Picnic area · Yellowstone National Park
A lakeside picnic stop with a strenuous summit hike across the road.
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Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Yellowstone Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Yellowstone National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Yellowstone audio tourRecorded for this place
Avalanche Peak and Eleanor Lake“You're approaching Eleanor Lake, where the pullout also serves Avalanche Peak across the road.”
Plays as you drive up to Eleanor Lake Picnic Area in the Parkwolf Yellowstone Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“First time driving through a national park. We used the Yellowstone tour on grand loop Road and it’s just like having a tour guide in your car with you.”
Guide
At the west end of Eleanor Lake near Sylvan Pass, this is a small roadside picnic area where the water runs alongside the East Entrance Road. It works well for a lakeside meal or a short break, rather than a destination that needs much time. There are two picnic tables and a vault toilet.
The parking also serves the Avalanche Peak trailhead across the road. The hike is 4.2 miles round trip, climbs 2,100 feet, and is rated extremely strenuous; allow three to four hours. If you're stopping just for a picnic, know that this is a full summit climb, not a short walk from the tables.
Keep food, trash, coolers, and cooking gear in a bear-resistant container whenever they aren't in immediate use. Camp stoves and self-contained charcoal grills are allowed. Campfires are permitted only at picnic areas with fire grates, so check that one is present before lighting a fire. Overnight camping isn't allowed in picnic areas.
Wildlife
713 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
743 sightingsWolfMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
5,273 sightingsBisonMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
3,258 sightingsElkMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
397 sightingsMooseMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
1,494 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Yellowstone. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Parkwolf’s Yellowstone ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
