetus Norris volunteered for
5418-411: The position following Langford's exit. Congress finally saw fit to implement a salary for the position, as well as to provide minimal funding to operate the park. Norris used these funds to expand access to the park, building numerous crude roads and facilities. In 1880, Harry Yount was appointed as a gamekeeper to control poaching and vandalism in the park. Yount had previously spent decades exploring
5504-455: The practical problems park administrators faced in the 1872 Report to the Secretary of the Interior and correctly predicted that Yellowstone would become a major international attraction deserving the continuing stewardship of the government. In 1874, both Langford and Delano advocated the creation of a federal agency to protect the vast park, but Congress refused. In 1875, Colonel William Ludlow , who had previously explored areas of Montana under
5590-564: The relatively small caldera that contains the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake. Since the last supereruption, a series of smaller eruptive cycles between 640,000 and 70,000 years ago, has nearly filled in the Yellowstone Caldera with 80 different eruptions of rhyolitic lavas such as those that can be seen at Obsidian Cliffs and basaltic lavas which can be viewed at Sheepeater Cliff . Lava strata are most easily seen at
5676-585: The road travels south, passing through Golden Gate Canyon on a viaduct and ascending the Gallatin Range , crossing Kingman Pass near Bunsen Peak . From the pass, the road descends into the Gardner River valley. At the south end of the valley, the road passes Sheepeater Cliff , a prominent columnar basalt cliff. After crossing the Gardner River, the road follows Obsidian Creek into Obsidian Canyon, passing Obsidian Cliff about halfway through
5762-470: The scenic resorts and baths in England, Germany, and Switzerland. THE ACT OF DEDICATION AN ACT to set apart a certain tract of land lying near the headwaters of the Yellowstone River as a public park. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the tract of land in the Territories of Montana and Wyoming ... is hereby reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale under
5848-483: The shore of Yellowstone Lake. Near the northern end of the lake it passes the Lake Hotel and the Lake Fish Hatchery Historic District . Just past the Lake Hotel area ( 44°34′1″N 110°23′11″W / 44.56694°N 110.38639°W / 44.56694; -110.38639 ( Grand Loop Road-Lake ) ), the East Entrance Road turns right and crosses the Yellowstone River over Fishing Bridge and continues east to Cody, Wyoming . Grand Loop Rd. follows
5934-402: The south, and the Yellowstone River has carved two colorful canyons, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the Black Canyon of the Yellowstone in its journey north. Yellowstone is at the northeastern end of the Snake River Plain , a great bow-shaped arc through the mountains that extends roughly 400 miles (640 km) from the park to the Idaho-Oregon border. The volcanism of Yellowstone
6020-431: The surrounding ecosystems. The Heritage and Research Center is located at Gardiner, Montana, near the north entrance to the park. The center is home to the Yellowstone National Park's museum collection, archives, research library, historian, archeology lab, and herbarium . The Yellowstone National Park Archives maintain collections of historical records of Yellowstone and the National Park Service. The collection includes
6106-434: The survey. Cooke wrote that his friend, Congressman William D. Kelley had also suggested " Congress pass a bill reserving the Great Geyser Basin as a public park forever". In 1871, eleven years after his failed first effort, Ferdinand V. Hayden was finally able to explore the region. With government sponsorship, he returned to the region with a second, larger expedition, the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 . He compiled
6192-516: The total land area of Yellowstone National Park is located within the state of Wyoming. Another three percent is within Montana, with the remaining one percent in Idaho. Montana's portion of Yellowstone contains multiple trails, facilities and swimming holes, while the Idaho portion of the park is completely undeveloped. The irregular eastern boundary of the national park follows the height of land along
6278-534: The traditional log cabin style with design features of a modern style. During the late 1980s, most construction styles in Yellowstone reverted to the more traditional designs. After the enormous forest fires of 1988 damaged much of Grant Village , structures there were rebuilt in the traditional style. The visitor center at Canyon Village , which opened in 2006, incorporates a more traditional design as well. The 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake just west of Yellowstone at Hebgen Lake damaged roads and some structures in
6364-516: The treaty and refused to recognize the claims of the Sheepeaters or any other tribe that had used Yellowstone. The Nez Perce band associated with Chief Joseph , numbering about 750 people, passed through Yellowstone National Park in thirteen days in late August 1877. They were being pursued by the U.S. Army and entered the national park about two weeks after the Battle of the Big Hole . Some of
