The road between the Tower-Roosevelt junction and the northeast entrance winds through the Lamar Valley, an area that has been covered by glaciers three times, most recently during an ice age that began 25,000 years ago and continued for 10,000 years-in geologic terms, just yesterday. Finally, we come to the bare rock at the very top of the continental shelf, where small, hardy plants bloom briefly after the annual thaw. The transition area between the highest forest and the bare surface above timberline is known as the subalpine zone (7,600–11,300 ft.). ![]() Then comes the mountain zone (6,000–7,600 ft.), thickening forests dominated by lodgepole pine, broken by meadows where deer, elk, and moose often graze. Shrubs and flowers, such as huckleberry and columbine, favor these wet, shady spots. Douglas fir, pine, and other conifers, as well aspen clad these slopes, and are marshes and ponds are fed by the spring snowmelt. The foothills, sloping upward toward peaks, are sometimes dotted by deposits of glacial moraine. ![]() Because the park lies about halfway between the equator and the North Pole, its summers consist of long, warm days that stimulate plant growth at the lower elevations.Īt the lowest elevations, down around 5,300 feet above sea level, you’ll find grassy flats and sagebrush growing on dry, porous soils, with creeks and rivers cutting through to form wildlife-rich riparian zones. The environment changes dramatically as you ascend the mountain slopes from the foothill zones in the valleys-the elevation at the entrance at West Yellowstone is 6,666 feet, for example, compared to 5,314 feet at the Gardiner entrance. Although Yellowstone has its share of mountains, much of the park is a high mountain plateau.
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