Seven Mile Hole trail, YellowstoneNP
Seven Mile Hole trail in Yellowstone is a must do hike for people of all skills. From the NPS website: For the first 1-½ miles, you will walk near the canyon rim and have views of Silver Cord Cascade across the canyon. In another ½-mile, you will join the Washburn Spur Trail; after an additional ¾-mile turn right onto the trail to Seven Mile Hole, which drops more than 1,000 feet in 2.3 miles.
The hike is about 5 miles in and it goes all the way down to the Yellowstone river, so you will get a workout out of it.
You are going to get sporadic views of the river, don’t get frustrated, it will get better. You can see some openings next to the trail for views.
This waterfall has a name, I think its Silver Cord:
Then the trail enters a forested area …………
And you will hike past a nice meadow. Now, past this meadow there is an area of interest that I couldn’t visit since the area was flooded, Washburn Hot Springs, which I keep hearing that you should visit. The forested area is not thick, so you are able to see critters coming, if you know what I mean.
Just before you start going down, there are two areas of thermals. The first one is dormant:
The second area is quite active …
This second area looks very delicate and there is no way to approach the thermals. My rule is to stay on the grass, that is the only way to make sure you are on solid ground.
And then you need to cross a creek, very easy, to get to the river and there I spent about 30 minutes just enjoying the amazing views.
You have to visit the areas of the river where it is not tranquil (like all of the places next to the road) to appreciate it. I just picked a large rock to sit on and had a snack with the background noise of the river.
I think the whole hike took about five hours, plus the time I spent at the river resting. For those who want more, try the side trail to the Washburn Hot Spring on the way back.
Enjoy …..