Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming extending into Montana and Idaho
Yellowstone
National Park, designated as the world's first national park by Ulysses S
Grant in 1872, is also a biosphere reserve and World Heritage Site for
its spectacular topography. Lying mostly in Wyoming, its 8,987 sq km
(3,472 sq miles) extend into Montana and Idaho. Elevations range from a
maximum height of 3,462 meters (11,358 feet) at Eagle Peak to 1,610
meters (5,282
feet) at Reese Creek. Most of the park is covered by forest interspersed
with grassland and water.
The park is home to the planet's most diverse collection of geysers, hot
springs, mudpots and fumaroles. Two-thirds of the earth's geysers - more
than 300 - are here - and combined with over 10,000 other thermal
features, you have a place like no other.
The park is also home to an active volcano, roughly 2,000 earthquakes a
year, one of the world's largest petrified forests, one of the world's
largest calderas - measuring 72 by 48 km (45 by 30 miles), and some 290
sizeable waterfalls, the highest of which are the 94-meters (308-feet) Lower
Falls of the Yellowstone River.
The Upper Geyser Basin is home to the largest numbers of geysers. Within
2.5 sq km (1 sq miles) there are at least 150, of which five can be
accurately predicted - Castle, Grand, Daisy, Riverside and the most
famous, Old Faithful. Driving down Firehole Lake Drive you will find the
sixth predictable geyser - Great Fountain - whose twice-daily eruptions
send water bursting 30-61 meters (100-200 feet) into the air.
The Midway Geyser Basin, although smaller than its surrounding blow
holes, offers the incredible gaping crater of the Excelsior Geyser, 61 x
91 meters (200 x 300 feet) with a constant discharge of more than 4,000 gallons
of water per minute into the Firehole River, which was named because
early trappers thought it appeared to be smoke from wild fires. Also
found here is Yellowstone's largest hot spring, Grand Prismatic Spring,
over 113 meters (370 fee) in diameter and more than 37 meters (121 feet) in depth.
The most popular attraction of Yellowstone National Park, located in the
Upper Geyser Basin, is Old Faithful. Named for its punctuality, Old
Faithful, although not the largest or most spectacular of the geysers,
erupts more frequently than any of the others, on average every 80
minutes, spraying waters up to 57 meters (184 feet) into the air.
Not only host to incredible natural features and awe-inspiring scenery,
Yellowstone also hosts a number of large mammals including both black and
grizzly bears, coyotes, grey wolves, red foxes, bobcats, mountain lions,
lynx, otters, a number of deer species, bison, bighorn sheep and mountain
goats among others.
Yellowstone
has four distinct seasons, cold in winter, pleasant in spring, hot in
summer, and cool in autumn.
