Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
2.0/3.3 Sliding Hill
is an old name for the slope to the west, where keeping the road free after
landslides has been a problem since the park was new. As recently as December 1999, a slide
on the east side about 6 feet (2 m) deep and 40 feet long (12 m) closed the road for several
days.
The river carries away the sediment as fast as it comes down, but in doing so, continually
cuts away its own banks and often undercuts the road as well, especially during the spring
runoff. A small lake (appropriately called Slide Lake) perches above this point; its seepage
must contribute to the landslides.
High above you is an area that bighorn sheep use for lambing. The Park Service sometimes
posts “Sheep management—area closed” signs to ensure that humans do not disturb the
sheep.
2.2/2.9
Sign indicates that at this spot you are very close to halfway between the equator
and the North Pole, at the 45th parallel of latitude.
2.8/2.5
As the Gardner Canyon widens out, you come to a meadow where elk like to graze.
Superintendent Norris started a garden here in 1879; later gardeners were the U.S. Cavalry
and a Chinese man named Sam Wo. Park employees still call this land the Chinese Garden.
Bighorn rams pose on the cliffs in Gardner Canyon.
3.0/2.3
Bridge over the Gardner River.
(4)
Forty-Fifth Parallel picnic area to the west.
Parking area and trail to
Boiling River
on the east, one of two places near
park roads where regulations allow bathing in a river warmed by hot springs. Bathing directly
in any hot spring is dangerous and is not allowed in the park at all. Boiling River is not at all
suitable for very young children.
