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Bozeman to Yellowstone

This Drive Comes From...

National Geographic Driving Guide: The Rockies

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Looping through the heart of Yellowstone National Park, this magnificent drive follows some of the West’s most famous trout-fishing rivers through spectacular country—winding chasms, deep forests, dazzling wildflower meadows, and spacious sagebrush valleys sprawling at the foot of dramatic mountain ranges. The route also has its share of museums, historic sites, and such pleasant diversions as hot springs pools and strange music machines designed to entertain boozy miners.

The route starts in Bozeman with a visit to one of Montana’s finest museums, then curves around the base of the Gallatin and Bridger Ranges to Livingston, where it picks up the Yellowstone River and heads south through Paradise Valley to the park. Within the park, it takes in geyser basins, hot springs, and several thundering waterfalls, and offers opportunities to see elk, pronghorn, deer, moose, and—possibly—grizzly bears. Exiting the park, the drive follows the Madison River through the site of a major earthquake, then turns north to Ennis, where there’s a side trip to the 1860s mining towns of Virginia City and Nevada City. It ends in the Three Forks area, where you can tour Lewis and Clark Caverns and view the headwaters of the Missouri River. CONTINUED

- Bozeman
- Gallatin Petrified Forest
- Yellowstone National Park
- West Yellowstone
- Hebgen Lake
- Earthquake Lake
- Virginia City
- Norris
- Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park
- Three Forks

(Continued From Top)

Bozeman

Voss Inn, South Wilson Historic District, Bozeman

Photograph © Michael Lewis

John Bozeman’s famous cutoff from the Oregon Trail to the Montana gold fields led through the expansive valley where Bozeman (Chamber of Commerce +1 406 586 5421) now stands amid three mountain ranges. Several historic districts reflect the prosperity that came with the arrival of the railroad and university in the 1880s and ’90s. Enjoy Bozeman’s vigorous downtown area, then wander past Victorian houses in the South Willson Historic District. The old neighborhood leads to the university campus and the Museum of the Rockies (600 W. Kagy Blvd. +1 406 994 2251. Adm. fee), noted for its planetarium, dinosaur exhibits, Native American artifact displays, and lovingly restored buggies, wagons, early autos, and other frontier relics. Perhaps the most interesting exhibit interprets the geology and evolution of life in the region. Outdoors, visit the Tinsley Homestead (summer only) and its 1889 log house.
Outside town, along US 191, soak at Bozeman Hot Springs (8 miles [12.9 kilometers] W. +1 406 586 6492. Adm. fee) and dawdle at the 1927 Gallatin Gateway Inn (14 miles [22.5 kilometers] SW. +1 406 763 4672), an elegant railway hotel built on a major route into Yellowstone.
From Livingston, head south on US 89 through Paradise Valley—a roomy place of grass and rumpled hills between the Gallatin and Absaroka (ab-sore-kuh) Ranges. It’s a dreamy stretch of road, with a world-class trout-fishing river, the Yellowstone, sweeping along the foot of the grand Absarokas. About 12 miles [19.3 kilometers] south of town, dip your toes and watch the boats glide past Mallards Rest fishing access site, a shady bench of sand and gravel with views of the glaciated Absaroka-Beartooth high country.
About 5 miles [8 kilometers] south of Mallards Rest, cross the Yellowstone River and pick up Route 540, which offers good views o f the Gallatin Range and avoids the rush of traffic on US 89. From Pray take the turnoff to Chico Hot Springs (800 HOT WADA. Adm. fee), one of Montana’s best commercial soaking pools set in a rustic 1900 lodge with a famous saloon and excellent restaurant to boot.

Gallatin Petrified Forest
Soon, the road rejoins US 89. High in the hills to the west lies the Gallatin Petrified Forest (Follow Tom Miner Rd. to trailhead. +1 406 848 7375), where a half-mile [0.8-kilometer] interpretive trail leads through the petrified remains of forests that grew here 35 to 55 million years ago. You can take home a small sample, but first pick up a free permit at the Gallatin National Forest office in Livingston (5242 US 89S).

