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Yellowstone Lake Area
Includes Lake Village, Fishing Bridge, Bridge Bay
Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone National Park
The Yellowstone Lake Area in Yellowstone National Park is yet another legendary section of Yellowstone, which includes Yellowstone Lake, Fishing Bridge, Lake Village and Bridge Bay. Yellowstone Lake itself is one of the most beautiful lakes on earth, and it just happens to be the largest high altitude lake in North America at 7,733 feet! Yellowstone Lake is HUGE with a shoreline over 141 miles long and having a surface area of 136 square miles. And because of it's size, Yellowstone Lake creates it's own weather! (See Lake Area Map at bottom of page.)
Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park is very deep and very cold. It's 430 feet at its deepest point, and because of it's high altitude, the temperature of this lake never gets higher than about 38 degrees F, even in the middle of summer! In the winter, the ice can exceed 3 feet in thickness. It usually freezes over by December, and will remain frozen until late May or early June.Aside from all of these hopefully interesting facts, Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park is awe-inspiring, and the deep blue color is truly a sight to behold. This lake is so big and so beautiful, it will be forever etched in your mind once you've seen it.
"Lake"
The actual area known as "Lake" in Yellowstone National Park consists of Fishing Bridge, Lake Village and Bridge Bay. We'll talk about each of these areas in this section (see below)....
Lake Village
Lake Village in Yellowstone National Park is home to the world famous Lake Yellowstone Hotel and Lake Lodge, and are definitely worth taking a look at during your Yellowstone Park vacation. In fact, you may end up staying at one of these historic places on your way through the park!
Lake Yellowstone Hotel
Lake Yellowstone Hotel in Yellowstone National Park was built in 1891, and reached it's present eloquence in the early 1920's. This grand old hotel is of course on the National Register of Historic Places, and if there was only one word to describe it, that word would be "charming". From the golden age of touring Yellowstone National Park via stagecoach to the present time, this historic masterpiece has been a part of many, many generations, and is a timeless legacy of one of the greatest national parks in the world. It provides a gorgeous view of the Lake Yellowstone Hotel is the charming Sun Room- you really need to check it out!
Lake Lodge
Lake Lodge in Yellowstone National Park has a wonderful "feel" to it. It's warm and cozy, and very "Yellowstone Park". We love spending time in this historic place.
This is our favorite deck on planet earth! Lake Lodge is a great place to sit and relax with a hot cup of coffee in the morning while enjoying a beautiful view of Yellowstone Lake.
Lake Village also has an historic General Store which we love to visit, as well as a historic Ranger Station and Medical Clinic. It's a great place to explore and is definitely a major stop along the Grand Loop. And just a few miles to the east of Lake Village is Fishing Bridge, and a few miles to the west of Lake Village is Bridge Bay....
Fishing Bridge
Fishing Bridge crosses the mouth of the Yellowstone River in Yellowstone National Park.
Built in 1902 and only a few miles east of Lake Village, Fishing Bridge was once the most popular place in Yellowstone National Park to catch native Yellowstone cutthroat trout. Early photos shows literally hundreds of people with fishing poles fishing off this famous bridge. You can still see cutthroat trout swimming in the water below, but fishing is no longer allowed from the bridge.
In addition to this iconic bridge, just to the south of it is a fantastic old general store and gift shop, food services, gas station, showers and laundry, and the famous Fishing Bridge Museum, which is on the National Registrar of Historic Places. There is also a campground for hard-sided campers only because there are a lot of grizzly bears in this area. The highway south from Fishing Bridge wraps around a portion of the eastern shore of Yellowstone Lake, and eventually reaches the east entrance past Sylvan Pass, and ends up in Cody Wyoming 53 miles to the east.
Steamboat Point
Bridge Bay
The Bridge Bay Marina in Yellowstone National Park is a really fun place to explore.
Bridge Bay is located just a few miles to the west of Lake Village in Yellowstone National Park, and it is yet another fun place to explore. It's a great place to wander the shore of Yellowstone Lake, and it's home to a gorgeous marina that docks many beautiful boats throughout the summer. There is also a very nice campground here that is one of our favorites!
Bridge Bay Marina
The Bridge Bay Marina is awesome and is a "must see" because it's fun to look at all the boats and watch them come in and out of the bay. This will entice you to either rent your own motor boat for a few hours or to take a boat tour of Yellowstone Lake. You can even go with a fishing guide and catch some of the fabled native yellowstone cutthroat trout. The tackle shop and camp store is also fun to take a look at.
Gull Point
Gull Point in Yellowstone National Park is a nice little drive along the lake, and it also gives you a great view of the Lake Yellowstone Hotel to the east (see photo below).
This is a view of Lake Yellowstone Hotel from Gull Point along Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park.
Grizzly Bears
In addition to the beautiful scenery and incredibly famous buildings and structures, the Yellowstone Lake Area in Yellowstone National Park is also home for a fair number of grizzly bears. This is evident at Fishing Bridge RV campground where they only allow hard-sided campers. Hopefully as you explore the Yellowstone Lake Area you'll get to see one of these magnificent animals (from a safe distance of course!)
Grizzly bear literally "walking" along the beach on Yellowstone Lake near the Yellowstone Lake Hotel in Yellowstone National Park.
River otters love Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park, and are frequently seen fishing for Yellowstone cutthroat trout near the shore.
Yellowstone Lake Area, Yellowstone National Park
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