Northern Yellowstone sustains one of the largest and most diverse populations of free-roaming wildlife seen anywhere on earth.

It is often called "America's Serengeti." About half of the approximately 30,000 elk that summer in the park spend the winter here on the northern range. Elevations here are lower, and the area receives less moisture than elsewhere in the park. During winter, wind and sun keep the ridge tops and south-facing slopes relatively free of snow, allowing animals easier access to forage.

Most large grazing animals in Yellowstone, especially elk, are migratory. As the days lengthen in spring, the warm breezes melt the snow and the hills and ridges "green up." The animals follow the receding snow to higher elevations, eating the new, succulent grasses and forbs that are highly nutritious. Following a summer in the high country, the animals move back to lower elevations in the fall.

Wildlife viewing in Yellowstone is popular at any time of year. But, remember, the animals you see here are wild. You will see more of an animal's natural behavior if you keep your distance. Stay at least 25 yards away from bison, elk, bighorn sheep, deer, moose, coyotes, or other wildlife (and at least 100 yards away from bears). Use your vehicle as a "blind" and view wildlife safely from it.

Erected by This exhibit made possible by a generous grant to the Yellowstone Park Foundation in memory of Katie L. Rhoads.

When the Northern Pacific Railroad announced plans to build a branch line to Yellowstone National Park in the early 1880s, the small town of Gardiner quickly emerged as a "wild west" town. Early accounts labeled it "a veritable Shantyville . . . an ideal squatter town, with the rudest houses." Though the branch line didn't arrive until 1902, coal mines to the north, gold mines to the south, poachers in the park, and troops at nearby Fort Yellowstone brought a steady stream of men to drink, gamble, and visit prostitutes. General lawlessness ruled until Park County was created in 1887 and county officials hired a constable and built the first Gardiner jail. The jail burned down in 1898 and again Gardiner was without a place to lock up unruly drunks and criminals. The first trains of tourists arrived in Gardiner in summer 1902 to lewd displays. The local newspaper proclaimed, "Monday night there was almost continuous yelling and shooting from midnight to daylight. Women of ill-fame live in the central part of town and exhibit themselves daily on the streets in bedroom wrappers and make a show of themselves in doors and windows on arrival of the train." Much to some residents' relief, Gardiner's sturdy sandstone jail was ready for its first inmates by mid-September 1903. Unchanged today, the interior still holds its original three-cell block and the walls, floor, and ceiling - inscribed with five decades of graffiti - offer the only record of its many short-term occupants.

Listed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of Interior

• In cooperation with the Montana Historical Society www.montanahistoricalsociety.org

Erected by the Montana Historical Society.

In 1903, most Yellowstone visitors arrived in Gardiner by train where they boarded stagecoaches for the journey into Wonderland. Gardiner had just built a beautiful train depot in the rustic architectural style, and both park administrators and Gardiner civic promoters felt that something special was needed to improve the dusty staging area. During the spring of 1903, a fifty-foot high basalt arch was built to face the train depot. Today, the Roosevelt Arch has become one of the great symbols of the national park idea. Throughout the United States and around the world, places of natural and cultural importance have been set aside for the benefit and enjoyment of the people. The arch serves as a symbol for what has been called "America's Best Idea."

Erected by National Park Service; and Yellowstone Park Foundation.

Named for fur trapper, Johnson Gardner, Gardiner has had a rough and tumble history to match. The town was established when one of the earliest entrepreneurs in Yellowstone, James C. McCartney, was invited by the park superintendent to remove himself from the park in 1879 (he was officially evicted in 1881). He moved north to the mouth of the Gardner River and started a ranch. By 1880, a post office was established and Gardiner was in the business of supplying the needs of visitors to Yellowstone.

Visited by at least four sitting U.S. presidents, surviving fires, and hosting an influx of seasonal "dudes" for more than 130 years, Gardiner is still a vibrant town with a personality all its own.

A group of Wylie tourists wait for their trip into Yellowstone (1912)

Erected by National Park Service.

Visit the interpretive trail across the river and take a pleasant walk on an improve trail or enjoy a picnic. A series of interpretive signs will take you on a journey through time to some fascinating eras of history.

Past, present and future

The Yankee Jim Canyon has played a significant role in Montana's transportation history. For at least 7,000 years, it has been a major travel route.

In 1998 Park County and the Gallatin National Forest joined together to make a interpretive trail out of part of this route. now you can add your footsteps to the many that have gone before and discover some of the secrets that lie hidden here.

From where you stand, you can see evidence of three transportation routes. One was used as a wagon route in the early days of gold prospecting. The others were a railroad that carried tourists into Yellowstone National Park, and an early automobile route that was part of the legendary Yellowstone Trail, a recreational route from St. Paul to Seattle.

There are some places along the trail where historical evidence is apparent. Rockwork from the early automobile road is visible in several areas, as are painted advertisements on rocks from the early part of the century.

In summer, pronghorn might be the only large mammals you see in this valley. In winter the wildlife picture changes dramatically. Herds of elk and bison, mule deer, and bighorn sheep descend from the snowy high country to look for food. Gardner River Valley lies at the lowest elevation in the park. Here, even in midwinter, grasses are often sill visible above the snow.