Rockies' bison

Photograph © Michael Lewis

Follow the Yellowstone through Yankee Jim Canyon, a narrow gorge cut through Precambrian metamorphic rock. Twice a year, the largest wildlife migration in the lower 48 states takes place along the river between the canyon and Gardiner. Thousands of elk, deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, and bison graze the slopes as they travel between the park and their winter feeding grounds.

Yellowstone National Park

Minerva Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs

Photograph © Michael Lewis

From Gardiner, enter Yellowstone National Park (Headquarters +1 307 344 7381. Adm. fee) through the Theodore Roosevelt Entrance Arch, built in 1903 and dedicated by Roosevelt himself. Best known for its steaming geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and other geo-thermal curiosities, the park takes in an immense, though relatively gentle terrain of vast rolling forests interrupted by broad meadows and spacious valleys teeming with bison, elk, moose, and deer. Its web of achingly beautiful rivers and creeks stream out in all directions—thundering over waterfalls, cutting deep canyons and intimate gorges, filling large lakes, and meandering across open grassy flats.
This serene sanctuary for wolves, bears, bighorn sheep, and trumpeter swans belies a violent geologic past. Three times in the last 2 million years (most recently 600,000 years ago), volcanic explosions rocked Yellowstone—literally blowing off its lid. The latest explosion resulted in the collapse of the central portion of the park and the formation of a basin, or caldera, 28 by 47 miles [45.1 by 75.6 kilometers].
In Mammoth Hot Springs drop by the Albright Visitor Center, housed in one of several stone buildings erected in 1909 as Army officers’ quarters. Exhibits depict the lives of Yellowstone’s soldiers, who administered the park from 1886, as well as the lives of early park rangers, who took over in 1916. Here, too, hang some treasures: watercolor sketches of geyser basins and waterfalls by Thomas Moran and early photographs by William Henry Jackson.

Stagecoach at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, Yellowstone National Park

Photograph © Michael Lewis

Nearby, poke your head into the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel (+1 307 344 7901) lobby, built in the ’30s, then head for Mammoth Hot Springs proper—the creamy brow of steaming rock beyond the buildings. Upper Terrace Drive curves among the large travertine terraces and mounds and passes dead limber pines more than 500 years old. For a close-up look at active springs trickling over stair-stepping terraces, follow the nature trail through the Main Terrace area, where hot water deposits some of the two tons of travertine accumulated here daily.
Double back to the hotel and turn right on the Tower-Roosevelt road, part of the Grand Loop Road. Soon you’ll come to Undine Falls, a lovely twin falls that drops 60 feet [18.3 meters], then 50 feet [15.2 meters] through a narrow gorge.
Even if you’re not caught in an endless column of RVs, get off the main drag and follow Blacktail Plateau Drive through rolling sagebrush hills and evergreen forests—good country for spotting pronghorn, elk, and deer. Shortly after rejoining the main road, take the right-hand turnoff for Petrified Tree, one of many redwoods in the region buried alive by volcanic ash 50 million years ago and turned to stone.
Rustic Roosevelt Lodge (+1 307 344 7311) was built in 1920 and named for Teddy Roosevelt, who camped near here during his 1903 junket to dedicate his namesake entrance arch. Near the ranger station, have a look at the Tower Soldier Station, one of three such Army outposts that survive. On the way to Canyon Village, stop to stretch your legs at Tower Fall, where a short trail leads to an overlook above a 132-foot [40.2-kilometer] cascade spilling from a cluster of coarse volcanic towers.
Beyond the falls, the road climbs above a broad valley drained by Antelope Creek—prime grizzly habitat and one of the best roadside locations in the park to spot the gre at bears. After scoping the valley for grizzlies, drive to the Mount Washburn parking area and consider a walk to the top of this extinct volcano. The moderate 3-mile [4.8-kilometer] hike leads through spectacular subalpine meadows where bighorn sheep often munch on wildflowers. It ends at a fire lookout with a 50- to 100-mile [80.5- to 160.9-kilometer] panoramic view.
As the road continues its climb toward Dunraven Pass, it’s hard to miss the effects of the great Wolf Lake Fire that burned through here in 1988. Many of the large mammals that died during that amazing season were killed among the cliffs of this rugged area, trapped by the swift fires.
A few miles beyond the pass, stop at the Washburn Hot Springs Overlook for a view of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone—a ragged trench cut through the forests of central Yellowstone. Here, too, you get a feel for the immense size of the Yellowstone Caldera, which stretches south 35 miles [56.3 kilometers] from the slopes of Mount Washburn to the Red Mountains.

