You're watching Inside Yellowstone.
Often, when I travel through Yellowstone,
I like to imagine the park before roads.
Roads take us to the geyser basins,
the lakes, and the valleys. These roads
attempt to show us Yellowstone's heart.
In many ways, Hayden Valley is the heart
of Yellowstone. Geographically, Hayden Valley
is the heart of the Yellowstone plateau.
The plateau rises 8,000 feet above sea level
and is surrounded by 12,000 foot mountains.
Hayden Valley, the largest valley in the park,
is really an old lake bed. During the Pinedale
glaciation, which ended around 14,000
years ago, water from Yellowstone Lake
flooded this 17,000 acre valley.
Historically, Hayden Valley is also the heart
of Yellowstone. Early visitors, from Native
Americans to the first European trappers,
used the valley almost like a compass,
while navigating across the plateau.
Biologically, Hayden Valley pumps life into
Yellowstone. In August, the valley is the
scene of the largest free roaming bison rut
that occurs in North America. Grizzly bears,
wolves, coyotes, elk, moose and dozens of
bird species call Hayden Valley home.
Hayden Valley was named after Dr. Ferdinand
Hayden, a geologist with the U.S. Geological
Survey. Dr. Hayden led the first official
exploration of Yellowstone in 1871.
Artist Thomas Moran and photographer William
Henry Jackson accompanied Hayden on that
exploration of Yellowstone. The paintings
and photos from that trip helped convince
congress that Yellowstone was worthy of protection.
In Hayden Valley, the Yellowstone River is
closed to fishing. This added protection helps
maintain one of the most pristine watersheds
found in the western United States.
It's fitting that this valley, which remains
so important to the health of Yellowstone's
wildness, was named for a man that was so
instrumental in Yellowstone becoming the
world's first national park.