Let’s Start with Kepler Cascades

Kepler Cascades is a waterfall on the Firehole River in southwestern Yellowstone National Park . The cascades are located approximately 2.5 miles south of Old Faithful. The cascades drop approximately 150 feet over multiple drops. The longest drop is 50 feet. The cascades were named by the park superintendent in 1881 for the 12-year-old son of Wyoming’s territorial governor John Wesley Hoyt. Hoyt and his son, Kepler, were visiting Yellowstone in 1881 when Superintendent Norris named the cascades after the younger Hoyt.

The Firehole River flows over a series of small ledges before making it’s 50 ft drop. There’s a paved parking area and a well maintained wooden observation platform. Its a great place for viewing the falls and taking pictures. I was there in the off season so there was plenty of room. No telling what it’s like in the summer season.

Upper Geyser Basin

Leaving the Kepler Cascades behind steam starts to become visible in the distance. I’m about 2.5 miles away from the upper geyser basin, home to Old Faithful Geyser. When you reach the Upper Geyser basin there’s a lot more than just Old Faithful. The Upper Geyser Basin, approximately two square miles in area, contains the largest concentration and nearly one-quarter of all of the geysers in the world! You enter a world of steam and clouds. While I was topping off the gas tank I spotted a lone Bison wandering toward the steaming plateau. Tourists closely followed behind the bison with camera’s clicking. I was surprised the rangers didn’t round them up and shoo them away from the animal.

Bison

I could see Old Faithful in the distance building up a head of steam. If I didn’t make it to the viewing area in the next few minutes I’d have a 90 minute wait for the next eruption.

Sure enough, in just the few minutes it took me to go up the road to the Old Faithful Parking Lot, the geyser went off!

Crossing the Continental Divide

Do you remember what the Continental Divide is from High School geography? On one side of the divide, water flows to the Gulf of Mexico. On the other it flows to the Pacific Ocean. When I saw the Continual Divide sign I thought of an old John Belushi movie by the same name. Ha, that’s not even relevant! Anyway because of the way the road and the mountains intertwine you actually cross the Continental Divide two or three times between the South Entrance and Old Faithful.

Each time there is a sign with the elevation. As you can see, there’s snow at these higher locations. This stop is between West Thumb and Old Faithful called Craig’s Pass. Lake Isa is another spot on the Continental Divide.

It’s marked by a sign because it drains on both sides of the divide. Although I passed it several times, it didn’t look like much from the road so I just tucked it in my mind as an interesting fact.

Grant Village

Grant Village Visitor Center;
Ed Austin/Herb Jones;
1987

I should mention Grant Village. It was closed for everything except gas so I didn’t even slow down but it’s located on Yellowstone Lake. Named for President Ulysses S. Grant it is mainly lodging inside the park. Grant Village is made up of 6 two-story chalets, each containing 50 rooms. This complex is close to many of Yellowstone’s famous attractions. Old Faithful is just a little over 20 miles away, and Grant Village is also closer to Grand Teton National Park than any of Yellowstone’s other in-park lodges. It’s also just before the road splits. The left goes toward Old Faithful while the right goes to West Thumb. I was on my way to Old Faithful. After all, that’s a bucket list stop for sure!

Kepler Cascades

As I left Craig’s pass (the dividing line of the Continental Divide) behind, I came upon a large turnoff for Kepler Cascades. This was definitely worth a stop but I wouldn’t know what a great stop until I explored a little.