Millions of visitors arrive yearly at YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, America’s oldest national park, to glory in its magnificent mountain scenery and abundant wildlife, and to witness hydrothermal phenomena on a grand scale. Measuring roughly sixty by fifty miles, and overlapping slightly from Wyoming’s northwestern corner into Idaho and Montana, the park centres on a 7500ft-high plateau, the caldera of a vast volcanic eruption that occurred a mere 600,000 years ago. Into it are crammed more than half the world’s geysers, plus thousands of fumaroles jetting plumes of steam, mud pots gurgling with acid-dissolved muds and clays, and of course, hot springs. All this activity is on such a scale that the entire region is often characterized as a supervolcano, a full-force eruption of which might be capable of destroying the human species.
A visit to Yellowstone offers an extraordinary experience, combining the colours of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, massive and deep-azure Yellowstone Lake, wildflower-filled meadows and rainbow-hued geyser pools; the sounds of subterranean rumblings, belching mud pools and steam hissing from the mountainsides; the constant smells of drifting sulphurous fumes; and, in the closest US equivalent to a safari park, the sights of shambling bears, heavy-bearded bison, herds of elk and more than a dozen elusive wolf packs on the prowl. The key to appreciating the park is to take your time, plan carefully and – particularly if you visit in summer – exercise patience with the inevitable crowds and traffic. While you can explore a representative proportion in a day-trip, allow for a stay of at least three days to see the park fully.
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Winter in Yellowstone
Winter in Yellowstone
Blanketed in several feet of snow between November and April, Yellowstone takes on a new appearance in winter: a silent and bizarre world where waterfalls freeze in mid-plunge, geysers blast towering plumes of steam and water into the crisp air and bison – beards matted with ice – stand in huddles. It’s undeniably cold, and transport can require some hefty pre-planning, but crowds are nonexistent and wildlife-spotting opportunities are superb. Only the fifty-mile road from Gardiner to Cooke City via Mammoth Hot Springs is kept open (although beyond that, the Beartooth Highway is closed). The park’s sole winter lodging is available at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel or Old Faithful Snow Lodge & Cabins (both accessible only by snowcoach and snowmobile, and closed for Nov and much of Dec).
Xanterra (t 1-866/439-7375, w www.travelyellowstone.com) operates snowcoach trips and tours of the park over the closed roads from West Yellowstone, Flagg Ranch to the south, Old Faithful and Mammoth Hot Springs ($55–70). Snowmobile rental, generally cheapest in West Yellowstone, costs around $150 a day; only a limited number of snowmobiles are allowed in the park at any one time, so reserve ahead. Much less expensive is cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, with groomed or blazed trails throughout the park.
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A brief human history of Yellowstone
A brief human history of Yellowstone
Although Native Americans had long hunted in what is now Yellowstone National Park, they were present only in limited numbers by the 1807 arrival of the first white man – John Colter, a veteran of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Colter’s account of the exploding geysers and seething cauldrons of “Colter’s Hell” (located east of Yellowstone, near Cody) was widely ridiculed at the time. However, as ever more trappers, scouts and prospectors told similar tales, three increasingly larger expeditions set out to chart the region each year beginning in 1869. In 1872, Yellowstone was set aside as the first national park, in part to ensure that its assets were not entirely stripped by hunters and miners, and also to appease railroad interests looking for a new destination to which they could shuttle visitors.
At first, management of the park was beset by problems, and Congress devoted enthusiasm, but little funding, toward its protection. Irresponsible tourists stuck soap down the geysers, damaging their intricate plumbing; bandits preyed on stagecoaches carrying rich excursionists; and, the Nez Percé even killed two tourists as they were chased through the park (see Hells Canyon region). By 1886, Congress had taken the park out of civilian hands and put the army in charge.
When the army handed Yellowstone over to the newly created National Park Service in 1917, automobiles were already a prevalent presence. Conflict between tourism and wilderness preservation has raged ever since. Ecologists now warn that the park cannot stand alone as some pristine paradise; rather, it must be seen as part of a much larger “Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem” encompassing Yellowstone, the Tetons, the Snake River Valley (which stretches south of Jackson to just over the Idaho border) and the northern reaches of the Wind River Mountains. In 1995, amid vociferous complaints from local ranchers fearing a loss of livestock, grey wolves were reintroduced. From the original fourteen animals released, there are now around 150 wolves comprising some fifteen packs roaming the Greater Yellowstone area.
