Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway
Yellowstone National Park, WY

The osprey soared over Yellowstone Falls, then hovered against the blue sky thousands of feet above the canyon floor. Slowly it descended below the rim, its mottled brown feathers becoming almost invisible against the yellow rocks of the canyon wall.

Viewed from high atop Mt. Washburn, a summer squall rolled slowly down the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. To the north, lightning crackled off the Beartooths, as an icy rain pelted the Mt. Washburn lookout into which groups of hikers huddled. Within minutes, the storm passed and the sun burst through the dark clouds.

A pair of Sandhill Cranes strutted in the grasses along the Gibbon River, their red-knobbed heads bobbing up and down. Suddenly they spread their mighty wings and glided smoothly down the river.

You are skiing through frigid air, then suddenly enveloped in steam escaping from deep within the Earth. All around you is a world of white. Waterfalls hang suspended as walls of ice, their ripples tricking the eyes with reflecting light. A geyser unleashes a torrential plume, boiling water crashing into the arctic temperatures.

These are the scenes that entice millions to visit Yellowstone. Straddling the Continental Divide where Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana meet, the park is truly a "Wonderland" for anyone from the casual tourist to the avid outdoorsman.