Loading trail…
Fire is a Fundamental Force
Free — you'll pick up right here.
Watch this trail
Sign up to watch it — saving subscribes you to gate, closure and report changes.
Wyoming
We won't guess. Here is exactly what we do and don't know.
What we do know
Inside Yellowstone National Park
National Park unit boundary is mapped — agency alerts for it feed this page automatically.
Boundary data
What's missing
No access route mapped
We don't yet know which road reaches this trailhead, so we can't tell you if it's gated.
Nobody's filed a report here yet — be the first.
Fire is a Fundamental Force
AI-suggested draft · review before you go
No elevation data on file for this trail.
Fires are a natural part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and plants have adapted to fire and in some cases may be dependent on it. Fire promotes habitat diversity by removing the forest overstory, allowing different plant communities to become established, and preventing trees from becoming established in grassland. Fire increases the rate that nutrients become available to plants by rapidly releasing them from wood and forest litter and by hastening the weathering of soil minerals.
Trembling Aspens
~0 min drive
<p>Findings from research focusing on aspen forests indicate a possible shift in the distribution of this important species may already be underway.</p> <p>Before 1988, aspen regeneration was understood to occur primarily via vegetative root sprouting. Aspen seedlings, rarely…
Hellroaring Trailhead (2K8)
~10 min drive
Nestled a 1/4-mile (0.4-km) off the Grand Loop Road, this trailhead provides access to the following trails: Buffalo Plateau Trail Coyote Creek Trail Garnet Hill Loop Trail Hellroaring Creek Trail There is a decent amount of parking at the trailhead. Buffalo Plateau Trai…
Osprey Falls Trail
~11 min drive
7.8 mi · Moderate
Low Specimen
~11 min drive
23-mile backcountry trek with steady elevation gain through remote Montana wilderness.
Wolf Tracks
~0 min drive
<p>Wolves have abundant prey in the northern range. For example, the carcasses of elk, bison, and other large mammals each become ecosystems of their own.</p> <p>Researchers have identified at least 57 species of beetle associated with these ungulate carcasses on the northern…
Lost Lake Loop
~14 min drive
Round trip 2.8 miles (4.6 km), moderate. The trail climbs 300 feet up a forested hillside. At the junction, veer right (west). You reach Lost Lake in 0.2 miles (0.3 km). From there, follow the trail through a ravine to the Petrified Tree parking area. From the parking lot, th…
Bunsen Peak Overlook
~12 min drive
<p>Bunsen Peak prominently sits south of Mammoth Hot Springs. From this trailhead, you can embark on the following trails:</p> <ul> <li>Bunsen Peak Trail</li> <li>Bunsen Peak Road Trail</li> <li>Osprey Falls Trail</li> </ul> <p>Parking is limited. Winter trailhead access requi…
High Specimen
~12 min drive
13.56-mile moderate hike with 841 ft elevation gain in Montana backcountry.
What's Blooming
~0 min drive
<p>Many park researchers have used the fenced areas on the northern range north of the Blacktail Ponds to study the long-term effects of grazing by fencing out large herbivores. Researchers can use existing data from the permanent plots or collect new data.</p>
Yellowstone River
~13 min drive
Scenic 5.5-mile riverside hike with steady elevation gain in the Yellowstone region.