Yellowstone Park Foundation

Join Us and Explore Hidden Yellowstone!
Day Trips for 2013

The Yellowstone Park Foundation invites our supporters to join us for some fun summer day trips to explore lesser-known wonders of Yellowstone.

Visit behind the scenes at the Heritage & Research Center (HRC)

Date: Wednesday, July 17, 10 a.m. to noon

There are countless treasures in the HRC that the average visitor may be unaware of. Join YPF staff and tour the HRC with NPS curators. We will go behind the scenes and see unique, historical items from Yellowstone's rich history. These items will touch on several categories such as natural treasures, paintings/sketches, books, and the archives. We will also walk over to the vehicle storage area for an inside look at the antique vehicle collection.

There will be an informal lunch together in Gardiner for those interested. (Bring your lunch or stop at the deli in Gardiner.)

The HRC is located in Gardiner, MT, on the Old Yellowstone Trail. Once you arrive in Gardiner, go over the Yellowstone River to Park Street. Turn west on Park St. and go to the end as if you were going to drive through the arch. Instead of going through the arch, stay right and go down to the high school area; the HRC is behind the high school.

For those who would like to extend the day, here are some suggested nearby hikes:

• Wraith Falls (Off the road to Tower Jct. An easy half mile in each direction)
• Beaver Ponds (6 mile loop, starts at Clematis Creek near Liberty Cap)
• Upper Terrace Drive or walk (1.6 mile loop)

Specially guided day hike with an interpretive ranger: DeLacy Creek to Shoshone Lake

Date: Thursday, Aug. 1, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

At YPF's request, an interpretive ranger will guide us on this lovely hike along the DeLacy Creek trail through forest and meadows. We will go south 3 miles to the shore of Shoshone Lake, the Park's largest backcountry lake. Our guide will bring together history, ecology, geology and other interesting details that many hikers may not know.

Meet at the DeLacy Creek trailhead sign at 10 a.m. The trailhead is 8.2 miles south of Old Faithful. Allow an hour to get there from West Yellowstone, 2 hours from Big Sky and a total of 3 hours from Bozeman.

Distance: 6.1 miles round trip
Level of difficultly: Moderate; flat trail with no steep grades. Participants need to be able to hike 6 miles comfortably.

Please bring your own lunch and plenty of water, sturdy hiking books or shoes and other appropriate gear (bear spray, sun hat, sunscreen, bug spray, etc.)

After hike option: Drive to Old Faithful area and view an eruption from the upper deck of Old Faithful Inn.

If you are interested in reserving one of the 12 - 16 spots for either of these fun and interesting day trips, please call Sarah DeOpsomer, events manager, at the Yellowstone Park Foundation to reserve a place: 406.586.6303, or email events@ypf.org.