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Photo: Mav at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
This geyser basin is situated along the shore for a distance of 2 mi, extending back from it about 500 yd and into the lake perhaps as many feet. There are several hundred springs here, varying in size from miniature fountains to pools or wells 75 ft in diameter and of great depth. Additionally, a small cluster of mud springs. Of particular note, the Abyss Pool offers an optical illusion that makes it look bottomless, and Fishing Cone is an offshore pool which was once popular as a spot to cook newly-caught fish by dipping them into this partially submerged hot spring. (This stunt is no longer allowed.).
The geothermal areas of Yellowstone include several geyser basins in Yellowstone National Park as well as other geothermal features such as hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles. The number of thermal features in Yellowstone is estimated at 10,000. A study that was completed in 2011 found that a total of 1,283 geysers have erupted in Yellowstone, 465 of which are active during an average year. These are distributed among nine geyser basins, with a few geysers found in smaller thermal areas throughout the Park. The number of geysers in each geyser basin are as follows: Upper Geyser Basin (410), Midway Geyser Basin (59), Lower Geyser Basin (283), Norris Geyser Basin (193), West Thumb Geyser Basin (84), Gibbon Geyser Basin (24), Lone Star Geyser Basin (21), Shoshone Geyser Basin (107), Heart Lake Geyser Basin (69), other areas (33). Although famous large geysers like Old Faithful are part of the total, most of Yellowstone's geysers are small, erupting to only a foot or two. The hydrothermal system that supplies the geysers with hot water sits within an ancient active caldera. Many of the thermal features in Yellowstone build up sinter, geyserite, or travertine deposits around and within them.
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Built in 1925, with the open breezeway enclosed in 1966, the West Thumb Ranger Station is an excellent example of historic architecture associated with ranger stations in Yellowstone.
This lake is on the Continental Divide at Craig Pass in 1891. Isa Lake is noteworthy as probably the only lake on earth that drains naturally to two oceans backwards, the east side draining to the Pacific and the west side to the Atlantic.
This lake is the park's second largest lake and is at the head of the Lewis River southwest of West Thumb. Shoshone Lake is 205 ft at its maximum depth and has an area of 8050 acre. Shoshone Lake used to be barren of fish owing to waterfalls on the Lewis River, but today the lake contains introduced lake trout, brown trout, and Utah chubs. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service believes that Shoshone Lake may be the largest lake in the lower 48 states that cannot be reached by road. No motorboats are allowed on the lake.
3 mi round-trip
This easy trail leads to a natural bridge that is a 51 ft cliff of rhyolite rock cut through by Bridge Creek. The hiking trail meanders through the forest for 0.25 mi. It then joins a service road and continues to the right (west) for 1 mi to the Natural Bridge. The short but steep switchback trail to the top of the bridge starts in front of the interpretive exhibit. Above the natural bridge, the trail crosses the creek through a narrow ravine and then continues along the cliff before rejoining the road. This trail is closed from Autumn through early summer while bears feed on spawning trout in Bridge Creek.
This rock formation is accessible via an easy one-mile (1 mi) walk, and there is also a bicycle trail leading to the bridge. The Natural Bridge was formed by erosion of a rhyolite outcrop by Bridge Creek. The top of the bridge is approximately 51 ft above the creek. A short switchback trail leads to the top, though travel across the bridge is now prohibited to protect this feature.
With a surface area of 132 mi2, Yellowstone Lake is the largest lake at high elevation (more than 7,000 ft) in North America. It is a natural lake, situated at 7,733 ft above sea level. It is roughly 20 mi long and 15 mi wide with 141 mi of shoreline. It is frozen nearly half the year. It freezes in late December or early January and thaws in late May or early June.