Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Similar sedimentary rocks underlie Abiathar Peak, but they are difficult to see from the
highway. All of these rocks are practically undeformed and are still lying in nice horizontal
layers, a phenomenon sometimes called layer-cake geology.
Early in the season, you can see dozens of small waterfalls catapulting of Barronette Peak.
7.5/21.1
Soda Butte Creek picnic area, with some shade.
7.8/20.8
North end of
Ice Box Canyon.
This steep canyon is so situated that the sun never
penetrates to the bottom; in earlier years, ice remained on the east wall well into summer.
There's no good vantage point for seeing to the bottom of the canyon.
The rock exposed on the west side of the road (opposite the canyon) consists of Absaroka
volcanic materials brought here roughly 50 million years ago in a mudflow of mixed rock and
water called a lahar. Since this flow is near the Lamar Valley, geologists cannot resist calling
this one the “Lamar lahar.”
8.3/20.3
South end of Ice Box Canyon.
8.8/19.8 Thunderer Trailhead.
This steep trail crosses a pass about 1,000 feet (300 m) be-
low the summit of The Thunderer, the mountain directly to the east here. The trail provides a
route between The Thunderer and Abiathar Peak to reach the backcountry Cache Creek Trail.
Named for its supposed tendency to attract thunderstorms, this mountain saw the death
of a lone hiker who fell from the summit in 1985.
9.5/19.1
Pebble Creek Trailhead, with a small parking area. This is a way to join the Pebble
Creek Trail without passing through the campground.
9.7/18.9
Crossing of Pebble Creek and side road to
Pebble Creek Campground,
one of
the seven Yellowstone campgrounds that do not take reservations. This campground has more
than 30 sites with chemical toilets and no showers.
For a pleasant short hike to see an interesting geologic outcrop, park at the upstream
end of the campground and walk a few hundred yards (meters) along the start of the
Pebble
Creek Trail.
Layers and layers of limestone about 350 million years old are exposed in cliffs
in a lovely canyon cut by the creek. This limestone was laid down at the bottom of a vast sea,
and looking closely at the rock reveals bits of tiny marine organisms, fossil
crinoids.
The trail
