In July 2018, Scott and I visited western South Dakota and Wyoming. We were in search of alpine wildflowers in the mountains to the east of Yellowstone National Park. We were not disappointed.
Panayoti Kelaidis had recommended the trip on several locations. Panayoti, senior curator and director of outreach at Denver Botanic Gardens, was the San Diego Horticultural Society speaker in February of 2017. On his recommendation, we stayed at accommodations just outside of Cody, Wyoming. The site is high above the town with a wonderful view of the surrounding mountains. It also has its own cultivated garden, as well as a large hill behind the property covered with native plants.
Labyrinth at our accommodations near Cody, Wyoming
Cloud Peak Skyway Scenic Byway
Pasqueflower seed head covered in mist
Our first major encounter with alpine wildflowers was while driving the Cloud Peak Skyway Scenic Byway through the Bighorn National Forest on our way to Cody. As we got closer to byway's peak at the 9,666-foot Powder River Pass, we drove into dense fog and found out why the byway is named Cloud Peak. We were definitely in the clouds. After several miles of slow and blind driving, we decided to pull over for a bit and see if there were any flowers. Just a few feet from the road, we were in the middle of an alpine wildflower meadow. It was loaded with mule's ears (Wyethia mollis), lupine, Death Camas (Zigadenus venenosus), Pasqueflower (Anemone patens) seed heads, and countless other wildflowers and bunch grasses all dripping with condensation from the fog.
Powder River Pass
9666 Foot High Powder River Pass
As we came over the crest at Powder River Pass, the fog lifted to reveal that the large plants had given way to tundra. It too was loaded with wildflowers, but all in miniature as they were at most several inches tall. We saw forget-me-nots, Sedum, Phlox, lichen, mosses, and countless others.
At this elevation the harsh weather conditions and shallow soil discourages the growth of trees. Growing on the slopes of the pass are the fragile plants of the Alpine Tundra. These tiny plants survive by clinging to the thin rocky soil, which provides just enough water and nutrients. The Big Horn Mountains serve as a major watershed, providing water to ranchers, farmers, and communities in the valleys and basins to the east and west.
Forget-me-knots
Erigeron
Phlox
Powder River
Shell Canyon
Shell Creek cutting through ancient limeston-
Calochortus gunnisonii - Sego Lily
The next day, we set out to the mountain passes a bit further north. The highway there follows Shell Canyon. The lower walls of the canyon are limestone that was laid down over 500 million years ago. Towards the top of the road, there are some scenic waterfalls that cut through the colorful limestone. Being a bit drier landscape, there are fewer wildflowers, but still plenty to see, including sego lilies (Calochortusnuttallii), buckwheat, pink paintbrush, and Gaura.
Cabin Creek Picnic Ground
Scott at picnic stop among wildflowers and aspens and greenery
Frasera speciosa - Elkweed
Higher up, we stopped for lunch at the deserted Cabin Creek Picnic Ground and again found ourselves immersed in wildflower meadows set against a backdrop of white and black aspen trunks and surrounded by evergreen mountains. Here we found new species we hadn't seen at other locations, including Iris missouriensis, geraniums, Geum triflorum (prairie smoke), delphiniums, and a sea of dandelion seed heads. But most spectacular was Frasera speciosa (elkweed), each flower having a pale green calyx with four brown-spotted sepals borne on a tall inflorescence rising from a whorl of basil-pointed leaves. They hardly seemed real.
Medicine Wheel
Anemone patens - Paqueflower
We continued upward to Medicine Wheel, a native spiritual destination. It was in the parking lot there that we found the pale lavender pasque flower in bloom. We had seen the seed heads previously at the Cloud Peak Skyway covered in fog drip, but not the flowers. There was still some snow left in spots here, and again many varieties of wildflowers we hadn't encountered at previous stops.
Shooting Stars
Prairie Smoke
Mountain Phlox
March Marigold
Forget-me-knot
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Sedum and phlox
Frasera speciosa - growing in the high tundra
Beartooth Highway
Grasslands heading into the Beartooth Mountains
Yellow Bells - Frittaria pudica
The next day, we set out again for a scenic drive through the mountains and towards the northeast entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The Beartooth Highway starts just before entering Montana and was still blocked from snow, but we were able to enjoy some wonderful alpine lakes surrounded by melting snow and many fast-running streams. On the way down, we stopped to look at the view and watched a thunderstorm roll out of the distant mountains and eventually over us. We also heard the cry of a lone wolf at one of our stops. Again, there were different species of wildflowers, including yellow violas and golden orange and yellow snowdrops. We took a quick trip into Yellowstone and encountered a moose at our first stop.
Shoshone River
Shoshone River along the North Fork Highway
On our final day, we did a short drive towards the eastern entrance to Yellowstone along the Shoshone River through Buffalo Bill State Park and Buffalo Bill Reservoir. Above the river are red and yellow limestone spires and hoodoos that look like something you would more likely expect in the desert southwest than in Wyoming. We only had time for one stop at the river's edge, but there were still plenty of wildflowers to check out.
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