Frommer's National Parks of the American West - Don Laine [407]
At Bridge Bay Marina, 1-hour Sceni-cruiser tours depart throughout the day from June to the end of September for a trip around the northern end of giant Yellowstone Lake. You view the Lake Hotel from the water and visit Steven-son Island while a guide fills you in on the history, geology, and biology. Fares are $10.50 for adults and $6.75 for children 2 to 11. Guided fishing trips on 22-foot and 34-foot cabin cruisers are available from Yellowstone Park Lodges at Bridge Bay ($66 and $85 per hour, respectively), and you can rent smaller outboards and rowboats.
Snow-coach tours replace buses in the winter. Closer in size to a van than a bus, snow coaches are mounted on tank treads with skis in front for steering. The snow coach can pick you up at the south or west entrances, or at Mammoth, and take you all over the park. You can spend a night at Old Faithful and then ride a snow coach up to Mammoth the next night, or do round-trip tours from the gates or wherever you're staying in the park. One-way and wildlife-watching trips range from $27 to $60, while round-trips cost $100 to $120. Yellowstone Alpen Guides (☎ 800/858-3502) offers snow-coach trips from West Yellowstone for $99.
Ranger-led programs take place throughout the park during the summer, some at campground amphitheaters, some at visitor centers, some on hikes or at key landmarks. It's the best value in the park: free. Evening campfire programs run nightly in the summer at campgrounds at Mammoth Hot Springs, Norris, Madison, Grant, Bridge Bay, and Canyon. Many of these activities are accessible to travelers with disabilities. There are more tours and evening programs in the Old Faithful area than anywhere else in the park. The talks and walks, which can run as long as 1½ hours, usually focus on the geysers, their fragile plumbing, and their role in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Check the park newspaper when you enter the park for a current listing of ranger programs.
Day Hikes
WEST YELLOWSTONE TO MADISON
Artist Paint Pot Trail
1 mile RT. Easy. Access: Gibbon Meadow, 4½ miles south of Norris Junction.
This interesting and worthwhile stroll along a relatively level path winds through a lodgepole pine forest in Gibbon Meadows, to a mud pot at the top of a hill. This thermal area contains some small geysers, hot pools, and steam vents.
Harlequin Lake Trail
.6 mile RT. Easy. Access: West entrance road 1½ miles west of Madison Campground.
This is an excellent, easy opportunity to explore the area while winding through the burned forest to a small lake populated by various types of waterfowl.
Purple Mountain Trail
6 miles RT. Easy. Access: Madison-Norris Rd., ¼ mile north of Madison Junction.
This hike requires some physical exertion. It winds through a burned forest to the top of what many consider only a tall hill, with an elevation gain of 1,400 feet.
Two Ribbons Trail
.75 mile RT. Easy. Access: Turnout on north side of road 3 miles east of west entrance.
This trail offers an opportunity to inspect the effects of the 1988 fire. Along the boardwalk, you'll see evidence of not only the blaze that ravaged the area, but the beginning of a new cycle of life in the dense green shag of lodgepole saplings.
NORRIS GEYSER BASIN
Back Basin Loop
1.5 miles RT. Easy. Access: Norris Geyser Basin.
This level boardwalk, easily negotiable in 1 hour, passes by Steamboat Geyser, which has been known to produce the world's highest and most memorable eruptions. However, these 400-foot waterspouts rarely occur more than once or twice a year (and sometimes only once or twice a decade), so it will take some luck to see one.
Porcelain Basin Trail
.5 mile RT. Easy. Access: Norris Geyser Basin.
This short trail, which can be completed in 45 minutes, is on a level boardwalk that, like the Back Basin Loop, is