Our drive from Helena, Montana to Yellowstone National Park was very enjoyable. It was a nice day for a drive.
The Albright Visitor Center at Yellowstone National Park is very different from most other Visitor Centers. It is an older stone building with an interesting old west interior.
It was a short uphill walk to Mammoth Terraces Hot Spring from the Visitor Center. From Mammoth Terraces, you can see the village below and the mountains in the distance. The trail through the hot springs is a wooden boardwalk.
There was a variety of pools, terraces, springs, and streams. The array of colors was vast. Mammoth Terraces Hot Springs jumped out of the surrounding area in a surprising burst of colors, aromas, and scenes.
There was one place where a terrace had many short tiers. There were several different chemicals in the water that added an array of colors to the terrace. Just below the terrace, there was a wide stream flowing down the hill. You could see the various colored sediments flowing in the water.
The hot springs are both active and destructive. In some places, you could see evidence that the springs had moved away. There were large deposits of minerals and not much vegetation. Even so, new vegetation was growing in the abandoned space. In other areas, trees had been captured by the deposits of the springs and had been filled with minerals from the water.
In spite of the temperature of the water, the odors, and the chemicals in the water, birds and plant life were abounding at Mammoth Terraces Hot Spring.
From Mammoth Terraces, we headed toward Undine Falls. On the way , we stopped at a high bridge over the Gibbon River. From the bridge, we had a great view of the Mammoth Terrace, and our first view of the Gibbon River.
Undine Falls has many levels. It is a small creek that drops into a short waterfall. It then widens over a couple of drops . Then it narrows to a white water creek flowing down the rest of the way to the bottom.
Here you can see the setting around Undine Falls.
There are so many places to stop along the roads of Yellowstone, you could spend all of your time just looking at mountains and flowers. Here are some sights from our drive to the Petrified Tree.
The Petrified Tree at Yellowstone is unique. It is a large, very tall stump of a single tree. It is also surrounded by lots of colorful flowers.
There are many tall waterfalls in Yellowstone. When you first see Tower Creek, it is nice, but does not attract a lot of attention. Until you see Tower Falls. At 132 feet, Tower Falls is not the largest waterfall in Yellowstone, but its setting still makes it a great place to visit.
Our drive to the Chittenden Lodge included even more gorgeous mountain views.
This is Chittenden Lodge where we will be staying during our visit to Yellowstone National Park.
