Did you know Yellowstone was the world’s first national park!? Read more to learn even more fun facts about Yellowstone National Park.
Yellowstone made history in becoming the first national park on March 1, 1872. Yellowstone covers 2.2 millions acres, nearly 3,500 square miles, of wilderness. It is atop a volcanic hot spot and contains forest, hot springs, rivers and canyons. It’s geological location gives it a wide array of unique geological and hydrothermal features.
Yellowstone holds claim to about half of the world’s active geysers! The most well known of these is Old Faithful. Old Faithful is not the biggest or tallest geyser in the park. However, it did derive it’s name from its ability to consistently erupt. It has been erupting every 45 minutes to 2 hours since the year 2000!
Yellowstone is on top of one of the biggest super volcanos in North America, the Yellowstone Caldera. The Caldera has erupted several time in its history but is now considered a dormant volcano. Rocks from volcanic eruptions and lava flows cover the majority of Yellowstone. This ongoing volcanism is why Yellowstone has such abundant geysers and hydrothermal features.
The ecosystem in Yellowstone contains the world’s largest intact ecosystem in the northern temperate zone. It is considered the largest remaining stretch of continuous, mostly undeveloped land in the continental United States. In the 1990’s, there was a successful wolf reintroduction program. With that success, Yellowstone now features nearly all the original faunal species from when the land was first discovered.
Yellowstone is a world-wide treasure that has been protected throughout our history. Visit their official website to learn even more about Yellowstone National Park here.
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