Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Washburn Hot Springs'
steam can usually be seen rising from below, as can that from two
other hydrothermal areas.
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River
is far wall is in the middle distance.
To the east are tree-covered
Mirror Plateau
and the distant
Absaroka Range.
To the south, beyond a nearby clump of live and dead trees, is a glimpse of
Hayden Valley.
On the clearest days you can make out the peaks of the
Tetons
75 miles away, and, though
Yellowstone Lake is out of sight, you can see part of Mt. Sheridan south of the lake.
Only an unmaintained trail leads from here to
Washburn Hot Springs,
which cluster on
both sides of Sulphur Creek before the creek empties into the canyon of the Yellowstone. The
springs can be reached from a maintained trail that descends sharply from the top of Mount
Washburn down its east flank, or from the Glacial Boulder near Canyon Village.
15.9/2.4
Dunraven Road picnic area on the west.
17.0/1.3
Cascade Lake picnic area, where you may join the Cascade Lake Trail at
the picnic area's south end.
17.5/0.8
Park for the
Cascade Lake Trail,
which goes 4.4 miles (7 km) round trip to
the lake. It's a pleasant, nearly level walk through meadows rampant with wildflowers and a
mixed green and burned forest. Another trail branches off for a much more difficult hike to
Observation Peak.
Cascade Lake
is a popular catch-and-release fishing lake for cutthroat trout and
grayling. It's surrounded by grass and willows, and beaver have made their lodges here. Bison,
moose, and grizzly bears are sometimes seen. This lake is the source of Cascade Creek, which
falls over Crystal Falls into the Yellowstone between the Upper and Lower Falls.
18.3/0.0
Canyon Junction. Just to the east are Canyon Village and the end of the one-way
loop road along the canyon rim. See
pages 184-86
for sights along North Rim Drive. Canyon's
Junction is Fishing Bridge Junction; west is Norris Junction; north are Dunraven Pass, Tower
Fall, and Tower-Roosevelt Junction.
NOTE: Construction on the Chittenden Road to Tower Junction segment may necessitate
nighttime or total closure in 2013 and beyond. Check with Yellowstone authorities for up-to-
date information.
