The structural features are the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and the garrison of Fort Yellowstone, around which, and in the vicinity of the springs, the landscape gardener has produced many beautiful effects. Here are found the most remarkable terrace-building hot springs in the world. The formation is calcareous, and the deposition by the waters has built up through the centuries cataracts in stone of indescribable beauty through which the paints from the earth have been mingled and blended with a vividness of coloring and a perfection of shading that none but the Master's hand could work. The waters are of such extraordinary transparency that the eye can only guess at their depth. They are held steaming and pulsating in great over-hanging bowls, from which they gently flow down over the stony cataracts, carving and decorating as they go. Jupiter and Pulpit Terraces are the master-pieces of Nature here; but there are hundreds of other curious and beautiful things to see. The drive to and from Norris is alive with interest. It leads through the Golden Gate, and on the way can be seen Obsidian Cliff, Roaring Mountain, Beaver and Twin Lakes and other attractive and curious features of topography. Mammoth Hotel untitled |