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Photo: The Continental Divide Sign
Related
- Point of Interest: Craig Pass
- Park: Yellowstone National Park
Section: Photo
The Continental Divide
It is not easy to distinguish the Continental Divide from other mountain ridges. Water flow is sometimes the only clue.
From this snow-fed hollow, Isa Lake drains in two different directions - from directly astride the Divide. Isa'a west arm feeds the Firehole River on its way to the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers and Gulf of Mexico. The lake's east outlet leads to the Snake and Columbia Rivers and the Pacific Ocean via Yellowstone's Shoshone Lake and Lewis River.
A Two-Ocean Lake
You are standing at the peaked roof of the continent and the upper watershed for two of the nation's most extensive drainage systems - the Snake and Columbia River, and the Missouri and Mississippi.
The great rivers begin with little drama. Except during spring runoff, Isa Lake's water flow is mostly seepage.