At Canyon Village follow the North Rim Road along the edge of the canyon to Inspiration Point. The canyon, with its vivid smears of color, measures 1,200 feet [365.8 meters] at its deepest and up to 4,000 feet [1,219.2 meters] across and 20 miles [32.2 kilometers] long. Stop at Grandview Point to see the canyon’s breadth and at Lookout Point for the classic north rim view of 308-foot [93.9-meter] Lower Falls—a grand, thundering column of foam, one of the most impressive cascades in the Rockies. Another spur road leads to the brink of Upper Falls, which drops 109 feet [33.2 meters]. A short walk from the parking area leads to yet another cascade: 129-foot [39.3-meter] Crystal Falls. A third spur road, to Artist Point, leads over Chittenden Bridge and hugs the south rim. Trails here lead to close-up views of both falls, and Artist Point offers perhaps the most famous vista of the canyon and Lower Falls.

Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park

Photograph © Michael Lewis

Double back to Canyon Village and take the road to Norris. Along the way, a 3-mile [4.8-kilometer] side road follows the Gibbon River to Virginia Cascade, which tumbles 60 feet [18.3 meters] down cliffs. Look for moose in the willow grove above the falls. Norris Geyser Basin may be the hottest cluster of geysers in the park and the most active. For a lesson on geothermal plumbing and an educated guess on when the next geyser may erupt, drop by the sturdy Norris Museum—a 1930s log-and-stone classic built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Nearby, the Back Basin Nature Trail, a 1.5-mile [2.4-kilometer] loop, passes the highest active geyser in the world, 380-foot [115.8-meter] Steamboat Geyser.
From Norris, head southwest toward Madison. You’ll pass more springs, geysers, and paint pots as you approach Gibbon Falls, which pours over the rim of the Yellowstone Caldera and drops 84 feet [25.6 meters]. At Madison you’re just 16 miles [25.8 kilometers] from the geysers and hot springs of the Old Faithful area, so a side trip may be in order.

Sunrise on the Madison River, Yellowstone National Park

Photograph © Michael Lewis

The main route continues west along the Madison River, one of the world’s great trout streams, which flows between lava walls 1,000 feet [304.8 meters] high. Bison stump along the forested banks, elk graze riverside meadows, and snow-white trumpeter swans glide across the water. All too soon, the road leaves the park at the west exit.

West Yellowstone
A town of motels, T-shirt shops, and rubber tomahawk outlets, West Yellowstone (Chamber of Commerce +1 406 646 7701) may be the curio capital of Montana, but it’s also a very serious, highly sophisticated fly-fishing center. Even if you don’t fish, the tackle shops are worth a visit to gawk at the pricey gadgetry and bins of hand-tied flies.
For a close look at grizzly bears and gray wolves in a first-rate zoo setting, stop by the Grizzly Discovery Center (Near park entrance. +1 406 646 7001 or 800 257 2570. Adm. fee), where several wild “problem” bears amble around a landscaped 2-acre [0.8 hectare] enclosure. Exhibits cover bear biology, behavior, and habitat needs.

Hebgen Lake
From West Yellowstone, take US 191/287 north. After 8 miles [12.9 kilometers] turn west on US 287, where you skirt the shore of Hebgen Lake, a large reservoir that floods a portion of the Madison River Canyon. Many sites along the lake show the effects of the deadly 1959 earthquake measuring 7.5. Here, the quake tilted the lakebed northward, and the water lurched back and forth, flooding the road, and cracking the 1915 earthen dam. Below the dam, stop at the Cabin Creek Scarp Area to see a fault scarp left by the quake. The scarp is a meandering 16-foot [4.9-meter] embankment where the forest floor ripped apart.

