Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ers. Just past here is a small beach, which offers a fine place for a snack overlooking the
lake.
Return to the junction and continue straight into the geyser basin for around 0.5 miles.
The surrounding meadows are fine places to spot moose and other animals at dusk.
Shoshone Geyser Basin
is home to over 80 thermal features and was visited in 1839
by trapper Osborne Russell. The main ones include
Little Great Geyser
, the
Minute
Man group
,
Little Bulger
and the
Orion group
further south; its
Union Geyser
used to
erupt to heights of 100ft. T Scott Bryan's encyclopedic
The Geysers of Yellowstone
details
40 of the basin's geysers, none of which are marked on site.
Back at the North Shoshone Trail junction, head northeast along the trail through forest
to the backcountry site along the northern shore that you've reserved. Site 8R5 appears
after five minutes, while 8R3 and 8R2 are a further hour away. Just before reaching 8R3
you pass an unmarked trail that leads to a ranger patrol cabin.
DAY 2: 8R2/8R3 TO DELACY TRAILHEAD
4 HOURS, 7.6 MILES, 200FT ASCENT
From sites 8R3 and 8R2 it's another hour's walk through undulating forest to the northern
shoreline. The trail parallels the lovely lake shore for half an hour before dipping back in-
to forest to pass site 8S3. Five minutes further on a lovely little spit offers a superb place
to stop and soak up the silence.
Ten minutes later the trail hits site 8S2 and the northern point of the lake as the beach
curves to the right in front of large meadows. Follow the beach, looking for the occasional
orange metal markers.
Fifteen minutes later the trail cuts inland to join a trail junction at the northeastern point
of the lake. From here it's 3 miles along the lily ponds and meadows of
DeLacy Creek
to
the end of the hike, about 75 minutes away. The right-hand branch leads 4.2 miles to
Dogshead Channel and Lewis Lake.
ALTERNATIVE ROUTES: DELACY CREEK LOOP & DOGSHEAD
LOOP
3 & 4 DAYS, 27 & 32 MILES, ELEVATION CHANGE NEGLIGIBLE
There are plenty of other route options, including the 27-mile, three-day lollipop loop of
the lake from DeLacy Creek Trailhead or the 32-mile loop of the lake from Dogshead
Trailhead near Lewis Lake. You could even do a long day 18-mile return day hike from
Lone Star Geyser into the Shoshone Geyser Basin. Thirteen exclusively boat-in sites
along both the north and south shores offer those with floating transportation the option of
spending weeks here.
