Yellowstone NATIONAL PARK with photos by: MICHAEL MELFORD TOM MURPHY ROBBIE GEORGE SERGIO LANZA CASADO TERRY DONNELLY MICHAEL S. LEWIS RAYMOND GEHMAN GRAND PRISMATIC SPRING PHOTO BY SERGIO LANZA CASADO “The center of Yellowstone’s Grand Prismatic Spring steams at 199° Fahrenheit (93° Cel- sius), too hot for the multicol- YELLOWSTONE: ored bacteria clustering on Location: Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana the cooler perimeter. But dead Established: March 1, 1872 center is no dead zone: Billions Size: 2,221,766 acres of organisms called thermo- philes flourish in the scalding is a water.” Yellowstonegeo - logical smoking gun that illustrates how violent the Earth can be. One event overshadows all others: Some 640,000 years ago, an area many miles square at what is now the center of the park suddenly exploded. In minutes the landscape was devastated. Fast-mov- ing ash flows covered thousands of square miles. At the center only a smol- dering caldera remained, a collapsed crater 45 by 30 miles. At least two other cataclysmic events preceded this one. Boiling hot springs, fumaroles, mud spots, and geysers serve as reminders that another could occur. OLD FAITHFUL PHOTO BY TOM MURPHY “Vapor rises from Old Faith- ful, one of Yellowstone’s most popular attractions. Not the YELLOWSTONE: largest or the most regular of Location: Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana the park’s geysers, Old Faithful Established: March 1, 1872 erupts more frequently, with Size: 2,221,766 acres each blast expelling between 3,700 to 8,400 gallons (14,000 to 32,000 liters) of boiling , how- water.” Yellowstoneever, is much more than hot ground and gushing steam. Located astride the Continental Divide, most of the park occupies a high plateau surrounded by mountains and drained by several rivers. Park boundaries enclose craggy peaks, alpine lakes, deep canyons, and vast forests. In 1872, Yellowstone be- came the world’s first national park, the result of great foresight on the part of many people about our eventual need for the solace and beauty of wild plac- es. YELLOWSTONE BISON I PHOTO BY DAN WESTERGREN “Nomadic grazers, bison roam Yellowstone National Park’s grassy plateaus in summer and spend winter near warm ther- YELLOWSTONE: mal pools or in the northern Location: Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana section of the park. The huge Established: March 1, 1872 animals use their heads like Size: 2,221,766 acres a plow to push snow aside in search of food.” In early years, what made Yellowstone stand out was the extravaganza of geysers and hot springs. The wild landscape and the bi- son, elk, and bears were nice but, after all, America was still a pioneer country filled with scenic beauty and animals. UPPER GEYSER BASIN PHOTO BY MICHAEL MELFORD “Yellowstone National Park’s mile-long (1.6-kilometer-long) Upper Geyser Basin contains YELLOWSTONE: the world’s greatest concen- Location: Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana tration of hot springs and gey- Established: March 1, 1872 sers. In the entire park, which Size: 2,221,766 acres spreads out over parts of Wy- oming, Idaho, and Montana, there are more than 10,000 summer hydrothermal features—half of of 1988, During the all such features in the world.” fire touched many sections of the park, in some areas dramatically changing the appearance of the landscape. Yet not one major feature was destroyed. The geysers, waterfalls, and herds of wildlife are still here. Many places show no impact at all, while those that are regenerating benefit both vegetation and animal life. Side by side, burned areas and nonburned areas provide an intriguing study in the causes and ef- fects of fire in wild places. Yellowstone has witnessed bigger natural events than this and may well again. GRAY WOLVES PHOTO BY ROBBIE GEORGE “Originally native to the area, gray wolves in Yellowstone were killed off as part of “pred- ator control” practices, and YELLOWSTONE: by the 1970s no wolves were Location: Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana known to be living in the park. Established: March 1, 1872 A controversial reintroduction Size: 2,221,766 acres program has been largely suc- cessful..” was As the