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Random Facts about Yellowstone Park
DESCRIPTION OF THE YELLOWSTONE PARK
The Yellowstone National Park extends sixty-five miles north
and south, and fifty-five miles east and west, comprising
3,575 square miles, and is all 6,000 feet or more above
sea-level. Yellowstone Lake, twenty miles by fifteen, has an
altitude of 7,788 feet. The mountain ranges which hem in the
valleys on every side rise to the height of 10,000 to 12,000
feet, and are always covered with snow. This great park
contains the most striking of all the mountains, gorges,
falls, rivers and lakes in the whole Yellowstone region. The
springs on Gardiner's River cover an area of about one
square mile, and three or four square miles thereabout are
occupied by the remains of springs which have ceased to
flow. The natural basins into which these springs flow are
from four to six feet in diameter and from one to four feet
in depth. The principal ones are located upon terraces
midway up the sides of the mountain. The banks of the
Yellowstone River abound with ravines and canons, which are
carved out of the heart of the mountains through the hardest
of rocks. The most remarkable of these is the canon of Tower
Creek and Column Mountain. The latter, which extends along
the eastern bank of the river for upward of two miles, is
said to resemble the Giant's Causeway. The canon of Tower
Creek is about ten miles in length and is so deep and gloomy
that it is called "The Devil's Den." Where Tower Creek ends
the Grand Canon begins. It is twenty miles in length,
impassable throughout, and inaccessible at the water's edge,
except at a few points. Its rugged edges are from 200 to 500
yards apart, and its depth is so profound that no sound ever
reaches the ear from the bottom. The Grand Canon contains a
great multitude of hot springs of sulphur, sulphate of
copper, alum, etc. In the number and magnitude of its hot
springs and geysers, the Yellowstone Park surpasses all the
rest of the world. There are probably fifty geysers that
throw a column of water to the height of from 50 to 200
feet, and it is stated that there are not fewer than 5,000
springs; there are two kinds, those depositing lime and
those depositing silica. The temperature of the calcareous
springs is from 160 to 170 degrees, while that of the others
rises to 200 or more. The principal collections are the
upper and lower geyser basins of the Madison River, and the
calcareous springs on Gardiner's River. The great falls are
marvels to which adventurous travelers have gone only to
return and report that they are parts of the wonders of this
new American wonderland.
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