About
Yellowstone, established in 1872 as the world's first national park, sits atop the Yellowstone Supervolcano — a magma chamber that last erupted 640,000 years ago with a force 1,000x greater than Mount St. Helens. If it erupted today, it could cover North America in ash. Yellowstone contains over 10,000 geothermal features — including Old Faithful geyser — comprising half of the world's total.
The park hosts grizzly bears, wolves (reintroduced in 1995, with transformational ecological effects), bison, elk, and pronghorn. Wolf reintroduction triggered a 'trophic cascade' — wolves hunted elk, allowing riverbank vegetation to recover, which changed river courses — demonstrating how a single species can reshape an entire ecosystem.
# Top 10 Yellowstone National Park facts
- 1Yellowstone sits atop a supervolcano whose last eruption 640,000 years ago would have devastated North America
- 2The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone in 1995 changed the course of rivers — through a cascade of ecological effects
- 3Old Faithful erupts approximately every 90 minutes — it has done so for over 150 years of recorded observations
Fascinating Facts
- ◆Yellowstone sits atop a supervolcano whose last eruption 640,000 years ago would have devastated North America
- ◆The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone in 1995 changed the course of rivers — through a cascade of ecological effects
- ◆Old Faithful erupts approximately every 90 minutes — it has done so for over 150 years of recorded observations
More in Places4 related
7
Places
Great Wall of China
The greatest architectural achievement in human history — 21,000 km of stone and history.
Interest91/100
33
Places
The Great Pyramid of Giza
Built 4,500 years ago — still one of the largest structures ever constructed.
Interest85/100
38
Places
Taj Mahal
A monument to love — the world's most beautiful building took 22 years to build.
Interest84/100
17
Places
Machu Picchu
The lost city of the Incas — a masterpiece of engineering above the clouds.
Interest82/100