West settled, however, Yellowstone’s importance as a wildlife sanctuary grew. The list of park animals is a compendium of Rocky Mountain fauna: elk, bison, mule deer, bighorn sheep, grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, moose, pronghorn, coy- otes, mountain lions, beaver, trumpeter swans, eagles, ospreys, white pelicans, and more. YELLOWSTONE ELK PHOTO BY RAYMOND GEHMAN “Elk are the most abundant large mammals in Yellowstone National Park, numbering some YELLOWSTONE: 30,000 in the summer. Paleon- Location: Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana tological evidence shows that Established: March 1, 1872 the animals have been living Size: 2,221,766 acres on Yellowstone land for at least a thousand years..” Of far greater concern to environmentalists than the fires are the impact of the increasing numbers of visitors, the threatened grizzly bear population, and, on nearby lands, the planned development of natural resource projects. Cooperative man- agement between the park and the six forests that make up the greater Yel- lowstone ecosystem is essential if wild- life and thermal features are to survive. YELLOWSTONE BOBCAT PHOTO BY ROBBIE GEORGE “A bobcat slinks through the snow in Yellowstone, which protects many species in its role as wildlife sanctuary. Among them are elk, bison, YELLOWSTONE: mule deer, grizzlies, black Location: Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana Established: March 1, 1872 bears, and mountain lions..” Size: 2,221,766 acres The most common wildcat in North America, the bobcat is named for its short, bobbed tail. They are medium-sized cats and are slightly smaller but similar in appearance to their cousin, the lynx. Their coats vary in color from shades of beige to brown fur with spotted or lined markings in dark brown or black. YELLOWSTONE BISON II PHOTO BY TERRY DONNELLY “Nomadic grazers, bison roam Yellowstone National Park’s grassy plateaus in summer and YELLOWSTONE: spend winter near warm ther- Location: Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana mal pools or in the northern Established: March 1, 1872 section of the park. The huge Size: 2,221,766 acres animals use their heads like a plow to push snow aside in search of food.” Bison are the larg- est mammal in North America. Male bison (called bulls) weigh up to 2,000 pounds and stand 6 feet tall, while fe- males (called cows) weigh up to 1,000 pounds and reach a height of 4-5 feet. LOWER YELLOWSTONE FALLS PHOTO BY MICHAEL S. LEWIS “The center of Yellowstone’s GThe Lower Falls of the Yellow- stone River drop a stunning 308 feet (94 meters) to the YELLOWSTONE: canyon floor below—twice as Location: Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana far as Niagara Falls. The Yellow- Established: March 1, 1872 stone begins south of the park, Size: 2,221,766 acres traveling more than 600 miles (965 kilometers) before it emp- ties into the Missouri River in North Dakota. It is the longest As the Yellowstone undammed river in the conti- river flows north from Yellowstone Lake, it leaves the Hayden Valley and plung- nental U.S.” es first over Upper Yellowstone Falls and then a quarter mile (400 m) down- stream over Lower Yellowstone Falls, at which point it then enters the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, which is up to 1,000 feet (304 m) deep. GREAT FOUNTAIN GEYSER PHOTO BY MICHAEL MELFORD “America’s first national park, Yellowstone is home to wildlife from bears to bison and geo- YELLOWSTONE: logical stunners such as hot Location: Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana springs and geysers. The Great Established: March 1, 1872 Fountain Geyser, pictured here, Size: 2,221,766 acres erupts every 9 to 15 hours, shooting water up to 220 feet (67 meters) high.” DID YOU KNOW? Most of the park rests atop a slumber- ing volcano that erupted half a million years ago and is showing signs of re- newed activity. (Note: No eruption is expected in the near future.) There are more geysers and hot springs here than anywhere else on Earth. Content from National Geographic Designed by Logan Stallings Copyright © 1996-2015 National Geographic Society. Copyright © 2015-2017 National Geographic Partners, LLC. All rights reserved.