There are nine named

plateaus In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...

. These plateaus are part of the much larger

Yellowstone Plateau The Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field, also known as the Yellowstone Supervolcano or the Yellowstone Volcano, is a complex volcano, volcanic plateau and volcanic field located mostly in the western U.S. state of Wyoming but also stretches into I ...

and dominate areas in the park south and west of the Gallatin and Absaroka mountain ranges. Four of the plateaus are from

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral ...

lava flows that occurred between 110,000 and 70,000 years ago. * Blacktail Deer Plateau , ** Traversed by the Mammoth to Tower section of the

Grand Loop Road The Grand Loop Road is a historic district which encompasses the primary road system in Yellowstone National Park. Much of the system was originally planned by Captain Hiram M. Chittenden of the US Army Corps of Engineers in the early days of t ...

, Blacktail Deer Plateau is one of the most accessible plateaus in the park. Blacktail Deer Plateau takes its name from Blacktail Deer Creek which flows off the plateau. Named by prospectors well before the park's creation in 1872, the name is probably attributable to the then prevalent

Blacktail deer Two forms of black-tailed deer or blacktail deer that occupy coastal woodlands in the Pacific Northwest of North America are subspecies of the mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus''). They have sometimes been treated as a species, but virtually all r ...

of the area. * Buffalo Plateau , ** The Buffalo Plateau straddles the Montana-Wyoming border north of the Lamar Valley and west of Slough Creek in the park's northern range. Named in 1870, before the park's creation, by prospectors Bart Henderson, James Gourley, Adam Miller and Ed Hibbard for the herds of Buffalo prevalent on the plateau. The plateau is traversed by the Buffalo Plateau trail on the west and the Buffalo Fork Trail on the east. * Central Plateau , ** The Central Plateau separates the

Hayden Valley Hayden Valley is a large, sub-alpine valley in Yellowstone National Park straddling the Yellowstone River between Yellowstone Falls and Yellowstone Lake. The valley floor along the river is an ancient lake bed from a time when Yellowstone Lake wa ...

and

Yellowstone River The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the Western United States. Considered the principal tributary of upper Missouri, via its own tributaries it drains an area with headwaters across the mountains an ...

drainage on the east from the

Lower Geyser Basin The geothermal areas of Yellowstone include several geyser basins in Yellowstone National Park as well as other geothermal features such as hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles. The number of thermal features in Yellowstone is estimated at 10, ...

and the

Madison River The Madison River is a headwater tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 183 miles (295 km) long, in Wyoming and Montana. Its confluence with the Jefferson and Gallatin rivers near Three Forks, Montana forms the Missouri River. The ...

drainage on the west. * Madison Plateau , ** The Madison Plateau, the largest of the named plateaus, lies south of the

and west of the Upper and

s. It extends south from the Madison River to the Continental Divide and west to the park border. The Plateau is virtually inaccessible because only one trail, the Summit Lake Trail, traverses the plateau east to west. The Fairy Creek Trail penetrates the eastern edge of the plateau on its way to Fairy Falls and Little Firehole Meadows. * Mirror Plateau , ** The Mirror Plateau is a remote plateau west of the upper

Lamar River The Lamar River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, approximately long, in northwestern Wyoming in the United States. The river is located entirely within Yellowstone National Park. History Prior to the 1884–85 Geological Survey of the ...

and is in the headwaters of Pelican Creek which flows into

Yellowstone Lake Yellowstone Lake is the largest body of water in Yellowstone National Park. The lake is above sea level and covers with of shoreline. While the average depth of the lake is , its greatest depth is at least . Yellowstone Lake is the largest fre ...

. The Plateau takes its name from Mirror Lake, originally named Divide Lake because it separates the Lamar and Pelican Creek drainages. During the 1878 Geological Survey,

Ferdinand V. Hayden Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden (September 7, 1829 – December 22, 1887) was an American geologist noted for his pioneering surveying expeditions of the Rocky Mountains in the late 19th century. He was also a physician who served with the Union Ar ...

named this lake—Mirror Lake for its propensity to mirror or reflect the surrounding terrain. * Pitchstone Plateau , ** The Pitchstone Plateau, named after the lava

pitchstone Pitchstone is a dark coloured, glassy volcanic rock formed when felsic lava or magma cools quickly. Since it is a volcanic glass, pitchstone may have a conchoidal fracture. Pitchstones may also contain phenocrysts, in which case it is a form of v ...

, occupies the southwest corner of the park in the Bechler and

Fall River Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state. Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...

drainages. The

lava flows that created the plateau occurred about 70,000 years ago. * Solfatara Plateau , ** Solfatara is a small plateau in the headwaters of the

Gibbon River The Gibbon River flows east of the Continental Divide in Yellowstone National Park, in northwestern Wyoming, the Northwestern United States. Along with the Firehole River, it is a major tributary of the Madison River, which itself is a tributary ...

. It lies just west of Canyon and south of

Grebe Lake Grebe Lake is a backcountry lake in Yellowstone National Park most noted for its population of Arctic grayling. Grebe Lake comprises the headwaters of the Gibbon River. Grebe Lake is located approximately north of the Norris-Canyon section of t ...

. It was named in 1883 by geologist Walter Weed for a solfatara, a thermal vent that emits hydrogen sulfide, steam and other gases. The Plateau is bounded by the Norris-Canyon road on the south and Wolf Lake-Cascade Lake trails on the north. The Grebe Lake trail crosses the center of the plateau. * Trident Plateau , ** Trident is a small, remote plateau in the southeast corner of park in the headwaters of the

east of The Trident. It extends east into the Teton National Forest in Wyoming. The Trident was named by geologist Arnold Hague in 1885 because it resembled a three pronged Trident. * Two Ocean Plateau , **Two Ocean Plateau is named for the fact the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

crosses it, with precipitation on the plateau reaching either the Pacific Ocean or Gulf of Mexico. One creek flows south and eventually splits on the Divide at the

Parting of the Waters Parting may refer to: *Parting (film), ''Parting'' (film), a 2016 Afghan-Iranian film *Parting.com, a funeral home directory *Parting tradition *Cleavage (crystal)#Parting *Side-parting, a common male hairstyle: see Regular haircut *PartinG (gamer ...

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Notes

{{Wyoming Plateaus of the United States Landforms of Yellowstone National Park Volcanic fields of Wyoming Geology of Wyoming

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See also

Notes