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

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...

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

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

. 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, also known as the Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field, is a Quaternary caldera complex and volcanic plateau spanning parts of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. It is driven by the Yellowstone hotspot and is largely within Yel ...

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 Bridger (March 17, 1804 – July 17, 1881) was an American mountain man, Animal trapping, 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 ...

may have visited the lake in 1833, but 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-19t ...

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 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 long, in Wyoming and Montana. Its confluence with the Jefferson and Gallatin rivers near Three Forks, Montana forms the Missouri River. Course The Madison Ri ...

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, 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 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

Prior to 1890, Shoshone Lake was barren of fish as Lewis Falls on the Lewis River was a barrier to upstream migration. In 1890, fisheries personnel planted

Lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

and

Brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...

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 freshwater fish of the family Leuciscidae native to the western United States, where it is abundant in the upper Snake River basin and the Bonneville basin. The species name ''atraria'' references the lat ...

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 native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada. Two ecological forms of brook trout h ...

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

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling technique that uses an ultra-lightweight lure called an artificial fly, which typically mimics small invertebrates such as flying and aquatic insects to attract and catch fish. Because the mass of the fly lure is in ...

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 human-powered watercraft typically propelled by means of a long, double-bladed paddle. The word ''kayak'' originates from the Inuktitut word '' qajaq'' (). In British English, the kayak is also considered to be ...

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 paddles. In British English, the term ''canoe'' ca ...

. 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 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 near Craig Pass. 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

See also

Further reading

References