Yellowstone's Upper Loop

Yellowstone's roads form a figure eight as shown on the map below.  Yesterday, we came in the southern entrance and worked our way to West Thumb, the Old Faithful area and then we took a left at Madison going out the West entrance.  Our journey today takes us along the Upper Look road starting at Madison, then traveling to Norris, Mammoth, Tower Fall, and Canyon before heading back out the West gate again.  Here are some of the sites we will see today.

The Norris Geyser Basin is the hottest in Yellowstone because it lies along two fault lines.  Its the home of the Steamboat Geyser which has the highest eruptions (up to 380 feet).  Unfortunately, the last time it erupted was 2005.  Echinus Geyser is the largest frequently erupting geyser in the world with intervals as frequent as 20 minutes.

Mammoth Hot Springs is an area where the thermal waters travel through limestone rock and create travertine terraces.  The features here rapidly change depending on the build up of materials.  This area is close to the Northern entrance where Teddy Roosevelt dedicated the park's first entrance.

Tower Fall

Lower Falls

Upper Falss

One of the most underrated features of Yellowstone are its waterfalls.  There are literally hundreds of them in the park, many easily accessible from the road (that means no hiking).  Lower Falls is the most famous and long believed to be the park's tallest at 308 feet, is also one of the great waterfalls of the North American continent. It has probably had more words written about it than any other park waterfall. 

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  On the Yellowstone River, south of Yellowstone Falls is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, about 900 ft deep and half a mile wide

Grand Canyon

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