Sight · Yellowstone National Park
A small lake with a snowmelt-dependent two-ocean story.
Overview
Map
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
Isa Lake and Craig Pass“You're approaching Isa Lake at Craig Pass, where the road crosses the Continental Divide. This is a quick stop for the small lake and the Divide marker.”
Plays as you drive up to Isa Lake and Continental Divide 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
Isa Lake is a small lake where the Grand Loop Road crosses the Continental Divide at Craig Pass, 8,262 feet above sea level. Between Old Faithful and West Thumb, it makes a quick roadside stop: pull into the turnout, look across the low bridge and lake, and read the Divide marker. This is a few minutes for the view and the geography story, not a long walk.
Isa Lake is known for a possible drainage split toward the Pacific and Atlantic basins. It probably drained naturally in both directions in the past; if it still happens, it may be only at peak snowmelt after a deep-snow winter. Treat the split as a rare possibility, not something you can count on seeing. The lake and marker are the dependable parts of the stop.
A 1905 place-name book credits the name to Miss Isabel Jelke of Cincinnati, but offers no reason for the honor. Yellow pond lilies can flower around the water, and visitors have also spotted ducks, though neither is guaranteed on your visit.
From the pullout, include the low road bridge and Continental Divide marker with the water. The bridge shows how the road crosses the narrow lake; if the lilies are flowering, use them along the near edge of the frame.
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.
Keep exploring
ModerateDivide Trail3.4 mi · 2.3 hr · 0.9 mi awayA 3.4-mile out-and-back to a former fire lookout site.
ModerateSpring Creek Trail8 mi · 4 hr · 0.9 mi awayAn old stagecoach road follows the creek to the Firehole.
EasyDeLacy Creek Trail5.8 mi · 4 hr · 1 mi awayEasy meadows lead to remote Shoshone Lake.
ModerateNorth Shore Shoshone Lake Trail8.3 mi · 6 hr · 2.6 mi awayA remote one-way walk from lake beach into lodgepole forest.
ModeratePocket Lake Trail2.4 mi · 2 hr · 3.1 mi awayA steep forest trail reaches a small backcountry lake.
EasyLone Star Geyser Trail4.8 mi · 2.5 hr · 4.2 mi awayEasy Firehole River walk to a geyser with roughly three-hour eruptions.
ChallengingShoshone Geyser Basin Trail17 mi · 8.5 hr · 4.2 mi awayMore than 80 geysers, with no boardwalks and a long hike in.
Picnic area · 1.2 mi awayDeLacy Creek Picnic AreaA handy picnic stop at Craig Pass with a vault toilet.
Picnic area · 1.9 mi awaySpring Creek Picnic AreaCraig Pass picnic break with nine tables and two fire grates
Sight · 4.3 mi awayKepler CascadesThree tiers of Firehole water tumbling into a wooded ravine.
Picnic area · 4.3 mi awayEast Divide Picnic AreaA simple picnic stop with 14 tables and a vault toilet.
Sight · 4.6 mi awayLone Star Geyser4.8-mile river walk to a geyser whose eruptions average three hours apart.Parkwolf’s Yellowstone ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
