Snake River Cutoff Trail

The Snake River Cutoff Trail is a 3.4-mile point-to-point trail with an elevation of 443 feet located at Yellowstone National Park in northwestern Wyoming. It is an intermediate trail that is exclusive for hikers with no dogs allowed. Visitors are encouraged to bring their own drinking water or water filters to use on the water they may draw from the sources of water. The trail follows a path that meanders along the Snake River providing scenic views and spots for bird-watching, fishing, running and walking past wildflowers and rare species of flora. It is a moderately trafficked trail which is affected by the seasons as snow is retained beyond April but not enough to render it inaccessible.

Yellowstone National Park was commissioned on March 1, 1872, by President Ulysses S. Grant. The most notable aspects of this park are the geothermal features such as the Snake Hot springs that are around the Snake River and the Old Faithful geyser. There is an educational tour on the History that is given at Fort Yellowstone that tells of how expeditions had been carried out since the first by Cook-Folsom-Peterson in 1869. But it was not until 1876 that there was an expedition at Snake River by Lt. Gustavus C. Doane which was written off as a huge failure due to the extreme weather conditions that almost had the troops die of starvation.

The volcanic hotspot that created the snake river plain is one of the most attractive sites on the park with cliffs and canyons that were carved out during the Ice Age by glacial deposition. The Nez Perce and Shoshone were the dominant native groups living here before explorers came by. The trail and river got its name from the misinterpretation of the sign language used by the tribes to illustrate the art of weaving baskets. The Shoshone were nomadic while the Nez Perce were settlers who preferred farming and trading. Therefore, the Shoshone settled along the plain and rocky sides of the river to maintain their lifestyles while the Nez settles along the river basin to get water for their farming.

Back Country Post. (2020). Backpacking Yellowstone’s Snake River, Heart Lake and South Boundary Trail. Retrieved on February 24, 2020. From https://backcountrypost.com/threads/backpacking-yellowstones-snake-river-heart-lake-and-south-boundary-trail.6027/

Frommers. (2020). Things to do in Yellowstone National Park. Retrieved on February 24, 2020. From https://www.frommers.com/destinations/yellowstone-national-park

Hiking Project. (2020). Snake River Cutoff Trail. Retrieved on February 24, 2020. From https://www.hikingproject.com/trail/7008948/snake-river-cutoff-trail