6450-435: The utilitarian vision of maximum exploitation of natural resources , a characteristic of developers in the late 19th century. Second was the spiritual vision of nature inspired by Romanticism and the transcendentalists in the mid-19th century. The twentieth century saw the biocentric moral vision that focuses on the health of the ecosystem as theorized by Aldo Leopold , which led to the expansion of federally protected areas and
6536-423: The water at this depth were 244 °F (118 °C), the same as was measured in 1942. The video probes were lowered to a maximum depth of 42 feet (13 m) to observe the conduit formation and the processes that took place in the conduit. Some of the processes observed include fog formation from the interaction of cool air from above mixing with heated air from below, the recharge processes of water entering into
6622-686: The western side of the Yellowstone River north into the Hayden Valley and past upper Yellowstone Falls near the mouth of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone ( 44°44′9″N 110°29′35″W / 44.73583°N 110.49306°W / 44.73583; -110.49306 ( Grand Loop Road-Canyon ) ). The road then crosses Dunraven Pass near Mount Washburn and descends to Tower Fall and Tower Junction ( 44°54′57″N 110°24′56″W / 44.91583°N 110.41556°W / 44.91583; -110.41556 ( Grand Loop Road-Tower Junction ) ) where it intersects with
6708-565: The winter, visitors often access the park by way of guided tours that use either snow coaches or snowmobiles . The park contains the headwaters of the Yellowstone River , from which it takes its historical name. Near the end of the 18th century, French trappers named the river Roche Jaune , which is probably a translation of the Hidatsa name Mi tsi a-da-zi ("Yellow Stone River"). Later, American trappers rendered
6794-406: Was created by a cataclysmic eruption that occurred 640,000 years ago, which released more than 240 cu mi (1,000 km ) of ash, rock and pyroclastic materials. This eruption was more than 1,000 times larger than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens . It produced a caldera nearly 5 ⁄ 8 mi (1.0 km) deep and 45 by 28 miles (72 by 45 km) in area and deposited
6880-440: Was cut, and many facilities fell into disrepair. By the 1950s, visitation increased tremendously in Yellowstone and other national parks. To accommodate the increased visitation, park officials implemented Mission 66 , an effort to modernize and expand park service facilities. Planned to be completed by 1966, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the National Park Service, Mission 66 construction diverged from
6966-483: Was encouraged to preserve it for others to see and experience it as well. In 1873, Congress authorized and funded a survey to find a wagon route to the park from the south which was completed by the Jones Expedition of 1873 . Eventually the railroads and, sometime after that, the automobile would make that possible. The park was not set aside strictly for ecological purposes. Hayden imagined something akin to
7052-639: Was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress through the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. Yellowstone was the first national park in the U.S. and is also widely held to be the first national park in the world. The park is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features , especially the Old Faithful geyser , one of its most popular. While it represents many types of biomes ,
7138-553: Was named Nez Perce Creek in memory of their trail through the area. A group of Bannocks entered the park in 1878, alarming park Superintendent Philetus Norris. In the aftermath of the Sheepeater Indian War of 1879, Norris built a fort to prevent Native Americans from entering the national park. The Northern Pacific Railroad built a train station in Livingston, Montana , as a gateway terminus to connect to
7224-509: Was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site . Hundreds of species of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians have been documented, including several that are either endangered or threatened . The vast forests and grasslands also include unique species of plants. Yellowstone Park is the largest and most famous megafauna location in the contiguous United States . Grizzly bears , cougars , wolves , and free-ranging herds of bison and elk live in this park. The Yellowstone Park bison herd
7310-503: Was nicknamed " Colter's Hell ". Over the next 40 years, numerous reports from mountain men and trappers told of boiling mud, steaming rivers, and petrified trees, yet most of these reports were believed at the time to be a myth. After an 1856 exploration, mountain man Jim Bridger (also believed to be the first or second European American to have seen the Great Salt Lake ) reported observing boiling springs, spouting water, and
7396-658: Was the first geyser in the park to be named. It is a highly predictable geothermal feature and has erupted every 44 minutes to two hours since 2000. The geyser and the nearby Old Faithful Inn are part of the Old Faithful Historic District . In the afternoon of September 18, 1870, the members of the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition traveled down the Firehole River from the Kepler Cascades and entered
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