Mammoth hot springs ๐ Beartooth Highway ๐๏ธ๐
After several days of travel, we enter one of the parks we most wanted to see: YELLOWSTONE!๐ For those who do not know Yellowstone is a great volcano! That is to say that it is a dormant volcano and we prefer that it be still for a little while. Imagine: its caldera (its crater) is 45 km by 85km ([source] (https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/volcano.htm)! And volcanoes are often sources of geological peculiarities! Geyser , hot springs (pools), mud pods, ...
In short I am very excited to share this with you! Our stay lasted several days, I decided to keep my posts by chronology.
The park is so huge (several hours of driving to cross) that we planned very carefully our stay. There are 5 games in Yellowstone, 4 entries. The roads form an 8. So we optimized our movements!
Beartooth Highway ๐๏ธ๐
We entered the Beartooth Highway northeast of the park and arrived in the Lamar Valley area. But first of all let's talk about this road. It's a scenic view, understand a tourist route with beautiful views. The climb is steep and we reach an altitude of 10.947 feet or 3 337m! Not bad for the view.
We stop at an old observation tower that is used to detect fire starts in the park.
Lamar Valley
It is a valley rich in fauna. That day we see bison on the road! It is very special to share the road with a colossus of several tons! Besides total priority for animals, park rangers watch! But that means that if the buffalo decides to take a nap of 3 hours on the road ... you stay stuck 3 hours ... or you make a detour that will take you almost as much time ...
One morning (I tell you now because it was a day of rest for me), my husband got up at 4am and 2h drive to go to observe the animals! Results he saw bison, antelopes but especially a howling wolf pack!
Mammoth Hots Springs
First feature related to this volcano. This area is very famous! We visited it in 3 hours. These are limestone formations. The hot water in the soil rises to the surface and deposits limestone while cooling on the surface. The different colors are due to the elements present in the water (red / orange + iron oxide).
Here are some photos :
To finish the day go camping in West Yellowstone with a pizza. I can't wait to tell you more !!
To review our trip:
Step 4 - Glacier National Park : here
Step 3 - Banff : this way
Step 2 - Glacier road :here
Step 1 - Jasper:here
Preparation : here
Sounds like an amazing trip! Yellowstone is one of America's last truly wild areas in the lower 48. I missed Yellowstone on my last road trip, but have a trip planned for next summer. Thanks for sharing, i will keep this in mind when I travel there!
Yes Yellowstone is a beautiful park and if i remember the older of us! It's really big you can spend 2 weeks in this park, there is so much thinks to do! This article it's just the first part and it's not the more beautiful!