Yellowstone Day 11
The Smoke Has Arrived
The smoke from all the fires in the area, including the 3300 acre Lone Star fire in Yellowstone, appeared here this morning. We were planning to hike today so rather than driving into the park, we elected to try a local hike near the RV park we are staying in.
We found a hike about 7 miles away and headed out to check it out.
Box Canyon Hike
We found this the Box Canyon Hike on AllTrails. The hike was great, no disappointments. When we arrived at the trailhead the parking area was quite full, but as we hiked the trail pretty quiet with the exception of a ‘friends group’ we came across on the trail. This was a large group of young hikers from Utah. Apparently they used several vehicles to travel with, and were the source of the crowded parking area.
The hike started at a dam, Buffalo Hydro Electric Plant, and followed the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River to another parking area downriver. Shortly after starting the hike we cam across spur trails leading to Box Canyon Campground. This campground is very clean and well managed with room for rvs (dry camping) in the campsites. It was very low occupancy when we checked it out.
The hike was a nice contrast to the Yellowstone landscape we experienced which is much more open. This hike is in a heavily wooded area, and the fall colors were getting started. Lots of birds, some a new species for us.
There were kayakers going down the river. We saw the put-in near the dam when we returned to our starting point. It would be a great paddle if you had a two vehicles so you could leave on at the take-out.
We really enjoyed this hike and it was great to not have to drive into Yellowstone to get a good hike in.