Steamboat Point Overlook - Wyoming
Posted by: 
Volcanoguy
N 44° 31.805 W 110° 17.838
12T E 555834 N 4930990
The Steamboat Point Overlook along Yellowstone Lake at Yellowstone National Park.
Waymark Code: WMDNA4
Location: Wyoming, United States
Date Posted: 02/04/2012
Views: 28
The Steamboat Point Overlook is located about 7 miles east of Lake Junction along the East Entrance Road in Yellowstone National Park. At the overlook there is an interpretive sign titled “Hot Lake Bed.” Across the bottom of the sign is an image with various locations identified.
Text of sign:
“The surface water is cold enough to kill by hypothermia; the lake bed beneath is a geologic hot spot. At the bottom of Mary Bay, to your right, heat flow measurements are among the highest recorded in the park.
Lake bed thermals are not visible from here in summer but there are clues on shore. From steam vents (patches of bare, bleached ground) in the hills to the northwest, a fracture line runs straight through the lake bed and across Steamboat Point, conducting heat from deep magma chambers. Puffs of steam and recent earthquakes are evidence of ongoing instability.
While driving around the lake look for dramatic examples of steaming shoreline near West Thumb. Thermal activity is Yellowstone’s volatile subconscious always threatening to surface - the monster in the basement, the catastrophe waiting to happen. Mary Bay, like nearby Indian Pond, is a hydrothermal explosion crater.”
Describe - Highway or Road number: Yellowstone East Entrance Road - U.S. Hwy. 20
Closest town or city: Cody, Wyoming
Number of parking spots available: 10
Winter View: no
Summer View: yes
Year around access ?: no
Comfort station on site: no
Is a photo of an "Information Sign"included?: Yes
Name if a website describes this location.: Not listed
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