The Yellowstone Beaver Pond Loop trail offers a lovely 5-mile day hike that starts and ends near the Liberty Cap at the Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces. The trail starts by climbing about 350 feet over the first half mile as it runs through the forests of the Clematis Gulch. It then crosses rolling meadows and re-enters forests that many of the Park’s elk, bear, deer and other mammals call home. We saw few people or animals on our trip on a warm day late in the summer when most of the animals were probably resting. We really enjoyed the chance to be out on our own. The trail starts in Wyoming but passes through Montana, allowing the kids to claim they had been to Montana if only for a few minutes.
We didn't see any bears but enjoyed the trail to Beaver Pond
We packed a lunch and ate it in the shade near the first beaver pond. There are several ponds in the area. You can turnaround after the first one or continue on to complete the full loop along the shore of several ponds before going back through the meadows and woods, ending up back at the parking area.
Take a lunch to eat along the way on the Yellowstone Beaver Pond Loop Trail
The loop trail also passes by a petrified tree but the fact that is stands next to a heavily used parking lot and is aggressively fenced to protect it from looting caused them to lose interest quickly. This is another in our series on our Top 10 vacation activities for families visiting Yellowstone with tweens and teens. And if you are looking for more Yellowstone day hike ideas check out the books recommended below. Happy hiking!
Virtually no bugs, it was a warm, late August day!
A five miler for kids this age is great! Thanks for the idea! How were the mosquitoes??