Aside from its rugged mountains and spectacular deep valleys, Yellowstone has unusual geologic features, including fossil .... hot yellowston

Its principal attractions, however, are its 10,000 hot springs, which find surface expression as steam vents, fumaroles, colourful hot pools, mud cauldrons, paint pots, hot springs and terraces, hot rivers, and geysers. Many of Yellowstone's noted hot springs and geysers are located in the western portion of the park between Old Faithful and Mammoth Hot Springs (the park's headquarters) some 50 miles (80 km) north. These include The Giantess, a geyser near Old Faithful with a six- to eight-month wait between eruptions; the Fountain Paint Pots in the Lower Geyser Basin, with pink, plopping mud geysers, fumaroles, and a blue, hot-spring pool; and Minerva, a multicoloured terrace with hot water cascades, at Mammoth Hot Springs. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River is a colourful gorge 19 miles (30 km) long located in the north-central part of the park. The canyon, between 800 and 1,200 feet (240 and 370 metres) deep and up to 4,000 feet (1,200 metres) wide, has brilliantly! coloured rock walls, with two majestic waterfalls along its course; the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River have a drop of 308 feet (94 metres). Smith, The Wolves of Yellowstone (1996), with over 70 color photos; and Thomas McNamee, The Return of the Wolf to Yellowstone (1997), discuss the reintroduction of wolves to the park. hot yellowston