Yellowstone National Park, Canyon Area - 8/14/14

Day two of exploring Yellowstone National Park was as incredible as the first one! Today we saw:

• Gibbon Falls
• Artists Paintpots
• Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River

Gibbon Falls: Entering the park from West Yellowstone, Gibbon Falls is located about 5 miles upstream from where the Gibbon and Firehole Rivers meet at Madison Junction. It is on the right and only a short walk to get a good view of the Falls. They are an 84' drop.

Another view.

Upstream view of Gibbon River.

Artists Paintpots: Located several miles north of Gibbon Falls (and about 3 miles south of Norris Geyser Basin), is a collection of beautiful geothermal features. It is an easy .6 mile hike that is partially trail and boardwalk. 

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River:  The views in this canyon are truly breathtaking. Here's some general info about the canyon.

• Depth is 800 to 1,200 feet.
• Width is 1,500 to 4,000 feet.
• Length is 20 miles.
• Age of canyon lava flow = 484,000 years ago.
• Colors on the canyon walls are due to hot spring activity in the area and is primarily attributable to iron compounds. 
• There are two waterfalls: the Upper Falls (109' drop) and the Lower Falls (308' drop).

Our first stop (as recommended by someone we met at the campground) on the North Rim was the Brink of the Upper Falls.

Upstream view.

Upper Falls.

We then traveled south across the Chittenden Bridge to the South Rim where we stopped at the Upper Falls Viewpoint. These are photos of the same falls as those shown above, but from farther down the canyon on the opposite side.

On the South Rim is Artists Point, is one of the most photographed views in Yellowstone. Visible from this overlook are the beautiful canyon walls as well as the Lower Falls that drop 308' in the distance. 

Tree roots.

Beautiful Lower Falls.

Canyon walls.

Yellowstone River.

Cool rock formations.

North Rim - Lookout Point provides a full view of the beautiful Lower Falls.

Osprey nest.

North Rim - Grand View.

North Rim - Inspiration Point.

Sadie had a long day, too.

We saw this lone, old bison on our drive out of the park. 

Rolling in the dirt.

Admission to the park is $25/vehicle or annual passes can be purchased. John's senior pass gets us in for free.

There is so much more to see at Yellowstone. There will be additional posts in the next week on our park adventures.

www.nps.gov/yell