Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
continues for about 12 miles (19 km) through spectacular mountain scenery to come out near
the Warm Creek picnic area.
To the northwest of the main road is
Pyramid Mountain;
out of view behind it is
Mount
Hornaday.
The latter was named for Dr. William T. Hornaday, a noted naturalist and zoo dir-
ector who helped preserve the bison from extinction a century ago.
The road passes along the edge of the broad, swampy meadow called
Round Prairie,
where Pebble Creek and Amphitheater Creek join Soda Butte Creek.
10.9/17.7 Trout Lake Trailhead.
The trail marker appears partway up the trail. A
rather steep but rewarding hike of about 1 mile (1.6 km) round trip takes you up a hillside
strewn with wildflowers to a sparkling mountain lake with playful otters and verdant mead-
ows.
Trout Lake was called Fish Lake when it was a major source of food for Cooke City resid-
ents. Some of the early residents broke the law and killed trout with charges of dynamite.
There's an abundance of trout in this deep lake, but they're not easy to catch. Remains of an
old weir or fence for catching fish are still at the lake's outlet, a remnant from the days when
fish eggs were collected here.
13.0/15.6 Soda Butte.
This landmark is worth a short stop, especially if you're entering the
park for the first time. It's the lone thermal feature in this corner of the park. Soda Butte is an
extinct hot spring cone made of travertine, the same rock that forms Mammoth Hot Springs'
terraces. Pieces of the travertine shine like marble. Although the butte has not done any cone
building during recorded history, it or its neighboring hot spring often gives of an odor of
hydrogen sulfide. Prospector A. Bart Henderson named Soda Butte in 1870. He mistakenly
thought the feature was made of sodium carbonate, or washing soda.
Take the path behind Soda Butte to see a colony of cliff swallows. The seepage of warm wa-
ter here was called Soda Butte Medicinal Springs by Superintendent Norris.
