You're watching Inside Yellowstone.
Some of Yellowstone's most fascinating
geology is found amidst the rustic and
relaxed setting of Tower-Roosevelt.
This area in the northeast portion of
the park is best known for Tower Fall
where Tower Creek plunges 132 feet on
its way to the Yellowstone River.
Paintings of Tower Fall helped sway
congress to establish the national park
and it's named for the interesting volcanic
rock spires and pinnacles at the top of
the waterfall. Nearby, motorists pass an
overhanging cliff where vertical columns
of basalt rock rise above the roadway.
Columnar basalt can also be seen across
the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
The rock columns are over 1 million
years old and formed when basalt lava
erupted, then slowly cooled and contracted,
cracking into hexagonal pillars. Calcite
Springs Overlook affords great views
of the Narrows, the narrowest section
of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
where the river has carved through 50
million years of volcanic rock and
glacial deposits. It's a great spot to
smell the sulfur of the springs below
and look for osprey. Bighorn sheep and
black bears frequent the Tower area, too.
Be sure to use pullouts and park
completely off the roadway if you stop
to watch wildlife. Always watch your
footing around the canyon and falls
to avoid injury. Built in 1920,
Roosevelt Lodge rents rustic cabins
and hosts trail and stagecoach rides
and an Old West Cookout. It's named
for President Teddy Roosevelt who camped
near this area in 1903 and was an avid
conservationist and park supporter.
Nearby Specimen Ridge and the Petrified
Tree exhibit offer a chance to learn
about the ancient forests of Yellowstone
and the volcanic forces that turned
them to stone. You're sure to notice
the boulders strewn about, carried by
glaciers from elsewhere and then left
in place as they retreated. With the
forests, open meadows, boulders, wildlife
and river canyons, the Tower-Roosevelt
area is spectacular in its serene,
rugged beauty.