This article covers our journey from the Northeast Entrance of the park through the Hayden and Lamar Valleys to our lodging at Yellowstone Lake.
After my wife, Lynne, and I finished at Devil’s Tower, we stopped for lunch at Coop Rotisserie in Gillette, Wyoming. While there, we discussed our travel plans for the day. Our original plan was to drive to Cody, WY for the night and then travel into the East entrance to Yellowstone National Park in the morning. That would leave us quite a bit of driving in the morning, so we started working on an alternative plan.
Our new plan had us heading for Cooke City, MT. This town is located about 5 miles from the Northeastern entrance and it just involved a bit more driving on the approach, or so we thought. Little did we know the drive we had for the day. We drove for several hours through Wyoming and up into Montana, the first 40 miles of which were through the Nation of Crow reservation, a very desolate place. We gassed up in Billings and it looked like we would make it to Cooke City before nightfall. We did not, however, know anything about the Bear Tooth Pass.
The Bear Tooth Pass is an amazing mountain experience that appears in virtually every Top 10 scenic U.S. drives. The pass escorts you high above the tree line that frames the Yellowstone Valley as you go up over the pass and descend down to the park. We stayed the night at the Elk Horn Lodge. This lodge ended up being one of our favorite places to stay for the whole trip. It’s proximity to the entrance is phenomenal, the staff was friendly, and the prices were reasonable. Plus, it was one of the few, small places we stayed on the trip with a hot tub. Whether you are out on the trails all day or in the saddle driving, a hot tub is a welcome respite for your body.
We arrived at 9 PM and were in bed by 10 to be up early to get to the park the next morning. I do wish we could have stayed longer to take advantage of the quaint town and the crisp mountain air.
Lamar Valley
We began our day in the Lamar Valley, an expansive meadow dissected by the Lamar River. This is the very place where the wolves were re-introduced to Yellowstone in the 1990s. We did not see any wolves this morning, but we did witness plenty of bison and pronghorn deer. The bison herds were amazing to behold. I can only imagine how they roamed the prairies of our country hundreds of years ago.
All of the valleys of Yellowstone are unbelievably vast to the eye and incapable of being captured on a camera. Trust me; I tried on several occasions and was unable to succeed. You would stop to take a picture of the stunningly blue sky stretching from horizon to horizon over the vast stretches of grasslands and mountains. Once you snapped the picture, the epic size of the scene was stolen by your camera’s view, reduced to the size of the screen. In my mind, I can still picture those valleys, yet I have no pictures to do them justice.
From the Lamar Valley, we continued south toward Yellowstone Lake to continue exploring the park. Our first stop was the Tower Falls pouring 100’+ over the cliffs from Tower Creek into the Yellowstone River. This is a very short hike and a great place to get out of the car and stretch your legs. You can also catch a snack or drink at the General Store right there.
The Road Less Traveled
Our plan was to continue south from Tower Falls and climb Mt.
“If an area is over-crowded or closed, move on to the next spot where there is room and explore what nature has for you there.”
Dean and Lynne Engelman, 2018
The unexpected closure of Mt. Washburn steered us to a scenic 3-mile hike out to Cascade Lake. The hike begins in the forest and quickly opens up to an epic meadow, full of grasses, native flowers, and American Bison, among other things. If you are really adventurous, the trail continues from Cascade Lake up to Observation Point, which boasts beautiful views of the lakes below to the south and the mountains to the north.
Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
After Cascade Lake, we went to Artiste Pointe in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. On the way into the canyon parking, we witnessed some elk rutting out some poor pine trees, which never stood a chance. This caused quite a traffic jam and we decided not to stay too long. I figured we would run into more elk. We did not. When you get the chance, just stick around and see it. Everything else will be there when you are done
Artiste Point was certainly still there. The Grand Canyon is so impressive that when I took pictures, it appeared to me to look fake. Trust me, it is not. It is just that astonishing to behold. The canyon has formed from the Yellowstone River falling in two different sections and creating beautiful waterfalls. The eroded canyons are spectacular in their coloring and their exposed walls. I have never witnessed anything like it. Clearly, it pales in size to the “other” Grand Canyon, but it is impressive in its all-around beauty.
Again, we had some trails closed for maintenance, but there are plenty of areas to explore and hike for several hours in this location. We exploredincluding going to the brink of Yellowstone Falls (video below). The force of the water going over the falls is astonishing. A mile upstream it is tranquil and relatively still.
We finished our day traveling down through the Hayden Valley and its steam vents, mud volcanos, and cauldrons as part of the eastern geothermal area of the park. Interestingly, the mud vents and geysers do not appear too hot for the bison. They just lay on the ground next to the vents and relax.
Our last stop was the Lake Lodge on Yellowstone Lake, which would serve as our headquarters for our three days in Yellowstone. The Lodge boasted very friendly staff, clean cabins, and a front porch where you could sit on a rocker and take in the gigantic lake. The food in the lodge was reasonably priced and we found the quality of the food to be very good. I highly recommend a room in the park due to the sheer size of the park. For example, the next day, we traveled to Old Faithful, which was an hour plus drive. Outside of the park, it takes several hours.