Saturday, July 25, 2009

Hot Springs State Park

Near Thermopolis is Hot Springs State Park. We had to stop by there to go to the State Bath House to sign for a key to go to Legend Rock.

Thermopolis (Greek for "Hot City") derived its name from the hot water that comes from Big Spring. The turquoise and green mineral laden spring issues 3.6 million gallons of water per day at a scorching temperature of 127 degrees. The water from this spring contains at least 27 different minerals, some say, making it very healthful to drink.

In 1896 a treaty was signed with the Shoshone and Arapaho, which gave the public use of one of the largest mineral hot springs in the world. The hot springs was known as having "healing water". There is no fee for using the State Bath House.

While there we decided to eat our picnic lunch and discovered this squirrel watching us eat. We threw him an apple core and apparently he loved it since he grabbed it and took off.
There is also a buffalo herd in the park and we took a few minutes to see if we could spot any and we did. We loved the napping guy.

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