From the East Entrance, it’s a 27-mile drive to reach the South Loop, where I head north and stop at Mud Volcano, mentioned earlier, and then to an overlook with views of the steaming pools of Sulphur Caldron, one of the park’s most acidic hot springs. The road parallels the Yellowstone River, which runs through grassy Hayden Valley where bison roam. I drive into a traffic jam of sorts with cars moving slowly and pulling into parking lots as visitors find the best viewing spots. At one point, a bison lazily walks in front of my car and stops. So, I wait and wait, until the animal decides to finally amble onward. At Canyon Village, I reach one of the most breathtaking highlights of my visit—the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and its two dramatic waterfalls, the Lower Falls and Upper Falls, crashing down within the spectacular mountainous river valley. South Rim Drive leads to the Artist Point lookout, called that because it’s the viewpoint painter Thomas Moran used for his 1872 masterpiece—now hanging in the Smithsonian—of the deep canyon and tumbling 308-foot-high Lower Falls. North Rim Drive leads to the “Brink of the Lower Falls,” the point where the river tumbles into the valley below. The hike
down to the brink is less than a half mile along a descending curving pathway, where the falls’ roar seemingly grows louder with every step. Continuing on the 12-mile stretch of road where the South Loop and North Loop intersect, my next stop is the Norris Geyser Basin. The area sits atop three fault lines, thus fueling the hottest thermal activity in the park. Boardwalks weave around the steaming pools and fumaroles of the Porcelain Basin, a mostly treeless and flat expanse of land with a dramatic view from the entrance area. The Back Basin Trail meanders through woods with geyser holes and craters along its path. At the far end, the Steamboat Geyser shoots the tallest spray in the world, more than 300 feet, but actually being there for one of the rare eruptions would be a stroke of luck. My next stop is Old Faithful Village, which for many visitors is Yellowstone’s main attraction. It includes the Old Faithful Inn, Lodge, Snow Lodge, and Visitor Center, but the legendary geyser usually steals the show with eruptions well over 100 feet high every one to two hours. A short hike along the Upper Geyser Basin reveals many of that area’s hissing and smelly thermal
West Thumb Geyser Basin mudpots or paintpots.
Upper Falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
West Thumb Geyser Basin thermal pool.
YELLOWSTONE AND BEYOND
COAST TO COAST MAGAZINE SPRING 2023 | 11
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