The trail leading to backcountry campsites on the banks of Hellroaring Creek (and on into the Gallatin National Forest in Montana, outside of Yellowstone's boundaries) is a nice hike that includes varied terrain and a suspension bridge high above the Yellowstone River.
The highlight of the day, however, had to be on the way into the park, when we were caught in a bison stampede (luckily while still in the car).
As we drove through the Lamar Valley along the Northeast Entrance Road, about 50 to 60
cow, calf and yearling bison were running along the road directly toward us. As they approached the car, they split to either side, some so close we could have reached out and touched them.
Bison are easy to spot in the park, and a lot of the time you can see them up close alongside (or even in the middle of) the roads from your car, but this is the first time I'd ever been in the middle of a stampede.
The Hellroaring Creek Trailhead is a few miles west of Tower Junction on the Tower-Madison road. It's in the north-central part of the park, less than 10 miles south of the Montana border. There are
many trails that crisscross the area, so I'm going to focus on the route we took.
The trail immediately descends 600 hundred feet in one mile down a steep slope and through a lodgepole forest before crossing the Black Canyon of the Yellowstone via the Yellowstone River Suspension Bridge.
After crossing the bridge, the path winds through more lodgepole forest and a small, rocky valley before opening into a vast sagebrush plateau dominated by rocky Hellroaring Mountain in the distance to the north.
After crossing the sagebrush plain for about a mile, the trail forks at the Hellroaring Creek, which at this point can be heard but not seen. The left fork (west) parallels the creek to several backcountry campsites a short distance away before dead-ending at the junction of Hellroaring Creek and the Yellowstone River.
The right fork (northeast), which we took, also follows Hellroaring Creek to several backcountry campsites and continues on outside of the park into the Gallatin National Forest in Montana. We followed this trail until we hit the bridge crossing the creek, about 1.8 miles past the fork in the trail.
The creek is aptly named, especially after a wet, rainy June. It's so loud you have to yell and sounds just like a waterfall.
From trailhead to the bridge across Hellroaring Creek and back was 7.2 miles, the most difficult part being the ascent back up the slope near the trailhead (especially coming at the end of the hike). Most of the hike is at about 6,000 feet, although, so it's not a high-elevation trail, by Yellowstone standards.