Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The whole relatively level area north of the road is called the Solfatara Plateau, where sulfur
deposits, acid soil, and hot sulfurous steam abound.
4.9/6.7 Cygnet Lakes Trailhead to the south. The lakes and their surrounding meadows
are reached in about 4 miles (6.5 km); an unmaintained trail continues across the flat Central
Plateau. On the trailhead sign-in box, there's a warning: Bear Frequenting Area!
Canyon Junction to Norris Junction
As you top the hill going west, Mt. Holmes and neighboring mountains, over 13 miles (21
km) away, come into view.
The road turns northwest and descends Blanding Hill, named for the foreman of the first
road crew here in 1885. Until the road was realigned in 1957, this was a notoriously steep
place and was the first part of the road to become impassible in early winter. It's steep because
this is the very edge of the 110,000-year-old Solfatara Plateau rhyolite lava flow.
7.9/3.7 Just west of the Gibbon River crossing is a parking area for Virginia Meadows fish-
ing access and for the Little Gibbon Falls and Wolf Lake Trailheads.
Cross the road and walk a few yards toward the river to find Little Gibbon Falls Trail,
which is not marked at the roadside. A hike of about 1 mile (1.6 km) through Virginia Mead-
ows and up a small hill brings you to gentle, 25-foot (7.6 m) Little Gibbon Falls.
Much of the remaining 2.5 miles (about 4 km) to Wolf Lake is not well maintained. North
of here is one of the park's large mountainous areas with no roads or trails, which includes the
Wash-burn Range and its foothills.
The name Gibbon in the park comes neither from the ape nor from the famous English
historian, but rather from Gen. John Gibbon. The general led a group of soldiers through Yel-
lowstone in 1872. They ran out of provisions entirely and were subsisting on roots, squirrels,
and blue jays when they encountered the Hayden Survey, who provided them with flour and
sugar.
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