Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
coyotes biting humans in recent years after they were fed human food.
Special Caution:
Do
not approach or feed any animals in the park.
While walking in front of the visitor center, you'll see three fenced holes in the ground that
are much too wide and deep to be ground squirrel burrows. These are collapse features, where
water has flowed through the travertine, weakened it, and dissolved it away until the ground
above has caved in.
McCartney Cave
The hole, or collapse feature, farthest to the left as you look from the visitor center's front
porch has historically been called McCartney Cave. In 1877, hotel and bathhouse propri-
etor James McCartney reportedly hid in this hole from Nez Perce for three days and later
probably charged tourists to go down a ladder to its bottom. Here's how an 1898 guide to
Yellowstone described the experience of entering the cave:
About midway between the hotel and officers' quarters, surrounded by an iron railing, is McCart-
ney Cave. The opening is about four feet in diameter, rather oblong in shape. By means of a ladder
one can descend vertically some thirty feet, thence twenty feet on an incline to the bottom of the
main chamber. The venturesome may, by means of a rope and light, continue explorations 100
feet further. Far beneath, in a subterranean chamber, water can be distinctly heard by the rope-
supported explorer; but the hot vapors and gases constantly arising, stimulate an earnest desire
to ascend to the surface….
In the winter of 1881, there was a heavy fall of snow which drifted over many of the openings
in the plateau. The following spring Mr. McCartney noticed a large pair of antlers protruding,
apparently, from the ground; investigating, he discovered that an unfortunate elk had broken
through the crust of snow, and falling into the cave, had died, suspended by his horns, in the
opening.
Hiking and biking around Mammoth
In Mammoth you can take a historic walk, the Lower Terrace walk (both described below), or
other short trails for hiking or biking.
Behind and to the north of the hotel is the start of the
Old Gardiner Road
or High Road
(about 4 mi / 6 km long), which cars can only travel from south to north (from Mammoth
to Gardiner). You can bicycle either way, but you'll avoid the long uphill grade if you start at
Mammoth.
