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Photo: NASA, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
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.
Yellowstone Lake is the largest body of water in Wyoming and the largest in Yellowstone National Park. The lake is 7,732 feet (2,357 m) above sea level and covers 136 square miles (350 km2) with 110 miles (180 km) of shoreline. While the average depth of the lake is 139 ft (42 m), its greatest depth is at least 394 ft (120 m). Yellowstone Lake is the largest freshwater lake above 7,000 ft (2,100 m) in North America.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Like Lake Village and Fishing Village, this area provides access to North America's largest high elevation lake. The topmost layers of the lake rarely exceeds , and the lower layers are much colder; because of the extremely cold water, swimming is not recommended.
The Lake Yellowstone Hotel opened in 1891 on a site long known as a meeting place for Indians, trappers, and mountain men. At that time, it was not particularly distinctive, resembling any other railroad hotel financed by the Northern Pacific Railroad. It was renovated in 1903, with additional changes made in 1929. By the 1970s, the Hotel had fallen into serious disrepair. In 1981, the National Park Service and the park concessionaire, TW Recreational Services, embarked upon a ten-year project to restore the Lake Hotel in appearance to its days of glory in the 1920s. The work was finished for the celebration of the hotel's centennial in 1991. The Hotel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places that year.
After a decade of military administration in Yellowstone, Congress created the National Park Service in 1916. Ranger stations began to replace soldier stations throughout the park. The Lake Ranger Station was completed in 1923. The first Director of the National Park Service, Steven Mather, suggested that the station should blend in with its natural and cultural environment. A local woodsman used pioneer building techniques to give the station its "trapper cabin" style. With park architects, Superintendent Horace Albright designed a large octagonal "community room" with a central stone fireplace. This rustic hall served an informational function by day, and, in the evening, it became the scene of a folksy gathering around a log fire.
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.
The advent of the auto in the park in 1915 created a great influx of visitors. The need arose for an intermediate style of lodging between the luxury of the Lake Hotel and the rustic accommodations of the tent camps. In 1926, the Lake Lodge (also a Robert Reamer design) was completed, one of four lodges in the park. The park was no longer primarily accessible to only affluent "dudes" or hearty "sagebrushers."