Closest entrances: 27 miles to the east entrance; 43 miles to the south entrance
Distance: 16 miles from Canyon Village to Fishing Bridge
The road from Canyon Village winds through the Hayden Valley, which is a vast expanse of beautiful green meadows accented by brown cuts where the soil is eroded along the banks of the Yellowstone River. Imagine this: Ten thousand years before Ferdinand V. Hayden led the survey expedition of 1871, the entire Hayden Valley, except for the tallest peaks that surround it, was covered with a 4,000-foot-thick layer of ice. The valley is now a wide, sprawling area where bison play, and trumpeter swans, white pelicans, and Canada geese float along the river. This is also a prime habitat for the grizzly, so during early-spring months, pay close attention to binocular-toting visitors grouped beside the road.
Nature is at her acidic best at the Sulphur Caldron and Mud Volcano areas, 12 miles south of the Canyon Junction, which were described by writer Edwin Stanley as "unsightly, unsavory, and villainous." While Stanley anthropomorphized natural phenomena, his appraisal is fairly accurate, so you'll certainly want to explore this area. There's nothing quite like the sound of burping mud pots.
Vapors from Sulphur Caldron (on the east side of the road) had rotted the overlook's foundation, and it collapsed in 1984. The acidity of the caldron is twice that of battery acid; if you stepped in one of these pools, your shoes would be reduced to ashes.
At Dragon's Mouth Spring, escaping steam and sulfurous gases propel turbid water from an underground cavern to the surface, where it colors the earth with shades of orange and green. The belching of steam from the cavern and the associated sound, which is caused by the splash of 180°F (82°C) water against the wall in a subterranean cavern, creates an aura of fantasy and medieval times; hence, the name of the spring. Nearby Mud Volcano is a murky mud spring, the product of vigorous activity caused by escaping sulfurous gases and steam. The youngest feature in the area is Black Dragon's Caldron, which is often referred to as "the demon of the backwoods" -- and rightly so. The caldron emerged from its subterranean birthplace for the first time in 1948, when it announced its presence by blowing a hole in the landscape, scattering mature trees hundreds of feet in all directions. Since then, continual seismic activity and intermittent earthquakes in the area have caused it to move several hundred feet south of its original position.
Le Hardy Rapids, a shaded area 2 miles farther south, is an ideal spot for a stroll along the river. This is a prime route for cutthroat trout in the early summer on their way to spawn. It is also popular with the shy harlequin ducks and bald eagles. The scary side of the equation is that this innocent-looking stretch of water flows across a fault in the earth. Some geologists believe that this will be the spot where the next major eruption will occur and that it will be as large as, or larger than, the eruption that created the Yellowstone caldera 600,000 years ago. Their guess: The next explosion will likely occur in the next 100,000 years. In the near term, however, a sluggish lava flow is much more likely than a catastrophic explosion.
The road across the Yellowstone River at Fishing Bridge was once the only eastern exit in the park, the route leading over Sylvan Pass to Cody, Wyoming. The bridge, which was built in 1937, spans the Yellowstone River as it exits Yellowstone Lake and is another prime spawning area for native trout. As a consequence, it became so popular that as many as 50,000 fishermen would beat the water into froth every year. To protect the trout, fishing was banned in the 1960s, but the bridge remains a great vantage point from which to watch them as they head upstream. It's also an excellent spot for observing the white pelicans and Canada geese that inhabit the area.
The Fishing Bridge Visitor Center (tel. 307/242-2450), which is open daily from 8am to 7pm, has an excellent wildlife display. The nearby Yellowstone Park General Store sells provisions as well as liquor. The Fishing Bridge RV Park is restricted to hard-sided vehicles only because this is a prime grizzly habitat. You'll find an excellent hiking trail, Elephant Back Loop Trail, leading off the short strip of highway between Fishing Village and the Lake Village area. The 2-mile loop leads to an overlook with panoramic views of Yellowstone Lake and its islands, the Absaroka Range, and Pelican Valley to the east. Instead of taking the entire loop around to the overlook, you can shorten the hike a half-mile by taking the left fork approximately 1 mile from the trail head and doubling back after you get to the overlook.
Photo Tip -- The Hayden Valley offers excellent opportunities to photograph bison. They are less harassed by tourists here and less confined.
