Yellowstone

Yellowstone - is not really a park in its general definition, but rather several parks combined together, because the difference between the parts is significant. One part - is a conglomeration of nine thousand feet high mountains, the other one - deep canyons swirling with wild rivers and beautiful waterfalls, yet another one - colorful hot springs and amazing geysers.

Norris Geysers

All this variety is due to this area's volcanic activity. Scientists estimate, that periodically magma come very close to the surface. And approximately every 600 thousands years it actually erupts as a giant volcano, dramatically changing the surrounding landscape. Last eruption was... around 600 thousand years ago. The caldera of this last gigantic volcano, still marked on the park maps, was over fifty thousand square miles. 

Old Faithful - is one of the most famous attractions in the park. It erupts approximately every 90 minutes, gathering big crowd of tourists. 

For many years this area was inhabited by Shoshone Indians. Surrounding mountains served as a protecting wall, river and fruitful plains supplied the food. Peaceful life was disturbed in the beginning of the 19th century, when Lewis and Clark expedition was send to find a path connecting East and West. But it took several decades to explore the area. In 1870 Washburn expedition made a complete description of the future park terrain, and a year later a group lead by Hayden made a full geological survey. On March 1st 1892, the Congress proclaimed Yellowstone to be the first National park.

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Yellowstone took its name from the river, which was called by Minnetaree Indian "Mi tsi a da zi" - "rock yellow river", and was later translated as Yellow rock, or yellow stone.

Yellowstone river