Soda Butte Creek is an approximately 20 miles (32.2 km) long major tributary of the Lamar River

Lamar River

The Lamar River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, approximately 40 miles long, in northwestern Wyoming in the United States. The river is located entirely within Yellowstone National Park.-History:...

 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...

. It is named for an unusual geologic feature (Soda Butte) near its mouth. Soda Butte and the creek were named by A. Bart Henderson, a Cooke City miner, in 1870. It rises just outside the northeast corner of the park on the southern slopes of the Absaroka Range

Absaroka Range

The Absaroka Range is a sub-range of the Rocky Mountains in the United States. The range stretches about 150 mi across the Montana-Wyoming border, forming the eastern boundary of Yellowstone National Park and the western side of the Bighorn Basin. The range borders the Beartooth Mountains...

 near Cooke City, Montana. The Northeast East Entrance road parallels Soda Butte Creek for its entire length within the park. Soda Butte Creek is a popular angling destination for Cutthroat trout

Cutthroat trout

The cutthroat trout is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. It is one of the many fish species colloquially known as trout...

.

Angling

Soda Butte Creek is a popular angling destination for fly fisherman

Fly fishing

Fly fishing is an angling method in which an artificial 'fly' is used to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. Casting a nearly weightless fly or 'lure' requires casting techniques significantly different from other forms of casting...

. It holds Brook trout

Brook trout

The brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, is a species of fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. In many parts of its range, it is known as the speckled trout or squaretail. A potamodromous population in Lake Superior are known as coaster trout or, simply, as coasters...

 in it upper reaches, mostly Cutthroat trout and a few Rainbow trout

Rainbow trout

The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....

 in its lower section. Because of spring runoff, the creek is generally not fishable until mid-July, .