Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
22.7/3.3
Short road to the northeast leads to parking for the backcountry
Pelican Valley
Trails.
Until early July, this area is closed by the park administration for bear management
(see
page 133
for more information). Make sure you consult a ranger at Fishing Bridge Visitor
Center about current grizzly bear activity in this neighborhood before using any of these
trails.
22.9/3.1
Parking for Indian Pond and for Storm Point Nature Trail to the south.
Indian
Pond
(called Squaw Lake for some years) was named in 1880 by Superintendent Norris, who
had found Native American Indian wickiups, corrals, and lodgepoles in the area. A few years
later, geologist Arnold Hague wrote that this was a favorite place for the Indians to manu-
facture implements, being near to stone quarries and to good hunting and fishing grounds.
Notice the very steep sides of Indian Pond
[GEO.17],
which, like Mary Bay, was created by a
steam explosion, this one only 3,000 years ago.
During summer, daily rangerled hikes cover the
Storm Point Nature Trail's
round-trip
route, a walk of a little more than 2 miles (3.2 km). You might see yellow-bellied marmots or
some of the local waterbirds. The circular depressions in the sandy soil are likely to be bison
wallows where the animals roll, seeking warmth in winter and protection from biting insects
in summer.
Storm Point, named for the storms out of the southwest that it intercepts.
