Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Rustic Falls draws water from higher creeks and its own Glen Creek.
4.6/16.4
Rustic Falls. A sign tells about the difficulties of building the Golden Gate road,
which was designed by Lt. Daniel Kingman of the Corps of Engineers in the 1880s. Incident-
ally, Kingman also conceived of the figure eight pattern for the Grand Loop Road.
Rustic Falls
on Glen Creek is only 47 feet high (14 m) but worth a stop, especially early in
summer when the water level is high.
The canyon wall across Glen Creek is part of
Bunsen Peak,
named for the German phys-
icist, chemist, and inventor, Robert Wilhelm Eberhard von Bunsen. Bunsen studied and the-
orized about the geysers of Iceland, as well as lending his name to the Bunsen burner used
in laboratories. Bunsen Peak is a remnant of the 50-million-year-old Absaroka volcanics and
is probably a volcanic neck, or feeder conduit, which survived because it was resistant to
erosion.
4.8/16.2 Swan Lake Flat
opens out before you as you exit Golden Gate canyon. The area
through which the Gardner River meanders was historically called Gardners Hole—“hole”
was the trappers' name for a wide valley. The Gardner River flows to the southeast behind the
low hills west of Swan Lake, then makes a sharp turn to the northeast, and cuts through deep
Sheepeater Canyon to join the Yellowstone River near Gardiner.
Just as you enter Swan Lake Flat is a large parking area for the
Bunsen Peak, Osprey
Falls, Glen Creek,
and
Howard Eaton Trails.
