RHH's photos with the keyword: grand loop

As you travel from the east entrance to the south entrance of Yellowstone National Park and down the east side of the lower loop of the main road you follow the west shore of Yellowstone Lake. These photos are all taken along that section of the road. Until you come to the West Thumb geyser basin there is not much to see except the lake, though we have encountered bison and elk in the area.

This is sunset over Yellowstone Lake from the Grand Loop road between the east and south entrances.

Traveling south along the east side of the Grand Loop Rd, the main road through Yellowstone National Park, one follows the west shore of Yellowstone Lake for quite a distance. There are numerous places to pull off and photograph the lake.

Though there is not a lot of hydrothermal activity along Yellowstone Lake, at least not until one comes to the West Thumb area, there is some activity as is evident from this photo.

Taken at one of the many pull-offs along the west shore of Yellowstone Lake, this photo shows some of the beautiful scenery along the lake shore between the east and south entrances.

Traveling south on the east side of the lower main loop from the Mud Volcano area of Yellowstone, one follows the Yellowstone River down to its source in Yellowstone Lake and the junction of the loop with the east entrance road. This photo shows the Yellowstone River at Nez Perce Ford with Pelican Cone in the background. The ford is named for the Nez Perce Indians who crossed there under Chief Joseph during the Nez Perce War of 1877. The inset shows Sandhill Cranes photographed in the same area.

These Sandhill Cranes, doing their mating dances, were photographed near Nez Perce Ford in Yellowstone National Park. When there in May we saw many of these birds, apparently stopping there as the migrated north.

We are touring Yellowstone, traveling now from Madison Junction where the west entrance road meets the lower loop of the main road and heading northeast and clockwise around that lower loop. The area has a few thermal features but not many but it is an area where bison are often found, such as this cow and calf.

These two young Bison bulls were photographed in Yellowstone National Park just northeast of Madison Junction.

This Bison cow and calf were photographed along the lower loop of the main road through Yellowstone National Park, northeast of Madison Junction.

This Bison bull was photographed along the main road through Yellowstone National Park northeast of Madison Junction and south of Gibbon Falls.

The drive north from Tower Junction and Tower Falls back to Mammoth Hot Springs is beautiful but has very few of the thermal features for which Yellowstone is noted. The last time we were in Yellowstone and drove this part of the upper loop we stopped to photograph Undine Falls and hiked to Wraith Falls (see inset), a short hike from a parking area along the road.

The northeast quadrant of the upper loop of the main road through Yellowstone National Park has few thermal features but is a beautiful drive nevertheless. This is the view to the southwest and believe the snow-covered hills are the Peregrine Hills.

This lake along the northeast side of the upper loop in Yellowstone National Park actually has a small floating island, though we could not figure out where it was. It is typical of the scenery in that part of the park.

Wraith Falls lies along the northwest part of the upper loop of the main road through Yellowstone National Park and can be reached by a short hike.

Yellowstone National Park has the largest petrified forest in the world, a forest covered by volcanic ash and debris thousands of years ago and now partially uncovered by erosion. Most of it can be seen only by doing some serious hiking, but there is one tree, shown here, that is accessible by auto. A short turn off from the upper loop east side of the main road leads to this tree trunk. It is surrounded by a fence, otherwise, of course, it would soon not be there, but is a wonderful example standing about twenty feet tall and showing the wood grain and bark of a tree.

Yellowstone National Park has the largest petrified forest in the world, a forest covered by volcanic ash and debris thousands of years ago and now partially uncovered by erosion. Most of it can be seen only by doing some serious hiking, but there is one tree, shown here, that is accessible by auto. A short turn off from the upper loop east side of the main road leads to this tree trunk. It is surrounded by a fence, otherwise, of course, it would soon not be there, but is a wonderful example standing about twenty feet tall and showing the wood grain and bark of a tree.

This is the valley through which a short side road leads to one of the petrified trees that are actually quite common in Yellowstone, though this is the only one that is accessible by car. The tree itself is surrounded by a fence so that people don't chip away at it, but is a remnant of the forests that were buried by volcanic activity in the past.