Yellowstone National Park: Mammoth Springs and Roosevelt Corral (Day 3)

Day 3 we got an early jump. We were headed way up to the North Side of the park. After a bad run-in with some Freeze-Dried eggs, it was Bear Claws and Coffee from Sinclair again this morning. Driving all the way to Mammoth Springs from Grant Campground was a long haul, but the drive was absolutely stunning. We drove up the West Side of the park loop this time, passing Old Faithful and some stunning hyrdothermals. Eventually wrapping our way around to Mammoth and the site of the old Fort Yellowstone.

After arriving in Mammoth, we parked outside the General Store and stopped in for some postcards to send home and a couple pins for my collection. From there it was only a short hike up to the terraces that circled Mammoth hot springs. It is beautiful to see, but I’ll tell you the secret no other travel blog will tell you… it smells… well like the earth farted.

Mammoth also provided us with our first real wildlife sighting in Yellowstone. We saw two female Elk. Here is one of them, she legit was only about 25 yards away from the boardwalk around Mammoth Hot Springs. It gave us a lot of hope for future sightings!

We did have to do one more stop before heading to Roosevelt Corral… Ice Cream! We stopped by the Terrace Grill on the main street to get some fresh ice-cream. I got the Yellowstone Huckleberry Ice Cream and did not regret my choice! Definitely worth the stop!

On the way to Roosevelt, we realized we were running a bit to early, so we zipped down to see the Tower Falls right near Roosevelt Corral. It was definitely worth the side trip, but word to the wise if you are going to go down the base, be ready for a hike! We stayed up top, but a lot of breathless people met us there!

Our big adventure that day though was our Chuck Wagon Dinner and Covered Wagon ride in the backcountry that left from Roosevelt Corral. We had an awesome crew of Hayden and Alyse! They were absolutely hilarious! And the draft horses Bear and Ben took out to a camp for dinner!

The meal was spectacular! Beef steaks, beans, cobble, coleslaw, corn bread, all amazing. And sitting out there around a campfire eating, drinking Cowboy Coffee, and watching the sunset made you feel like you were really in the West from your imagination. Sitting there listen to stories, jokes, campfire stories while kids played in the creek and the horses could be heard in the distance was a sense of peace that is hard to find in your day to day. Anyone who get the chance, I would highly recommend a horse back or drawn adventure at Roosevelt.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of Bucky from when we got back to the Corral. Seemed fitting to give a little shout out to the vehicle that brought us this far. As we left through the gateway there, we thought our adventure for the day was over, but boy were we wrong. On our way back to camp we had to cross through the Hayden Valley…

Our ride home was flanked with Buffalo! We had finally found our Bison! It was an awesome way to end the day! Driving through miles and miles with Buffalo and the sunset as far as could see. Couldn’t ask for more than that! Needless to see it was late by the time we got back and we were EXHAUSTED! I actually slept this night! Next Stop: Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and the Lamar Valley…