Grebe Lake is a backcountry lake in

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 ...

most noted for its population of

Arctic grayling The Arctic grayling (''Thymallus arcticus'') is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family Salmonidae. ''T. arcticus'' is widespread throughout the Arctic and Pacific drainages in Canada, Alaska, and Siberia, as well as the upper Misso ...

. Grebe Lake comprises 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 ...

. Grebe Lake is located approximately north of the Norris-Canyon 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 ...

. The trail to the lake passes through mostly level

Lodgepole Pine ''Pinus contorta'', with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpine, ...

forest and open meadows. The lake was named by J.P. Iddings, a geologist with the

Arnold Hague Arnold Hague (December 3, 1840 in Boston, Massachusetts – May 14, 1917 in Washington, D.C.) was a United States geologist who did many geological surveys in the U.S., of which the best known was that for Yellowstone National Park. He also had as ...

geologic surveys. There are four backcountry campsites located on the lake.

Arctic grayling

In 1921, U.S. Fish Commission personnel stocked Grebe Lake, at that time fishless, with the Montana strain ''Thymallus arcticus montanus'' of a

lacustrine A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

form of Arctic Grayling. The original stocks came from Georgetown Lake near

Anaconda, Montana Anaconda, county seat of Deer Lodge County, which has a consolidated city-county government, is located in southwestern Montana, United States. Located at the foot of the Anaconda Range (known locally as the "Pintlers"), the Continental Divid ...

. The

fluvial In geography and geology, fluvial processes are associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them. When the stream or rivers are associated with glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps, the term glaciofluvial or fluviog ...

form of Arctic Grayling was native to the

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

and

s below

Gibbon Falls Gibbon Falls is a waterfall on the Gibbon River in northwestern Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Gibbon Falls has a drop of approximately . The falls are located roadside, upstream from the confluence of the Gibbon and Firehole Ri ...

. In an effort to re-establish grayling in western states, over 72 million grayling eggs were harvested from Grebe Lake between 1931 and 1956 and distributed to hatcheries. Most lake dwelling grayling in the west today can be genetically traced to the Grebe Lake stocks. Grebe Lake was closed to fishing until 1944 because of the fish culture operations at the lake. Wolf Lake west and Cascade Lake east also contain grayling.

Angling

Grebe Lake used to hold both lacustrine arctic grayling and

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...

. In 2017, the NPS embarked on a three-year fish restoration project in the upper Gibbon river watershed to remove all non-native trout and grayling. Grebe lake and its tributaries were poisoned with

rotenone Rotenone is an odorless, colorless, crystalline isoflavone used as a broad-spectrum insecticide, piscicide, and pesticide. It occurs naturally in the seeds and stems of several plants, such as the jicama vine plant, and the roots of several member ...

in the summer of 2017 to remove the grayling and rainbow trout.

Westslope cutthroat trout The westslope cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi''), also known as the black-spotted trout, common cutthroat trout and red-throated trout is a subspecies of the cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarkii'') and is a freshwater fish in t ...

and

arctic grayling were planted in the lake. Both are native to the Gibbon watershed below Gibbon Falls but not indigenous to the upper Gibbon watershed. The NPS hopes to establish a refuge for these species in the upper Gibbon watershed. The lake is a popular summer angling destination for park visitors. Although the lake can be fished from shore, many anglers carry in

float tube A float tube, also known as a belly boat or kick boat, is a small, lightweight inflatable fishing craft which anglers use to fish from. They were originally doughnut-shaped boats with an underwater seat in the "hole." Modern designs include a V- ...

s to access the deeper portions of the lake. Using a float tube on Yellowstone lakes requires a park service boating permit.Yellowstone National Park Boating Regulations
/ref> The lake is open to angling during the entire Yellowstone season (end of May to early November) but generally cannot be easily accessed until mid June because of snow on the trail. The trailhead to Grebe Lake is approximately west of Canyon on the Norris to Canyon road .

Notes

{{authority control Lakes of Wyoming Bodies of water of Park County, Wyoming Lakes of Yellowstone National Park

Arctic grayling

Angling

See also

Notes