Shoshone Lake is a U.S. backcountry lake with the area of elevated at in the southwest section of

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 ...

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

. It lies at the headwaters of the Lewis River a tributary of the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...

. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service believes that Shoshone Lake is the largest backcountry lake in the lower 48 states that cannot be reached by a road. The

Yellowstone Caldera The Yellowstone Caldera, sometimes referred to as the Yellowstone Supervolcano, is a volcanic caldera and supervolcano in Yellowstone National Park in the Western United States. The caldera and most of the park are located in the northwest corn ...

is located within the lak

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History

Shoshone Lake has had many names since it was first viewed by fur trappers in the early 19th century.

Jim Bridger James Felix "Jim" Bridger (March 17, 1804 – July 17, 1881) was an American mountain man, trapper, Army scout, and wilderness guide who explored and trapped in the Western United States in the first half of the 19th century. He was known as Old ...

may have visited the lake in 1833, but certainly visited it in 1846. Trapper

Osborne Russell Osborne Russell (19 June 1814 – 1 May 1884) was a mountain man and politician who helped form the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. He was born in Maine. Early life Osborne Russell was born 19 June 1814, in the village of Bowdoinha ...

visited the lake in 1839. During this period the lake was called Snake Lake. A map created by Father

Pierre-Jean De Smet Pierre-Jean De Smet, SJ ( ; 30 January 1801 – 23 May 1873), also known as Pieter-Jan De Smet, was a Flemish Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He is known primarily for his widespread missionary work in the mid-19th ...

in 1851 showed the lake as DeSmet's Lake. Walter DeLacy, the Montana map maker named the lake DeLacy's Lake when he passed through the area in 1863. During the

Cook–Folsom–Peterson Expedition The Cook–Folsom–Peterson Expedition of 1869 was the first organized expedition to explore the region that became Yellowstone National Park. The privately financed expedition was carried out by David E. Folsom, Charles W. Cook and William Pete ...

, the party camped at the north end of the lake on 29 September 1869, but did not refer to it by name in their journals. They did however incorrectly believe at the time that Shoshone Lake was the source of the Firehole and

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 ...

s. The belief that Shoshone Lake was the headwater lake for the Madison drainage continued during the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition in 1871. They viewed the lake to the south as they crossed 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 ...

on 17 September 1870. Cornelius Hedges, a member of the Washburn expedition named the lake Washburn Lake to honor the expedition leader

Henry D. Washburn Henry Dana Washburn (March 28, 1832 – January 26, 1871) was a U.S. Representative from Indiana and a colonel and was breveted twice as brigadier general and major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Biography Born in Wood ...

, but that name was short-lived. A. C. Peale of the

Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 The Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 explored the region of northwestern Wyoming that later became Yellowstone National Park in 1872. It was led by geologist Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden. The 1871 survey was not Hayden's first, but it was the first ...

visited Shoshone Lake in August 1871 but referred to it as Madison Lake. During the Hayden Geologic Survey of 1872, Frank Bradley, a member of the survey confirmed the lake was in the

drainage and named the lake Shoshone Lake based on the Indian name of the Snake River.

Shoshone Geyser Basin

Located at the southwest end of the lake, the

Shoshone 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 10,0 ...

contains one of the highest concentrations of geysers in the world - more than 80 in an area by . Hot springs and mudpots dot the landscape between the geyser basin and the lake. Union Geyser-Beal1955

Angling Shoshone Lake

Prior to 1890, Shoshone Lake was barren of fish as

Lewis Falls The Lewis Falls are located on the Lewis River in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, United States. The falls drop approximately and are easily seen from the road, halfway between the south entrance to the park and Grant Village. The falls are ...

on the Lewis River was a barrier to upstream migration. In 1890, fisheries personnel planted

Lake 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 large ...

and

Brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...

and created a popular fishery, especially for large Brown trout in the fall. The lake also contains the

Utah chub The Utah chub (''Gila atraria'') is a cyprinid fish native to western North America, where it is abundant in the upper Snake River and throughout the Lake Bonneville basin. This chub generally follows the cyprinid body plan. Its dorsal fin lie ...

which was probably inadvertently introduced by bait anglers in the 1950s.

Brook Trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere ...

were planted in several tributary streams and are occasionally found in the lake. Angling is restricted to

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly diffe ...

or artificial lures. Boating on Shoshone Lake is restricted to hand-powered craft only, which means

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- ...

Kayaks A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word '' qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each s ...

Canoes A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

. Anglers may take up to five non-native trout, but only one brown trout. The lake is accessible by water via Lewis Lake and the Lewis River channel. Several trails provide access to the western, northern and eastern shoreline of the lake. The Shoshone Lake trail connects the

Upper 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 Lewis River channel while passing through the Shoshone Geyser Basin at the southwest end of the lake. The DeLacy Creek trail provides access to the northern and eastern shoreline via 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 ...

near

Craig Pass Craig Pass (el.), is a mountain pass located on the Continental Divide in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. The Grand Loop Road crosses the pass approximately east of Old Faithful Geyser. The pass was named by Hiram Chittenden for Ida M. Cra ...

. The Dogshead trail and Lewis River Channel trail provide access from the south entrance road near Lewis Lake. There are 20 backcountry campsites on Shoshone Lake. File:Lake Shoshone.JPG, Shoshone Lake File:ShoshoneLakeYNP1970.jpg, Sunset, 1970 File:LewisRiverChannelShoshoneLake1989.jpg, Lewis River Channel Outlet, 1989

References

{{authority control Lakes of Yellowstone National Park Lakes of Wyoming Lakes of Teton County, Wyoming

History

Shoshone Geyser Basin

Angling Shoshone Lake

See also

Further reading

References