Yellowstone National Park Day 3

On our 3rd day of touring Yellowstone National Park, we headed towards the NE Entrance Road. Just before that we stopped for a quick look at Tower Falls which drops 132 feet into the Yellowstone River below. This is just a quick walk to an overlook and is an easy stop.

We reserved a pass ahead of time and at noon started out on the NE Entrance Road. The permit allows you to drive out to Slough Creek. Along the way we saw many herds of buffalo as well as some antelope.

We looped back to Calcite Springs for a quick walk to the overlook where the entire crowd was convinced we were seeing a bear on the cliffs across the river, but upon looking at the pictures on the computer clearly saw it was a bison.

We then continued on to BlackTail Plateau which is a gravel road but gives some great views of the mountains and valleys.

We decided to stop and hike Hellroaring Canyon to the suspension bridge over the Yellowstone River. It’s a steep 626 foot elevation 1 mile down and 1 mile back up hike. We really enjoyed the views of the canyon and the muddy river as we walked over the bridge. This is the first suspension bridge that I have ever seen that is built to accommodate horses.

From there we continued on and stopped at the Wraith Falls Trailhead. This hike is an easy half mile in and half mile out hike to Wriath Creek and up to the overlook for the falls. This was the first fishing stop of the day for Jonathan and Gene.

As we were getting close to dinner time, we stopped at Mammoth Springs. Since I had done this walk before, I dropped the men off at the top and then met them back at the bottom with the truck. The calcite formations are amazing and remind us of Pamukkale in Turkey.

Golden Gate Canyon and Rustic Falls are definitely worth a stop.

As we continued on, the men found a perfect fishing hole just below Sheepeater Cliffs.

As we lost the light on the long drive back, we saw Bison by the thermal areas and Elk by the lake Yellowstone.