Mount Holmes is a prominent mountain peak 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 the tallest mountain in the Wyoming portion of the Gallatin Range

Gallatin Range

The Gallatin Range is located in the U.S. states of Montana and Wyoming and includes more than 10 mountains over . The highest peak in the range is Electric Peak at . The Gallatin Range was named after Albert Gallatin, the longest-serving US Secretary of the Treasury and one of the negotiators of...

. Mount Holmes is located in the northwestern part of the park and marks the southern terminus of the Gallatin Range. It is the source of Indian Creek, a tributary of the Gardner River

Gardner River

The Gardner River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, approximately long, in northwestern Wyoming and south central Montana in the United States. The entire river is located within Yellowstone National Park...

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There is a ranger station near the top of Mount Holmes from which forest fires and weather are monitored. The Bannock Trail crosses the mountains close to Mount Holmes.

History

A 1860 map by Captain William F. Raynolds

William F. Raynolds

William Franklin Raynolds was a U.S. Army Colonel, explorer, engineer, Mexican War and Civil War officer who is best known for leading the 1859-1860 Raynolds Expedition while serving as a member of the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers...

 showed this peak as Mount Gallatin. Prior to 1878, the peak was routinely referred to as Mount Madison because of its proximity to the Madison River

Madison River

The Madison River is a headwater tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 183 miles long, in Wyoming and Montana. Its confluence with the Jefferson and Gallatin rivers near Three Forks, Montana form the Missouri River....

. In 1878 Henry Gannett

Henry Gannett

Henry Gannett, M.E.; LL.D. was an American geographer who is described as the "Father of the Quadrangle" which is the basis for topographical maps in the United States.-Life:...

 and geologist William H. Holmes, members of the third Hayden Geologic Survey, ascended the peak. Gannett named the peak Mount Holmes.

The summit of Mount Holmes can be reached via the 10.8 miles (17.4 km) Mount Holmes-Winter Creek trail. The trailhead is located near Apollonaris Spring on the Mammoth-Norris section of the Grand Loop Road

Grand Loop Road Historic District

The Grand Loop Road Historic District encompasses the primary road system in Yellowstone National Park. Much of the system was originally planned by Captain Hiram M. Chittenden of the US Army Corps of Engineers in the early days of the park, when it was under military administration...

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