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Yellowstone National Park Facts

Yellowstone National Park Facts
Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872 by the United States Congress. It is considered to be the first national park in the world. Although most of the park's land is located in Wyoming, it also extends into the states Montana and Idaho. The region was inhabited by Native Americans for 11,000 years before it began to be explored in the 1860s. Lewis and Clark bypassed the region during their expedition in the early 1800s. At 3,472 square miles, the park is larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined.
Interesting Yellowstone National Park Facts:
The park was signed into law in 1872 by president Ulysses S. Grant.
It is famous around the world for its geothermal features.
The park itself is considered to be an active volcano.
It is the only active super volcano in the world that is located on land. The other 29 are located in the water.
80% of the land is covered by forest, 15% is grassland, and 5% is water.
The park contains 322 species of birds and t least 16 species of fish.
There are grizzly bears and Canadian lynx in the park, both of which are considered to be threatened species.
The grizzly bear can eat 35 pounds of food a day, and it usually does!
The gray wolf is an endangered species and is found in the park.
The largest hot springs in North America are located in Yellowstone. The hot springs are called the Grand Prismatic Springs and they produce more than 4,000 gallons of boiling water a minute.
There are 300 geysers in the park. The most popular is Old Faithful Geyser and it was the first geyser in the park to be named. It erupts like clockwork every 91 minutes.
There is more free-roaming wildlife in Yellowstone than there is in the 48 lower states combined.
There are approximately 2000 earthquakes in Yellowstone every year.
290 waterfalls of at least 15 feet in height flow all year long in the park.
There are 1,000 miles of back-country trails and over 15 miles of boardwalks in the park.
The park had the highest number of visitors, more than 3 million, in 1992. Since then it has hit that many visitors several times, especially in recent years.
One F.B.I. agent and one judge work in Yellowstone, and there is one jail within its boundary.
In 1988, the forest fires in Yellowstone only damaged the canopy of 26% of the park trees.
The lodge pole pine, found in the park, typically lives for 200 years. Of the 80% of the park that is forest, 80% of that is lodge pole pine.
There are over 199 species of plants that are not native to the park.
The lowest temperature that has been recorded in Yellowstone is -66 degrees Fahrenheit.
There was an F4 tornado in Yellowstone in 1987 that destroyed 15,000 acres of its mature pines.
It is not uncommon to run into a traffic jam in Yellowstone. Sometimes it is due to road construction, but it is also often due to people watching the wildlife from their vehicles.


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