Traveling Huntleys

Inspiring travel stories, tips, and guides from a couple exploring the world one destination at a time.

Lamar Valley

Fishing Bridge, Yellowstone: The Bridge Closed to Fishing and the Trout Nobody Invited

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Last Updated: October 10, 2026

Since 1995 the National Park Service has killed more than three million trout in Yellowstone Lake on purpose. It does it with gillnets, from contracted boats, every summer, and the whole point of it is to save a different trout.

Fishing Bridge over the outlet of Yellowstone Lake where the Yellowstone River begins, June 11, 2022, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Fishing Bridge is where the lake turns into the Yellowstone River, and it is the place where that story is easiest to see. We spent a week here at the end of May and into June 2022, parked in the RV park just east of the bridge, and it snowed on us.

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Lamar Valley, Mammoth, and Norris Geyser Basin

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Last Updated: July 18, 2026

Lamar Valley from West Yellowstone is over a two-hour drive one way — but every mile of it rewards you with geothermal wonders, wildlife encounters, and sweeping fall scenery. In the past we’ve stayed in Gardiner at the north entrance, which puts Lamar Valley much closer. Along the way, Norris Geyser Basin, Terrace Spring, Beryl Spring, Gibbon Falls, and Mammoth Hot Springs all make excellent stops. Yellowstone National Park — established in 1872 as America’s first national park — never fails to astonish us, and autumn is one of the most magical times to visit.

Golden cottonwood trees reflecting fall foliage along the road to Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
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North Yellowstone & Gardiner, Montana

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Last Updated: May 25, 2026

We spent a full week in Gardiner, Montana, at the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park. It was the perfect base — a short drive to the entrance gate, and each morning we were greeted by elk and pronghorn antelope right along the road. We explored the park on multiple days, covering the Lamar Valley, Mammoth Hot Springs, Norris Geyser Basin, the Madison River corridor, and more thermal features than we could fit into one visit.

The Lamar River flowing through a wide, green valley with snow-capped mountains in the distance, northern Yellowstone National Park
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