Our first and last days here we drove over to the Lake Yellowstone Hotel for a glass of wine and the view. Both the Lake and its namesake hotel are too notable to skip.
Lake Hotel, originally constructed in 1891, has undergone substantial renovation from 1903 through 1990. The Colonial Revival style now is center to east and west porticoes facing the Lake. The lobby area features a large fireplace with the dining room and sitting area just off to the left.
Yellowstone Lake is the largest lake (130 square miles) at high elevation (7,730 ft.) in North America. It is a natural lake formed by the collapsed caldera filled with spring runoff, snow melt, and rain. Here are some incredible numbers: 390 feet deep, 20 miles long, 14 miles wide, and 141 miles of shoreline. It is frozen nearly half the year freezing in late December or early January and thawing in late May or early June.
It was quite choppy on our initial visit, but calmed down later. It drains via the Yellowstone River northward finally dropping in elevation at LeHardy Rapids, (see Yellowstone Day 3).
Wade Village 