Earthquake Lake

Lower Falls, Yellowstone National Park

Photograph © Michael Lewis

Soon, the road hugs the shore of Earthquake Lake, created when the quake touched off a landslide farther down the canyon. The high water drowned the trees to your left, leaving a forest of silver-gray trunks where ospreys and bald eagles roost. As you round the western end of the lake, look for Madison Slide on the opposite slope, where some 80 million tons [8,183,752.7 metric tons] of rubble gave way during the quake. The slide crashed down into the canyon, buried a campground, and killed at least 28 people. It also dammed the Madison River and surged 400 feet [121.9 meters] up the north wall. Exhibits at the Visitor Center (Gallatin National Forest +1 406 646 7369) tell more about the quake.

Virginia City

Nevada City store

Photograph © Michael Lewis

Continue north on US 287 along the most dramatic stretch of the Madison Range, which stands as an abrupt crest of glaciated peaks roughly 5,000 feet [1,524 meters] above the valley. In Ennis go west on Montana 287 to the restored 1860s gold rush towns of Virginia City and Nevada City.
Both towns lie in Alder Gulch, where Montana’s richest deposit of placer gold was discovered in 1863 by a weary group of prospectors who had been run off the Yellowstone River by Indians. Within two years, 30,000 people were making their livings off the gold. Many of Virginia City’s original buildings still stand in a cheerful, doddery line along the town’s main street. Some now serve as restaurants, bars, gift shops, and museums.

Norris
Return to Ennis and drive north to Norris for a soak at Bear Trap Hot Springs (+1 406 685 3303. Adm. fee), an amiable spot with a big pool and a tiny shack stocked with a staggering selection of premium beers. For a pleasant hike through a wilderness canyon, head east 10 miles [16.1 kilometers] on Montana 84 to Bear Trap Canyon, a 1,500-foot [457.2-meter] gorge cut through granitic rock by the frothing Madison River. A favorite white-water run and an excellent fishing hole, the canyon is part of the Lee Metcalf Wilderness.

Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park
Farther north, tour the large limestone cave system at Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park (Montana 2. +1 406 287 3541. Caverns May-Sept. only; Adm. fee). Narrow passageways connect chambers hung with beautiful formations.

Three Forks

Headwaters of the Missouri River

Photograph © Michael Lewis

Named for the spot where three major rivers join to form the Missouri, Three Forks is a ranching town at heart. Get a whiff of the leathery Old West at Three Forks Saddlery (221 S. Main St. +1 406 285 3459. Closed Sun.), known for its handmade chaps and saddles. Wander through frontier memorabilia at Headwaters Heritage Museum (Main and Cedar Sts. Mem. Day–Labor Day), and sit on the shady porch of the Sacajawea Inn (5 N. Main. +1 406 285 6515 or 800 821 7326), a restored 1910 hotel built for rail passengers headed to Yellowstone. Northeast of town, the three forks of the Missouri converge at Missouri Headwaters State Park (3 miles [4.8 kilometers] E on Rte. 205, 3 miles [4.8 kilometers] N on Montana 286. +1 406 994 4042. Adm. fee), where the Madison and Jefferson Rivers join to form the Missouri. The Gallatin kicks in just downstream. At the park you can stand on a stone promontory called Fort Rock and watch all three rivers flow toward you across the broad floor of a valley hemmed in by four separate mountain ranges. Exhibits identify landmarks and describe the activities of the Lewis and Clark party, which rested here in 1805 to hunt, to plan, and to make “mockersons.”
Before they acquired horses in the mid-1700s, Northern Plains Indians often killed bison by stampeding them over cliffs. One of their preferred sites lies southeast of Three Forks at Madison Buffalo Jump State Park (7 miles [11.3 kilometers] S of Logan on Buffalo Jump Rd. +1 406 994 4042. Adm. fee). Exhibits at the cliff’s base explain how Indians funneled bison to the precipice and how they used their carcasses for food, clothing, shelter, and tools.