Yellowstone & Grand Teton Travel Guide
Yellowstone National Park - Yellowstone Lake: Lake Village, Bridge Bay, Fishing Bridgeby Joseph A. Sprince - Photography by Gerald B. Allen
The Yellowstone & Grand Teton Travel Guide is a resource for those planning to tour Yellowstone National Park and/or Grand Teton National Park. The adjacent national parks are typically visited at the same time and offer very different experiences. Yellowstone offers the world's largest concentration of thermal features such as geysers and hot pools. Grand Teton features one of the world's most spectacular mountain ranges. Both parks offer outstanding opportunities to view wildlife. Using the Interactive MapPlace your mouse pointer on any KEY item or place name on the map. A brief description will appear. Click on the box for a link to detailed information. For easiest use, scroll map to top. Detailed Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Park Map in separate window. 
Lake Village, Bridge Bay, Fishing BridgeLake Village, Bridge Bay, Fishing Bridge are located on the north side of Yellowstone Lake. It is the busiest area of the park in terms of campgrounds, motels and lodges, stores, and other traveler services. This convenient but busy area is roughly equidistant to the Old Faithful area and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The lake is often considered the "jewel" of Yellowstone National Park. The beautiful lake with its deep-blue waters is the largest natural freshwater lake in the United States above 7,000 feet and one of the largest such lakes in the world. The lake is roughly 20 miles long and 14 miles across with a depth over 300 feet in the West Thumb area. Fishing and boating are popular on the lake. You can launch your own boat at the marina or rent a boat. Guided boat tours and fishing trips are also available. The lake has the largest population of wild cutthroat trout in North America. However much larger lake trout, a non-native species, was illegally introduced to Yellowstone Lake and threatens the native cutthroat trout. Unfortunately Whirling disease is also present in the area. You need a Yellowstone National Park permit for both fishing and boating. See Fishing in Yellowstone (NPS). 
The road from Fishing Bridge north to Canyon Village follows the Yellowstone River through Hayden Valley. Hayden and also Pelican Valley a few miles east of Fishing Bridge are considered some of the best habitat in the lower 48 states for grizzly bears, bison, elk, and other wildlife species. A few miles north of Fishing Bridge is the thermal area known as Mud Volcano and Sulphur Cauldron, a seething area of bubbling mud pots (photo below), fumaroles, geysers, and hot pools. The area is very dynamic with new features appearing, old ones becoming active or inactive, etc. The Black Dragon's Caldron exploded in 1948, uprooting trees and covering the nearby forest with mud. Mud Volcano's most dramatic feature, the hug, seething mud pot known as "Gumper" is accessible only by ranger-led tours. The are good hiking trails in the area, ranging from one to 7 miles. A six mile roundtrip trail penetrates the wildlife-rich Pelican Valley. It does not open until July 4th due to grizzly activity, and group hiking is suggested here. The easy Natural Bridge trail accesses a 51 foot natural bridge along Bridge Breek. A link to the complete list is provided below. 
Helpful links
Services in areaFood and Lodging at Lake Village, Bridge Bay, Fishing Bridge
Camping at Lake Village, Bridge Bay, Fishing Bridge
Nearest Visitor CenterThe Fishing Bridge Museum and Visitor Center is located one mile off the Grand Loop Road on the East Entrance Road and is open late May to late September. The museum features a collection of taxidermied birds and animals. Also, an information center and Yellowstone Association bookstore. There are also ranger stations at Lake Village and Bridge Bay which issue permits and offer information. Other services in areaFood services, medical clinic, general stores, gift shops, gas station, post office, and boat rentals and fishing charters. Note: Some of the links in this guide are to publications in PDF format. The PDF's can only be viewed or printed using Adobe Acrobat Reader (available free, online). Yellowstone National Park Guide Index
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Books
Frommer's Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks
by Eric Peterson
All the up-to-date practical information and candid insider advice you need to have the perfect park vacation. 
Hiking Yellowstone National Park
by Bill Schneider
This thoroughly revised and updated guide features 109 hikes in Yellowstone National Park. Readers will find detailed maps, field-checked information on all of the trails, elevation charts, difficulty ratings, and ratings and information on backcountry camping. Photography
Oxbow Bend View by Gerald Allen
Grand Teton's famed vista at sunrise. Excellent large format.
Prince of Wales Hotel by Gerald Allen
Waterton National Park, Alberta, Canada. Excellent large format. Buy This Print! Related Pages
The three great national parks of the northern Rockies are Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Glacier. These parks highlight the northern Rockies.
Location
Yellowstone National Park is located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, directly north of Grand Teton National Park. Route US-191 runs through the park, about 250 miles north of Interstate-80, as does US-89, about 75 miles south of Interstate-94. Grand Teton National Park is located in northwest Wyoming, directly south of Yellowstone National Park. Route US-191 runs through the park, about 210 miles north of Interstate-80. Local Weather
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