JBtheExplorer
Native Gardener
I got home yesterday after spending two nights at Yellowstone Lake State Park in Wisconsin, not to be confused with Yellowstone National Park, although I'd love to go there some day.
This was my first time camping at this state park, so it was fun to explore a new place.
The main feature at this park is the 453 acre man-made lake. The lake was scenic, but sadly, the campground and all but one trail are away from the lake, so I didn't really get to enjoy it as much as I'd like. The best views of the lake are along a roadway.
Blue Vervain along Yellowstone Lake
The west side of the lake is treated as a waterfowl sanctuary. I saw a few herons and kingfishers.
I also saw this muskrat.
The east side of the lake leads to a dam, where it flows into the Yellowstone River.
The trails were fun to hike. Every trail in the park connects and intersects, so it's easy to hike just about anywhere in the park right from the campground.
The park is known for its bat population. It's home to over 4,000 bats, and 31 bat houses can be found in the park. I'm pretty sure I found all of them during my hikes. I saw a total of zero bats, though.
Plenty of plant species were blooming in the park.
Tall Bellflower was everywhere. I might look into adding this plant to my yard in the future.
A few species of goldenrod were blooming, including Stiff Goldenrod.
Butterflies were everywhere, although not very many monarchs. I saw fritillaries, pearl crescents, and endless swallowtails.
Here's a meadow full of Joe Pye Weed. Both sides of the trail looked like this.
There were some huge bumble bee mimics along one section of the trail. This is a fly, not a bee.
Here's some prairie habitat in or near Yellowstone Savanna State Natural Area #363. I don't know where the actual border of this SNA is, but I believe this may have been just south of the SNA.
The night time sky at YLSP was the best night sky I've ever seen. This photo does absolutely no justice to what could be seen. I'd love to camp here during the Perseid meteor shower some day. As someone who lives in the most developed part of the state, it's not often I get to see a sky filled with stars.
All in all, it was a fun trip. The park was nice but I can't help but to think that it could be so much better had it been planned better. I would've liked to see more trails along the lake. I think they really missed out on that. This photo of the lake was taken on the roadway, and it would've been so much more rewarding to hike to this spot while being surrounded by nature, rather than standing next to a guard rail as cars pass by.
I wish they would've had some longer trails, too. Most were under two miles long. I hiked about six miles and saw almost everything in one day. Some trails had better views of farmland rather than nature. Overall, I did enjoy the park. I really liked the easy access to all the trails within the park, and I think I'll definitely return some day.
I've got two more camping trips planned this year that I can hardly wait for.
This was my first time camping at this state park, so it was fun to explore a new place.
The main feature at this park is the 453 acre man-made lake. The lake was scenic, but sadly, the campground and all but one trail are away from the lake, so I didn't really get to enjoy it as much as I'd like. The best views of the lake are along a roadway.
Blue Vervain along Yellowstone Lake
The west side of the lake is treated as a waterfowl sanctuary. I saw a few herons and kingfishers.
I also saw this muskrat.
The east side of the lake leads to a dam, where it flows into the Yellowstone River.
The trails were fun to hike. Every trail in the park connects and intersects, so it's easy to hike just about anywhere in the park right from the campground.
The park is known for its bat population. It's home to over 4,000 bats, and 31 bat houses can be found in the park. I'm pretty sure I found all of them during my hikes. I saw a total of zero bats, though.
Plenty of plant species were blooming in the park.
Tall Bellflower was everywhere. I might look into adding this plant to my yard in the future.
A few species of goldenrod were blooming, including Stiff Goldenrod.
Butterflies were everywhere, although not very many monarchs. I saw fritillaries, pearl crescents, and endless swallowtails.
Here's a meadow full of Joe Pye Weed. Both sides of the trail looked like this.
There were some huge bumble bee mimics along one section of the trail. This is a fly, not a bee.
Here's some prairie habitat in or near Yellowstone Savanna State Natural Area #363. I don't know where the actual border of this SNA is, but I believe this may have been just south of the SNA.
The night time sky at YLSP was the best night sky I've ever seen. This photo does absolutely no justice to what could be seen. I'd love to camp here during the Perseid meteor shower some day. As someone who lives in the most developed part of the state, it's not often I get to see a sky filled with stars.
All in all, it was a fun trip. The park was nice but I can't help but to think that it could be so much better had it been planned better. I would've liked to see more trails along the lake. I think they really missed out on that. This photo of the lake was taken on the roadway, and it would've been so much more rewarding to hike to this spot while being surrounded by nature, rather than standing next to a guard rail as cars pass by.
I wish they would've had some longer trails, too. Most were under two miles long. I hiked about six miles and saw almost everything in one day. Some trails had better views of farmland rather than nature. Overall, I did enjoy the park. I really liked the easy access to all the trails within the park, and I think I'll definitely return some day.
I've got two more camping trips planned this year that I can hardly wait for.
