Getting there
The route between Yellowstone’s North and Northeast entrances is generally open to regular vehicles year-round, though closures can happen. Check the park’s road status before setting out.
Overview
About Soda Butte Cone
Why stop
- Layered travertine and a wide Lamar Valley backdrop.
Heads up
- The modest cone is a brief stop; the landscape is the bigger draw.
Map
Where it is
Loading the Yellowstone map
Full mapPlan your stop
Before you go
Getting there
5 active Yellowstone alerts
- ClosureBiscuit Basin closed after hydrothermal explosionBiscuit Basin’s parking lot, boardwalk, and Firehole River are closed to all travel.Official details
- ClosureMost Yellowstone roads close to regular vehicles November 1Most Yellowstone roads and the West, South, and East entrances are scheduled to close to regular vehicles November 1, 2026, as the park prepares for winter operations.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Yellowstone Tour Guide
Hear Yellowstone as you drive it.
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
Soda Butte Cone0:00 / 0:17
“Up ahead is Soda Butte Cone, a modest hot-spring mound beside the road. Give it a few minutes for the layered rock and valley backdrop.”
Plays as you drive up to Soda Butte Cone in the Parkwolf Yellowstone Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Lamar River Trailhead and Cache Creek
- A Kingfisher’s Tunnel Nursery
- Trout Lake Trailhead
- Horns with a Yearly Change
- 243 audio storiesacross Yellowstone’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Wolf, Grizzly Bear, Bison, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 167 trails, 192 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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
More about Soda Butte Cone
A quick stop in Lamar ValleySoda Butte Cone is a small, mostly dormant hot-spring cone beside Yellowstone’s Northeast…
Soda Butte Cone is a small, mostly dormant hot-spring cone beside Yellowstone’s Northeast Entrance Road. It’s a brief roadside stop, not a geyser basin or a hike. The mound is modest, so I’d pause if you’re already driving this way; the valley and mountain backdrop may hold your attention longer than the cone itself.
The name gets the geology wrongThe pale layers are travertine, a calcium-carbonate deposit from hot-spring water, not soda ash.
The pale layers are travertine, a calcium-carbonate deposit from hot-spring water, not soda ash. Prospector A. Bart Henderson wrote about the mound in 1870 and named it for what he thought was soda water. His explanation was wrong, but “Soda Butte” stuck.
Look close, then look wideA close view brings out the cone’s layered terraces; step back in your framing to set it…
A close view brings out the cone’s layered terraces; step back in your framing to set it against the meadow and mountains. Morning or low-angle light can bring out more texture. Bison are sometimes spotted across the Lamar Valley, but treat them as a bonus, not a guarantee.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Yellowstone
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.
