The Mammoth Area/North Exit Road

Famous for its limestone cascades filled with boiling water, mammoth is one of the first places to be discovered in Yellowstone. The village was named for the sheer size of the terraces.

Before the National Park Service took over, the U.S. Army managed the park. They built a base called Fort Yellowstone in 1891. Many of these original army buildings, like the guardhouse and officer homes, still stand today.

The terraces are made of travertine, a type of soft limestone. The rock forms when hot underground water cools and drops its minerals. This rock grows incredibly fast, up to one billion times faster than rock in a cave.

The stark white color actually comes from the layers of dead microbes and thermophiles on the rocks, when alive they cause the other colors to form.

The elk here are notoriously mean, so look out for Destructo and his wife, they have a vendetta against us all, and lawn chairs.

The entire village sits on an old, ancient terrace formation. When the army was building the fort, they worried the hollow ground would cave in under the weight of the buildings.

The village got its name for the size of the terraces. There are many boardwalks here, and many trails along the road on the way south;

Trails;

Lava Creek Trailhead can be either 4.1 miles from point to point or 8.2 miles. Leads to the Lava Creek, and a view of its waterfall.

Sepulcher Mountain Trailhead connects into backpacking trails, or do the 11 mile loop trail, this trailhead is at the same area as;

Beaver Ponds Trailhead is a 5 mile loop with views of the beaver ponds, yes there are usually beaver here.

Lower Terraces North/South Trailheads are about 2 miles of boardwalks around the lower terraces. You can do point to point to the opposite trailhead or do it as a loop from either side.

Upper Terrace Trailhead is a 1.5 mile loop around the upper terraces. I reccomend doing both the upper and the lower areas, it is pretty massive.

Glenn Creek Trail is closed due to bear activity now but check for updates before you go.

Bunsen Peak Trail is a 2.1 mile hike up to the peak with a beautiful view, the last .75 miles are fairly difficult with elevation. Beware of bears in this area. The peak is named after the man who 'discovered it' the same man who the name Bunsen Burner came from.

Sheepeater Cliff You don’t want to bring larger vehicles here but it’s pretty cool. You can see the Basalt cliff from the picnic area, there’s tons of rocks but you can't take them. Well physically I guess you could, but don’t, it messes with the ecosystem, and you can get fined up to $5,000 and 6 months in jail per thing you take from the park.

Grizzly Lake Trailhead takes about an hour and a half, 1k elevation gain, beautiful view, there is a lot of bear activity here, so don’t forget bear spray!

Norris trails There are a lot of boardwalks around Norris, start at the old ranger station turned museum if you’re there during open hours. To do the whole thing is about 3-4 miles total. It’s worth it. Pinto, Blue, Sunday and Pinwheel geysers are unpredictable. Basin geyser has been going off every 2-5 hours this year, if you’re lucky it will still be going for a while. Ledge Geyser, while unpredictably does shoot out water, mostly just constantly vents hot steam. Guardian and Valentine Geyser go off about every 3-6 days together, they will bubble violently a few hours before eruption, so if you see them bubbling stick around, they both get higher than old faithful. Ebony Geyser has been dormant since the 1960s. Minute geyser once went off every minute nearly on the minute, now it is dormant. Fearless, Monarch, and Corporal geysers are now wholly unpredictable. Veteran Geyser runs nearly all the time, at varying heights. Steamboat is the tallest geyser in the park, it goes off every few months but it’s pretty random. Porkchop Geyser is really just a pool after it exploded in 1989. Bastille is dormant, but Orby is nearly always erupting close to it. Look out for moose around here!

Viewpoints;

Fort Yellowstone -

Fort Yellowstone Cemetery -

Silvergate - You’ll notice a weird one way turn out on the road south of mammoth, take it, it’s one of few places you can kind of climb around, and see boulders up close.

Obsidian Cliff Kiosk - has information about the obsidian cliff, once used for mining now sits untouched but falling apart every time there’s an earthquake or bad storm.

Semi-Continental Geyser - hasn’t erupted since 1922, you can still pull over and look at the pool it left behind.

Roaring Mountain - named after the sound of the falling rocks in the 1900s, it is no longer a truly ‘roaring’ mountain, you can still see vents along the mountainside from here, and overlook the dried up lemonade lake.

Twin lakes - not really worth stopping for but sometimes there’s animals in them, or you can see the Yellowstone Lilies.

Bija Springs - has a small pullout overlooking the pools.

Frying Pan Spring - named after its shape, is a small hot spring located just off the road with a small pullout.

Roosevelt Arch - The arch was not originally built to honor the president. It was meant to make the entrance look more impressive. It was named after Theodore Roosevelt because he happened to be on vacation there. He laid the cornerstone on April 15, 1903. The quote carved into the top says, "For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People". This comes from the 1872 law that created Yellowstone. During the 1903 dedication, local builders placed a "canister" or time capsule inside the stone. The original plan included ponds and waterfalls around the arch. This idea failed because the Gardiner area is too dry. It stands 50 feet tall and is made of dark volcanic rock.

Yellowstone Heritage and Research Center - In Gardiner, small but very informative museum about local history.

There are a few rafting areas out of Gardiner as well, I like the flying pig place.

Animals;

seriously look out for Destructo the elk he WILL attack you unprevoked.

Elk, bighorned sheep and mountain goats, bears, deer, squirrel, marmots, chipmunk, many birds, and prong horn are all commonly seen in the mammoth area. The elk will roam all day, the other animals mostly come out around dawn and dusk.

Food;

It is actually pretty good here, and there’s an ice cream place, as always overpriced, but ice cream is so good and there’s picnic areas just outside where you can watch wildlife while you eat. Don’t feed wildlife, clean up after yourself, and others please.