Crawfish Creek is a short stream

Stream

A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...

 in Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...

 in the U.S state of Wyoming

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

  This watercourse is known for its unusually warm temperatures compared to other surface water bodies in Wyoming; these elevated temperatures enable crawfish to thrive in the water. Summer water temperatures are in the range of 22 to 24 degrees Celsius; pH

PH

In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...

 levels are typically about 9.1, or somewhat alkaline. The warm waters come from a southern portion of the Yellowstone volcanic zone which produces hot water from hot springs

Hot Springs

Hot Springs may refer to:* Hot Springs, Arkansas** Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas*Hot Springs, California**Hot Springs, Lassen County, California**Hot Springs, Modoc County, California**Hot Springs, Placer County, California...

 and fumarole

Fumarole

A fumarole is an opening in a planet's crust, often in the neighborhood of volcanoes, which emits steam and gases such as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrochloric acid, and hydrogen sulfide. The steam is created when superheated water turns to steam as its pressure drops when it emerges from...

s in the area. The stream feeds into the Lewis River

Lewis River (Wyoming)

The Lewis River is an tributary of the Snake River. The entire course of the river is located within the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. The river is named for Meriwether Lewis, commander of the Lewis and Clark Expedition....

 just south of the Lewis River Canyon and just before the Lewis River converges with the Snake River

Snake River

The Snake is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean...

.

30 feet (9.1 m) Moose Falls

Moose Falls

Moose Falls is a plunge type waterfall on Crawfish Creek in Yellowstone National Park. The waterfall was named in 1885 by members of the Arnold Hague Geologic Survey for the plentiful moose found in the southern sections of the park. The falls are just west of south entrance road via an easy...

 is located 75 yards (68.6 m) upstream from the Crawfish Creek confluence with the Lewis River.

The watershed of Crawfish Creek is densely forested with lodgepole pine

Lodgepole Pine

Lodgepole Pine, Pinus contorta, also known as Shore Pine, is a common tree in western North America. Like all pines, it is evergreen.-Subspecies:...

, Douglas fir and other tree species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

.

External links

• Photo of Crawfish Creek, Yellowstone Park