Welcome back to National Parks and other public lands with T!
Wyoming 2023 Trip➤
In September of 2023, my husband and I set out to explore some National Park units in the state of Wyoming. We visited Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Park, The John D. Rockefeller Parkway, and Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. In Yellowstone National Park, we stopped at the Fishing Bridge.
Yellowstone National Park➤
President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act into law in 1872. This created America’s (and the world’s) first National Park. The US Army managed the park from the late 1800s through 1916 when the National Park Service was created.
The park sits on top of a massive super volcano. As a result, over half of the worlds geysers and geothermal features reside in Yellowstone. It’s also famous for being home to hundreds of animal species, including bears, wolves, bison, elk and antelope. One of our guides compared touring Yellowstone’s Valleys to taking an African Safari.
This park is huge at 3500 square miles in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. Divided into two large loops, the park road takes visitors to the main sites. The Lower Loop Road is 96 miles while the Upper Loop is 142 miles.
Fishing Bridge➤
The original Fishing Bridge was built in 1902, and it was one of the first major infrastructure projects in Yellowstone. The bridge was constructed to provide a spot for anglers to fish for native cutthroat trout as they migrated up the Yellowstone River to spawn.
In 1973, the National Park Service decided to prohibit fishing from Fishing Bridge. This decision was made to protect the cutthroat trout population, which was declining due to overfishing and the introduction of non-native lake trout that prey on cutthroat trout. The prohibition remains in effect, and Fishing Bridge is now primarily a scenic overlook.
Yellowstone Posts➤
- West Thumb Geyser Basin
- Fishing Bridge
- Yellowstone Lake
- Old Faithful Inn
- Old Faithful
- Observation Point
- Upper Geyser Basin
- Grand Prismatic Overlook
- Midway Geyser Basin
- Artists Paintpots
- Lower Falls
- Lamar Valley
- Mammoth Hot Springs: Lower Terraces
- Mammoth Hot Springs: Upper Terraces
- Norris Geyser Basin
- Artists Point
Location: Grand Loop Road, Wyoming
Designation: National Park
Date designated/established: March 1, 1872
Date of my visit: September 23, 2023
Our Lake Yellowstone boat tour guide also stated that there were many accidents on the bridge with anglers getting hooked. Fishermen would fish from both sides snagging the fishermen ( and sometimes passing cars) on the otherside when they would cast. At one point before they closed the bridge they would station nurses on each side of the bridge.
We did the same NPs in June 2023.
That’s so crazy!