![]() Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. The landscape here consists of flat plateaus of lava that are hundreds of feet thick. When the final eruption blasted more than 1,000 square miles of the Rocky Mountains into the stratosphere, it created the Yellowstone caldera, a massive depression measuring 28 by 47 miles, and Yellowstone Lake basin, some 20 miles long and 14 miles wide, reaching depths of 390 feet. You’ll see the park’s volcanic activity on a 17-mile journey east to the lake area, the scene of three volcanic eruptions that took place more than 600,000 years ago. The result: boiling water that is catapulted skyward and barren patches of sterile dirt hot, bubbling pools that are unimaginably colorful and, of course, the star of this show, the geyser Old Faithful. Here you will find the largest collections of thermal areas in the world-there are perhaps 600 geysers and 10,000 geothermal features in the park-and the largest geysers in Yellowstone. ![]() When you arrive at the southern geyser basins, you might feel that you’ve been transported through a geologic time warp. The Yellowstone River cuts through the valley, in some places moving 64,000 cubic feet of water per second, and creating two waterfalls, one of which is more than twice the height of Niagara Falls. Canyon Country is defined by the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, a colorful, 1,000-foot-deep, 24-mile-long gorge-in many opinions, just as dramatic as its cousin in Arizona. In the warm months, you’ll enjoy the contrast between the lush green valleys and Canyon Country, in the center of the park. They feature large, open meadows with abundant plant life that provides food for a population of bison and elk. Because this area was a favorite of Theodore Roosevelt, it is often referred to as “Roosevelt Country.” The beautiful valley where elk, bison, and wolves interact is dotted with glacial ponds and strewn with boulders deposited by moving ice.įarther south are Pelican and Hayden Valleys, the two largest ancient lake beds in the park. The road between the Tower-Roosevelt junction and the northeast entrance winds through the Lamar Valley, an area that has been covered by glaciers three times, most recently during an ice age that began 25,000 years ago and continued for 10,000 years-in geologic terms, just yesterday. Finally, we come to the bare rock at the very top of the continental shelf, where small, hardy plants bloom briefly after the annual thaw. The transition area between the highest forest and the bare surface above timberline is known as the subalpine zone (7,600–11,300 ft.). Then comes the mountain zone (6,000–7,600 ft.), thickening forests dominated by lodgepole pine, broken by meadows where deer, elk, and moose often graze. Shrubs and flowers, such as huckleberry and columbine, favor these wet, shady spots. Douglas fir, pine, and other conifers, as well aspen clad these slopes, and are marshes and ponds are fed by the spring snowmelt. The foothills, sloping upward toward peaks, are sometimes dotted by deposits of glacial moraine. ![]() Because the park lies about halfway between the equator and the North Pole, its summers consist of long, warm days that stimulate plant growth at the lower elevations.Īt the lowest elevations, down around 5,300 feet above sea level, you’ll find grassy flats and sagebrush growing on dry, porous soils, with creeks and rivers cutting through to form wildlife-rich riparian zones. The environment changes dramatically as you ascend the mountain slopes from the foothill zones in the valleys-the elevation at the entrance at West Yellowstone is 6,666 feet, for example, compared to 5,314 feet at the Gardiner entrance. Although Yellowstone has its share of mountains, much of the park is a high mountain plateau.
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