Yellowstone National Park

It’s 29 miles from the Northeast Entrance to Tower-Roosevelt. A couple of miles inside the Northeast Entrance the road enters Wyoming and follows Soda Butte Creek, offering fine views of the craggy ridgeline of towering Barronette Peak (10,404ft) to the west. It was Jack Baronet who rescued Truman Everts for a promised $600 reward. Not only did he not get the reward, but the park misspelled the peak it named after him! This is a good place to look for moose.

Near Pebble Creek Campground at tiny Icebox Canyon, the lovely valley warms up and opens wide. Southeast is a ridgeline known as the Thunderer (10,554ft), after the frequent storms that gather here.

Two miles past Pebble Creek is the trailhead for the short 0.5-mile walk through fir forest and summer wildflowers to scenic Trout Lake, named after the abundant cutthroats that spawn here in early summer. The 10-minute uphill hike to the pretty lake is steep enough to leave you puffing, but it's still one of the park’s best short family hikes. It’s popular also with anglers, who are allowed to keep their catch of rainbow (but not cutthroat) trout. Lose the crowds by following the side trail from the stream inflow for 10 minutes to pretty Buck Lake.

Further along the road, watch (and sniff) for the whitish-yellow travertine cone of Soda Butte, the only thermal feature in this part of the park.

The road now joins the mixed sagebrush and grasslands of the Lamar Valley, one of the park’s premier wildlife-viewing areas. The roadside turnouts between Pebble Creek and Slough (pronounced ‘slew’) Creek Campgrounds, particularly the stretch between Lamar River trailhead and the Lamar Canyon, are prime places to spot wolves from the Lamar Canyon pack. Elk and large herds of bison also make the broad Lamar Valley their winter range, alongside coyotes, pronghorns and bears.

Also here is the former Buffalo Ranch, which almost single-handedly raised Yellowstone’s bison herds between 1907 and 1960. The buildings are now home to the excellent Yellowstone Forever Institute.

About 6 miles before Tower-Roosevelt Junction, a dirt road turns off north to Slough Creek Campground, offering fishing and hiking access. Further along the main road are several glacially formed ‘kettle’ ponds, which are periodically closed to protect nesting trumpeter swans.

Just before Tower the road passes the popular Yellowstone River picnic area and hiking trail (look for wildlife here) and bridges the Yellowstone River.

While Old Faithful gets the most attention, there's lots to explore in Upper Geyser Basin, which has the densest collection of geysers in Yellowstone. On Geyser Hill you'll find charismatic Anemone and fickle Beehive Geysers. If you see a group of backpack- and radio-wielding Geyser Gazers huddled near the latter, stick around for an impressive show. Below, fantastic Castle Geyser is one of the largest formations of its kind in the world, and the view from Daisy Geyser is excellent.

At 370ft wide and 121ft deep, Grand Prismatic Spring is the park’s largest and deepest hot spring. It’s also considered by many to be the most beautiful thermal feature in the park. Boardwalks lead around the multicolored mist of the gorgeous pool and its spectacularly colored rainbow rings of algae. From above, the spring looks like a giant blue eye weeping exquisite multicolored tears.

After its placid meanderings north from Yellowstone Lake through the Hayden Valley, the Yellowstone River musters its energy and plummets over Upper Falls (109ft) and then the much larger Lower Falls (308ft), before raging through the 1000ft-deep Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. More than 4000ft wide at the top, the canyon snakes for 20 miles as far as the Narrows near Tower-Roosevelt Junction.

Much of the canyon’s beauty comes from its subtle range of colors, from egg white to flamboyant salmon pink, a by-product of iron oxidization in the rock – in effect, the canyon is rusting. Whiffs of steam rise from vents in the canyon wall, hinting at the thermal activity that played a major role in the canyon's creation (by weakening the rhyolite rock). Relatively new in geological terms, the canyon was carved out not by glacial erosion but by water supplied by ice dams that melted and flooded the region during the most recent ice age.

The Lower Falls are twice the height of Niagara Falls and are most impressive in spring, when the water volume can be up to 12 times that of fall. An eye-catching green notch indicates a patch of deeper and less turbulent water. At the base of the falls the reds and creams of the canyon walls turn mossy green, fed by the thundering spray of the river. Bring binoculars to spot ospreys that nest in the canyon from late April till early September. In winter, the spray freezes into a giant cone in front of the falls.

Rangers lead hikes daily at 9am from the parking lot above Uncle Tom’s trailhead and give short talks several times a day (10am for kids) at Artist Point.

Two miles of boardwalks and gentle trails snake through Norris' forested Back Basin. The main show here is Steamboat Geyser, the world’s tallest active geyser, which infrequently skyrockets to an awesome 380ft (over twice as high as Old Faithful). The geyser was dormant for half a century until 1961 and quiet again for most of the 1990s, but it burst back into life in 2018, erupting every eight days or so during spring. Rangers give a talk here several times a day.

Duration Two days

Distance 19.2 miles

Difficulty Moderate

Elevation Change 600ft

Start Lone Star trailhead (OK1)

Finish DeLacy Creek trailhead (7K2)

Nearest Town/Junction Old Faithful

Summary Follow the Continental Divide Trail on this easy overnighter that combines a backcountry geyser basin with an unforgettable sunset beside silent Shoshone Lake.

Shoshone Lake is one of the park’s real hidden gems. Not only is it the largest backcountry lake in Yellowstone, at more than 8000 acres, but it's also the largest lake in the lower 48 states not reachable by road. There are many possible routes around the lake, including loops from three directions (Lone Star, DeLacy Creek and Lewis Lake). Much of the first half of this route follows the Continental Divide Trail, which continues along the southern shore of the lake to the Dogshead trailhead.

The route described here traces the northern shore of the lake and requires a short shuttle or hitch along the Grand Loop Rd. Note that Kepler Cascades turnout is a slightly more secure overnight parking spot than the Lone Star trailhead, since it sees much more traffic. If you are hitching, park at DeLacy Creek trailhead and get the hitching out of the way before you begin the hike; you'll appreciate not having to do it when you're tired at the end of the trek.

Between Lone Star and Shoshone Lake, the trail crosses gentle Grants Pass, which normally isn’t clear of snow until late June. The lake is normally frozen until early June and some boater-only lakeshore backcountry campsites are flooded into July. The end of June is the earliest reliable start date for this hike. Mosquitoes can be an irritant until August.

In early summer you'll likely have to ford several streams that can be up to waist height, so bring suitable shoes and trekking poles for stability.

Use Trails Illustrated’s 1:63,360 map No 302 Old Faithful. Two USGS quads also cover the route: Old Faithful and Shoshone Geyser Basin.

Shoshone Lake is a popular backcountry destination (about one-third of the entire park’s backcountry use is concentrated along the shores of the lake), so it’s worth reserving sites well in advance. Campsite 8R5 in particular gets booked early because of its proximity to the Shoshone Geyser Basin. Sites open to hikers along the northern shore include 8R5, 8R3, 8R2, 8S3 and 8S2. The latter two sites make a good short overnight trip from DeLacy Creek but are too far to be convenient for your first night on this trip. Sites 8R2 and 8S2 are mixed hiker- and boat-accessible campsites. All of the lakeshore sites are no-wood-fire areas.

The imposing Lower and Upper Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs are the highlight of the Mammoth region. An hour’s worth of boardwalks wind their way between ornate and graceful limestone pools, ledges and plateaus. Palette Springs (accessed from the lower parking lot) and sulfur-yellow Canary Springs (accessed from the upper loop, 1km south) are the most beautiful sites, but thermal activity is constantly in flux, so check the current state of play at the visitor center.