Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located mostly
in Wyoming, with small sections in Montana and Idaho. It was established by
the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1,
1872.[5][6] Yellowstone was the first national park in the U.S. and is also widely
held to be the first national park in the world.[7] The park is known for its wildlife
and its many geothermal features, especially Old Faithful geyser, one of its most
popular features.[8] It has many types of ecosystems, but the subalpine forest is
the most abundant. It is part of the South Central Rockies forests ecoregion.
Native Americans have lived in the Yellowstone region for at least
11,000 years.[9] Aside from visits by mountain men during the early-to-mid-19th
century, organized exploration did not begin until the late 1860s.
Yellowstone National Park spans an area of 3,468.4 square miles
(8,983 km2),[2] comprising lakes, canyons, rivers and mountain
ranges.[8] Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest high-elevation lakes in North
America and is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, the
largest supervolcano on the continent. The caldera is considered a dormant
volcano. It has erupted with tremendous force several times in the last two
million years.
Hundreds of species of mammals, birds, fish, and reptiles have been documented,
including several that are either endangered or threatened.[8] The vast forests and
grasslands also include unique species of plants. Yellowstone Park is the largest
and most famous megafauna location in the contiguous United States.
Yellowstone has something for everyone. Whether you delight in the challenge of
a strenuous hike or prefer to sit quietly and watch the sunset, the park offers a
great diversity of activities for you to enjoy. There are so many ways to explore
Yellowstone. Here are some of the more popular ways you can experience the
park and make your visitor memorable:
Follow boardwalks and maintained trails to witness hot springs, mudpots,
fumaroles, and geysers up close, Bring some binoculars or a spotting scope and
enjoy animals from a safe distance, Take pictures, ride a horse, ride a bike, Plan a
night in one of twelve park campgrounds, Enjoy the solitude of more than 300
backcountry campsites, Unpack your basket at 52 picnic areas throughout the
park. Enrich your visit to Yellowstone by participating in a ranger program,
becoming a junior ranger, exploring as a young scientist, or going on a guided
tour.
Fishing and boating are two popular activities in Yellowstone. Having fairly intact
aquatic ecosystems—and being part of river systems that drain into the Pacific
Ocean, Gulf of California, and Gulf of Mexico.
Winter in Yellowstone is a whole different experience: cars and camper-vans give
way to snowmobiles and snow-coaches, cold temperatures freeze lakes and
waterfalls, and snow-covered landscapes invite you to explore on skis or
snowshoes. When winter snows descend on the park, many of the normal
recreational opportunities are no longer available. However, this seasonal change
provides new recreational opportunities to emerge: skiing, snowshoeing,
snowmobiling, and riding a snowcoach.
Yellowstone’s collections document the cultural and natural history of the world’s
first national park and the conditions of its resources. The historic collections
document the park from pre-history through the present.
The collections include objects and written records that document the history and
science of the park, changes in perception and meaning over time, and the
interaction between people and nature. Specimens range from geologic and
natural history to Native American and European American cultural materials.
For years, the collections were housed in various locations within and outside of
the park, where they were frequently threatened by flood, fire, environmental
degradation, theft, and inattention. With the opening of the Heritage and
Research Center in 2005, the collections of “Wonderland” are finally housed
together, with the exception of the historic vehicles, and their storage brought up
to the standards demanded by the National Park Service, the American Alliance of
Museums, and the National Archives and Records Administration.
The facility includes:
Museum Collection
Archives
Research Library
Herbarium
Archeology Lab