Erected by National Park Service.

Elk - Sometimes called "wapiti" (the Shawnee word for "one with a white rump"), elk are often seen in large herds in open areas where they graze on grasses and forbs. Bull elk have antlers that they shed every year. Each spring as the elk age, the new antlers grow larger, and the branching increases. Calves, born in June, are spotted for the first few months of their life, which helps camouflage the from predators.

Bison - Bison, also called "buffalo," can weigh up to one ton, and both sexes have horns. Calves are born in late April and May and are reddish brown. Bison may appear tame and slow but are unpredictable and dangerous. Every year, a number of visitors approach bison too closely and are injured.

Pronghorn - Pronghorn are unique to the plains of western North America. Both sexes of this distinctly colored animal have horns, but males have a black band from their eyes to their snout and also on their necks. Pronghorn have keen eyesight and escape predators by sprinting away at nearly 50 miles per hour, making them the fastest animal on the continent.

Bighorn Sheep - Bighorn sheep live in rocky, cliffy terrain. The bottoms of their hooves are concave, which makes them sure-footed in this habitat. Males (rams) have distinctive curved horns, which become larger and more curled as they grow older. Females (ewes) have smaller horns that curve backward over their heads.

Mule Deer - Mule deer are so named because of their large, mule-like ears. They also have black-tipped tails, leading some to call them "black-tailed deer." Males (bucks) have antlers, and females (does) do not. Mule deer are browsers, eating more leaves, twigs, and shrubs than grasses.

Wolf - Reintroduced into Yellowstone in 1995, wolves have made a dramatic recovery. Wolves live in family groups, called packs, and hunt elk, bison, moose, and smaller animals cooperatively in their pack's territory. Wolves come in colors ranging from black to gray to white and have long legs, bushy tails, and short rounded ears. Five to seven pups are born in the spring and are cared for by the entire pack.

Coyote - Coyotes are often seen in the park - and often mistakenly identified as wolves. Coyotes are smaller and more slender than wolves and have larger ears, which are pointed. Coyotes are most often seen alone or in pairs hunting for mice and voles in open meadows, although cooperative pack hunting for larger animals like deer and elk occurs in Yellowstone.

This exhibit made possible by a generous grant to the Yellowstone Park Foundation in memory of Katie L. Rhoads.

Montana's state fish has a sinister name and a fragile future. Set apart from other trout by red slash marks on either side of the lower jaw, the Yellowstone cutthroat trout is far from murderous. Native only to the Yellowstone River drainage, this fish feeds on aquatic insects. It lays eggs in clean-graveled, riffle areas and rests in cool, clear pools like those found here in front of you.

Unlike some kinds of fish, Yellowstone cutthroat are extremely picky about where they live. They can't survive in degraded streams and rivers. They suffer when non-native fish like rainbow and brook trout are introduced into streams. Overfishing adds to their problems. That's why, today, the Yellowstone cutthroat live in only a fraction of their historic range.

Help Save Nature's Peaceful Cutthroat

What You Can Do

Release cutthroats. If you are an angler, learn to identify cutthroats and release them back into the water.

Watch where your water goes. Diverting waters for agricultural and municipal purposes leaves less water for fish. You can help by conserving water and not pouring toxic substances down the drain.

Be a supporter. Many agencies and organizations are working together to restore stream conditions and restock cutthroat into their native water.

What is different about the northern range soils?

While most of Yellowstone is a high volcanic plateau composed of rhyolite, the northern portion of the park is more complex geologically. Here you find landslides, erodible shales and sandstones, and glacial till deposits of mixed rock types. This particular area of the northern range is composed of soils that have a high clay content. These soils bind water tightly to the clay particles, which results in little water being available for plants to use. The soils are also poorly aerated, resist root growth, and have high levels of sodium and salts. All of these factors combine to limit the plant communities that can grow here.

Greasewood. Prickly pear. Rubber rabbitbrush.

The harsh names of these low-growing plants aptly reflect the sparse, dry environment in this portion of Yellowstone's northern range. A complex interaction of soil, climate, and plant life create this habitat that ecologists call a "cold desert." Here annual precipitation is 10 to 15 inches - only one-third of the moisture received in Yellowstone's southwestern corner. It is only during a few brief weeks in May and June that this landscape becomes lush, green, and vibrant as the grasses and other plants capitalize on snowmelt and rainfall to grow and flower. Soon, however, the familiar brown and arid scene reappears.

It is because of this dry and "beaten" appearance that many people have questioned the health of the northern range. Some wonder if the sheer number of Yellowstone's elk, deer, pronghorn, and other wild grazers are destroying habitat. Many years of research on the interaction of wildlife and plants here show that these naturally dry grasslands remain productive and healthy. Wildlife continue to depend on the northern range, particularly for winter forage, maintaining a cycle of growth, grazing, and rebirth that has occurred here for thousands of years.

This exhibit made possible by a generous grant to the Yellowstone Park Foundation in memory of Katie L. Rhoads.