Grebe Lake is a backcountry lake in

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...

most noted for its population of

Arctic grayling The Arctic grayling (''Thymallus arcticus'') is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family Salmonidae. ''T. arcticus'' is widespread throughout the Arctic and Pacific drainages in Canada, Alaska, and Siberia, as well as the upper Missou ...

. Grebe Lake comprises the headwaters of the Gibbon River. Grebe Lake is located approximately north of the Norris-Canyon section of the Grand Loop Road. The trail to the lake passes through mostly level

Lodgepole Pine ''Pinus contorta'', with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpin ...

forest and open meadows. The lake was named by J.P. Iddings, a geologist with the Arnold Hague geologic surveys. There are four backcountry campsites located on the lake.

Arctic grayling

In 1921, U.S. Fish Commission personnel stocked Grebe Lake, at that time fishless, with the Montana strain ''Thymallus arcticus montanus'' of a

lacustrine A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

form of Arctic Grayling. The original stocks came from Georgetown Lake near

Anaconda, Montana Anaconda, county seat of Deer Lodge County, Montana, Deer Lodge County, which has a consolidated city-county government, is located in southwestern Montana, United States. Located at the foot of the Anaconda Range (known locally as the "Pintle ...

. The

fluvial A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it ru ...

form of Arctic Grayling was native to the Madison and Gibbon Rivers below Gibbon Falls. In an effort to re-establish grayling in western states, over 72 million grayling eggs were harvested from Grebe Lake between 1931 and 1956 and distributed to hatcheries. Most lake dwelling grayling in the west today can be genetically traced to the Grebe Lake stocks. Grebe Lake was closed to fishing until 1944 because of the fish culture operations at the lake. Wolf Lake west and Cascade Lake east also contain grayling.

Angling

Grebe Lake used to hold both lacustrine arctic grayling and

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...

. In 2017, the NPS embarked on a three-year fish restoration project in the upper Gibbon river watershed to remove all non-native trout and grayling. Grebe lake and its tributaries were poisoned with

rotenone Rotenone is an odorless, colorless, crystalline isoflavone. It occurs naturally in the seeds and stems of several plants, such as the jicama vine, and in the roots of several other members of the Fabaceae. It was the first-described member of the ...

in the summer of 2017 to remove the grayling and rainbow trout.

Westslope cutthroat trout The Westslope cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus lewisi'')Page, Lawrence M.; Bemis, Katherine E.; Espinosa-Pérez, Héctor S.; Findley, Lloyd T.; Gilbert, Carter R.; Hartel, Karsten E.; Lea, Robert N.; Mandrak, Nicholas E.; Neighbors, Margaret A. ( ...

and

arctic grayling were planted in the lake. Both are native to the Gibbon watershed below Gibbon Falls but not indigenous to the upper Gibbon watershed. The NPS hopes to establish a refuge for these species in the upper Gibbon watershed. The lake is a popular summer angling destination for park visitors. Although the lake can be fished from shore, many anglers carry in

float tube A float tube, also known as a belly boat or kick boat, is a small, lightweight inflatable fishing craft which anglers use to fish from. They were originally doughnut-shaped boats with an underwater seat in the "hole." Modern designs include a V- ...

s to access the deeper portions of the lake. Using a float tube on Yellowstone lakes requires a park service boating permit.Yellowstone National Park Boating Regulations
/ref> The lake is open to angling during the entire Yellowstone season (end of May to early November) but generally cannot be easily accessed until mid June because of snow on the trail. The trailhead to Grebe Lake is approximately west of Canyon on the Norris to Canyon road .

Notes

{{authority control Lakes of Wyoming Bodies of water of Park County, Wyoming Lakes of Yellowstone National Park

Arctic grayling

Angling

See also

Notes