Yellowstone National Park - Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks - page 143

the road for the 3-mile biking trip to Natural Bridge ( Click here ) . An alternative hiking
trail leads to the bridge from Bridge Bay marina.
Other nice lakeshore spots include Sand Point picnic area, from where trails lead
400yd down to a lagoon and black volcanic glass beach, and Pumice Point , a beach of
dark-black sand. There are more sand bars and lagoons to explore, 2 miles, 4.5 miles and
6.5 miles further towards West Thumb.
If you fancy getting on the water, try the one-hour sightseeing cruises (adult/child $5/
9) from Bridge Bay marina that travel to Stevenson Island and the wreck of the steamship
SS Waters (1905). They operate at least five times daily from mid-June to mid-September
and rangers accompany the first three trips of the day.
WEST THUMB GEYSER BASIN
Named for its location in the hand-shaped Yellowstone Lake, West Thumb is a small vol-
canic caldera spawned some 150,000 years ago inside the much larger Yellowstone cal-
dera. Yellowstone Lake filled the crater, creating West Thumb Bay, a circular inlet on the
lake's west end. The geyser basin still pours more than 3000 gallons of hot water into the
lake daily.
Although West Thumb is not one of Yellowstone's prime thermal sites, its 0.5-mile
shoreline boardwalk loop (with a shorter inner loop) passes through more than a dozen
geothermal features. Identify its underwater features by looking for slick spots or a slight
bulge in the water. Smaller thermal areas surrounding West Thumb include the roadside
Pumice Point and Potts Hot Spring Basin.
At famous Fishing Cone Offline map , anglers once used the infamous 'hook 'n' cook'
method to prepare their catch, casting fish into the boiling water. Fishing is now prohib-
ited. Fluctuating lake levels in spring and early summer sometimes submerge the cone and
Lakeshore Geyser.
Abyss Pool is one of the park's deepest springs. Nearby Black Pool is one of the pretti-
est, though it's now completely clear after years of supporting black thermophiles.
Thumb Paint Pots are struggling to regain the energy that once catapulted boiling mud
25ft into the air.
The West Thumb Information Station ( 9am-5pm late May-late Sep) , dating from
1925, serves as a summer bookstore and winter warming hut. Rangers lead a 1½-hour
'Hot Water Wilderness' walk daily at 10:30am and 4pm from here between early June and
August. Other programs rotate, so see the park newspaper for details.
If you have a spare hour, the 2-mile round-trip Lake Overlook Trail is a good family
hike that starts from the south side of the West Thumb parking lot. The interesting loop
winds past forest, elk, open grassland and even some thermal features, finally climbing