Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In 1914, here on the Grand Loop Road, a stagecoach robber stole more than $1000 in cash
and jewelry from 165 passengers. This time (unlike after other similar incidents) the robber
was caught and served time in prison. He was Edward Trafton, a notorious horse thief and
robber.
Shoshone Lake can be reached only by hiking, riding horseback (trailhead at 4.2/15.2),
or paddling a canoe up the Lewis River from its neighbor, Lewis Lake—or on skis in winter.
Shoshone is the second largest lake in Yellowstone and sports a major geyser basin near its
western shore.
Before it was called Shoshone, this large lake bore the name Madison Lake and then the
names of several men who named it for themselves. Finally, Prof. Frank Bradley, chief geolo-
gist of the 1872 Hayden Expedition to Yellowstone, decided it should be named for the Nat-
ive American Indians who frequented it. The Shoshoni tribe—their name probably meaning
“grass house people”—lived in the area between the mountains of Wyoming and the present
state of Oregon and as far south as Nevada.
The Grand Loop Road crosses the east summit (at 8,521 ft / 2,597 m) before reaching the
next crossing of the Continental Divide.
15.3/4.1
Continental Divide (8,391 ft / 2,558 m). This is the east side of the Continental
Divide's loop. Though it's more than 100 feet (30 m) higher than Craig Pass, this point lacks a
name. Now you've left the Columbia River tributary area (see Figure 3 in “Understanding the
Continental Divide”).
About 1 mile (1.6 km) to the southwest of this point, old maps showed an unnamed lake,
later a “Two Ocean Pond.” Although old-timers claimed to have seen this lake (and to have
fished it) as early as 1915 and as late as 1938, recent maps made from aerial photos do not
show it. Was it a transient meltwater pond or a shallow lake that became a meadow? It re-
mains a mystery.
15.6/3.8
Divide picnic area (also called East Divide) on the left (north).
18.7/0.7
Near a major curve there is parking on both sides of the road for a panoramic
view of Yellowstone Lake. This spot was called
Lake View
as early as the 1890s. Between then
and now the lodgepoles grew tall but then burned, allowing us to see lake and mountains in a
180° arc once again.
Lake View Panorama
If the day is clear you can see, left to right (north to south):
West humb Bay
's northern edge in middle ground.
