The Extended Tour

Closest entrance: West Yellowstone (west entrance)

Distances: 14 miles from West Yellowstone to Madison; 14 miles from Madison to Norris

Because most visitors to Yellowstone enter at the west entrance, I'll use that as a jumping-off point to begin an extended tour of the park. As you travel the 14 miles from the gate to Madison Junction, you will find the Two Ribbons Trail, which offers an opportunity to walk through and inspect the effects of the 1988 fire. The trail head is 3 miles east of the West Yellowstone entrance at a well-marked turnout. Along this 3/4-mile loop trail, you'll see a mosaic of blackened, singed, and unburned timber -- charred snags and green trees side by side among boulders shattered by the heat. A testament to the regenerative effects of fire, millions of bright green saplings have emerged from the soil that surrounds the scraggly, deformed branches and piles of rock.

Park maps don't identify all the observation points and side roads in the area, so now is the time to begin forming the habit of driving off the beaten path, even when you might not know where you're going. Keep a sharp eye peeled for the poorly marked riverside turnout on the Madison River side of the road; it's a paved road on the north side of the highway about 6 miles from the entrance. This back road takes you along a river, removed from most traffic, and has a number of turnouts perfectly situated to look for resident swans, enjoy a picnic, or test your fly-fishing ability.

As you continue toward Madison Junction, you'll see more vivid evidence of the 1988 fire and, odds are, a herd of bison that frequents the area during summer months. As frightening as the fire was, it had its good points: There is evidence that the 1988 fire burned hotter here because the old lodgepole pines had been infected by beetles, decimating the trees long before the fires blazed. The good news is that the fire killed the beetles and re-mineralized the soil. When temperatures exceeded 500°F (260°C), pine seeds were released from fire-adapted pinecones, quickening the rebirth cycle. The shag-like carpet of tiny trees emerging from the soil is evidence that the forest is recovering quickly.

The 1/2-mile round-trip Harlequin Lake Trail, located 1 1/2 miles west of the Madison campground on the West Entrance Road, offers an excellent, easy opportunity to explore the area. It winds through the burned forest to a small lake populated by various types of waterfowl. Despite the lake's moniker, sightings of the rare harlequin ducks are uncommon.

An alternative hike, one of the best in the area, is up the Purple Mountain Trail, which begins 1/4 mile north of the Madison Junction on the Norris Road. This hike requires more physical exertion because it winds 6 miles (round-trip) through a burned forest to the top of a large hill, with an elevation gain of about 1,500 feet.

Madison Junction is a focal point of the most widely known Yellowstone myth; it is told that in September 1870, Cornelius Hedges and a group of explorers agreed that the land should be protected from those who would exploit its resources, and they began making plans to promote the creation of a national park. In reality, this conversation never happened. Madison Junction is also the confluence of the Gibbon and Firehole rivers, two famous trout streams that meet to form the Madison River, one of three that join to form the Missouri.

The Madison Campground, one of the largest and most popular in the park, is situated at the junction, with hiking trails and sites in view of the river. If you're planning a stay here, it's wise to arrive early, or you might be disappointed.

This is where you enter the northern loop toward Norris Junction, along a winding 14-mile section of road that parallels the Gibbon River. The river was named for Gen. John Gibbon, who explored here in 1872 but whose main, dubious claims to fame were as the cavalry leader who buried Custer's army and who chased Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce Indians from the park as they attempted to escape to Canada.

At 84-foot Gibbon Falls, you'll see water bursting out of the edge of a caldera in a rocky canyon, the walls of which were hidden from view for several hundred years until being exposed by the fire of 1988. There's a delightful picnic area just below the falls on an open plateau overlooking the Gibbon River.

Before arriving at Norris Junction, you'll discover the Artist Paint Pot Trail in Gibbon Meadows, 4 1/2 miles south of the Norris Junction, an interesting, worthwhile, and easy 1/2-mile stroll that winds through a lodgepole-pine forest to a gurgling mud pot at the top of a hill, passing some small geysers, hot pools, and steam vents along the way.

Across the road from the trail head is Elk Park, where you have a good chance of seeing a large herd of the majestic ungulates.