YCC Trail

The walkway begins near Opal Terrace at the base of the Mammoth Hot Springs and travels south, closely paralleling the highway and terminates just over a mile away near the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) camp and NPS housing. Along the way it passes the Mammoth Corrals which offer guided horseback rides in the summer and the old Fort Yellowstone Cemetery where families of many US Cavalry soldiers are buried (most of the soldiers' remains were later moved to the Custer National Cemetery at Little Bighorn Battlefield). The Yellowstone Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) program offers young people between the ages of 15 and 18 a month-long residential program. Each summer 62 teen enrollees and staff work, learn, and recreate in Yellowstone National Park. The program is challenging, educational, and fun, and offers participants opportunities to expand their horizons while building work skills. Thanks to guidebook author, Tom Carter, for sharing this trail description. To learn more about visiting Yellowstone, check out his book, Day Hiking Yellowstone.