We also have a small river in Switzerland which, at a place aptly named "Middle of the World", splits in two. One branch is going North to the Rhine river and the North Sea, the other one South to the Rhone and the Mediterranean.
@@Fee.1 Closer. You may have noticed, watching a world map, that Western Europe is much smaller than North America! About 800 miles apart, I would say… but it is still two very different seas.
@@Fee.1 Most maps we use (Mercator projection) are not warped at an approximately constant, and low latitude. They get warped, giving a much exaggerated apparent size to objects , for high latitudes. Russia, Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia, … are big places , but not nearly AS BIG as depicted on these maps. But at the latitudes of the continental USA, and of Central Europe, the deformation is negligible.
There's a creek like this in Canada called the Divide Creek. After following the Continental Divide for a bit, one side drains through the Bow River and heads toward Hudson Bay while the other side drains west to the Pacific via the Kicking Horse River. But if you go to Triple Divide Peak at Glacier National Park in Montana, you can see the water that falls at the summit can go in THREE different directions, to the Arctic Ocean (via Hudson Bay), the Pacific, and the Atlantic (Gulf of Mexico)! This is what I love about geography, you never run out of new things to check out about our planet
So, Canada has its own "Northwest Passage" that isn't the one in The Canadian Archepelago? Cool! Just like this "Two Ocean Creek" near Yellowstone National Park here in The U.S.A. As for Triple Divide Peak, you Canadians (I'm assuming you're Canadian) have a "Triple Divide Peak" of your own at Snow Dome, on The Alberta/British Columbia border. Water there flows to The Pacific, The Atlantic (Via Hudson Bay; It's disputed whether Hudson Bay flows to The Arctic, or Atlantic Oceans; I'm just going by the idea that it flows to The Atlantic for this explanation here), or The Arctic. Also, we Americans have a lot of "Triple Divide Peaks" in our country. There's one in Minnesota that divides water that flows to Hudson Bay, The Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River, and The Gulf of Mexico via The Mississippi River. There's also one in North-Central Pennsylvania that divides water that flows to The Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River, The Gulf of Mexico, and directly to The Atlantic Ocean. Finally, there's a couple of minor "Triple Divide Peaks" in Colorado, and NE Georgia that (In Colorado's case) flow to The Mississippi River, to The Rio Grande River, or The Pacific Ocean; or (In Georgia's case) water flows to The Mississippi River, The Atlantic Ocean Seaboard, or to The Gulf of Mexico via rivers not connected to The Mississippi River, such as The Chattahoochee/Apalachicola River(s). One more thing: There's a slice of Canadian land in Southern Alberta, and Saskatchewan where rivers flow south to The Mississippi River, and The Gulf of Mexico; not north to Hudson Bay, or The Arctic, like most Canadian rivers tend to do. How crazy is that? TL;DR Basically, Canada has its own "Triple Divide Peak"; We Americans have a lot of our own "Triple Divide Peaks"; and Canada has an odd hydrological fact that hopefully I just taught you about in this comment.
@@gehrigstory6674, the river you're thinking of is the "Milk" river. But the thing is, that river doesn't originate in Canada. Its headwaters actually start in Montana, the river doglegs into Alberta ( Canada) before going back down to Montana.
@@BillK.1973 Thanks for that clarification. But what about any tributaries of The Milk River that do start in Canada, and flow to The Milk River? That would mean that there are some rivers that start in Southern Canada, and flow south/east to The Mississippi River, and not north/east to Hudson Bay. Just not The Milk River itself, though.
Hi, saw this and thought I would comment on Two Ocean Pass since I've been there numerous times. I worked for an outfitter out of Moran, WY. for a couple of years. We would take wilderness horse pack trips into the wilderness just south of the Southeast Arm of Yellowstone Lake. To get there we would travel up Pacific Creek and cross Two Ocean Pass. This route has been used for centuries to cross the divide and both sides of the long grassy meadow that constitutes the pass are lined with numerous ruts and trails. Some quite deep. The willow-lined creek meanders down the middle of the meadow. Pine covered mountains rise gradually on either side. On the Northwest side rises Two Ocean Plateau. Two Ocean creek originates on this plateau, runs for a couple of miles through a small narrow canyon and empties into the meadow. Just before the creek meets the meadow, at the mouth of the canyon, it hits a large boulder and splits in two. We called it "the parting of the waters" and it was a regular rest stop for our trips. The guests would revel in its novelty and beauty, and of course, pose for lots of pictures. We would continue down the meadow along Atlantic Creek, dropping down to where it joined the Upper Yellowstone River and into the Yellowstone Meadows. Of course, we would stop again on our return trip. It is truly a unique place and I can testify that it begins as one stream of water, hits a rock and splits into two streams.
Two Ocean Pass was featured in a C.J. Box "Joe Pickett" novel "Out of Range". Your description adds to the info in the novel, especially the evidence of how the route was used for centuries. Thanks for adding to my reading experience!
Cool stuff. Actually the river Danube in Europe does kind of the same thing, but rather than splitting into two creeks, it partially sinks into the ground, flows underground in caves where it crosses the continental divide (which, by itself, is quite extraordinary if you consider that it is impossible by definition) and emerges as a different creek that flows into the river Rhine that ends up in the North Sea.
Interesting "part" of the Great Basin is Goose Lake a huge shallow lake on the border of Southern Oregon and NE California, the interesting thing is when the lake reaches a certain level in very wet years it has a outflow that flows into a small river that flows into the Sacramento River and into the Pacific so that area then is no longer part of the Great Basin. Another interesting fact about that region is a tiny corner of Northern Nevada in the Jarbridge area streams flow into a couple of small rivers that flow into the Snake then into the Columbia then into the Pacific and salmon swim all the way to those headwaters in Nevada so desert basin Nevada has salmon.
The Humboldt River isn't a huge river by any stretch of the imagination, but the truth that it just ends in a hole in the ground has always fascinated me. The Humboldt Sink.
The SacrRiver. River really should be called the pit River due to the majority of its flow is from the pit river. Some of its water is seepage from Mt. Shasta.
"salmon swim all the way to those [Jarbridge] headwaters in Nevada " MAYBE A LOT OF BULLSHIT-THEY'RE MOSTLY EXTERPATED; i'LL CONCEDE A COUPLE OF HUNDRED.
In Britain, our equivalent is the River Calder, which flows from the same bog in 2 directions, through Lancashire to the Irish Sea and through Yorkshire to the Humber Estuary. When you cross Copy Pit pass you notice that one minute, the river is flowing against you, then the next, it flows with you.
3:58 I'm a life-long Florida resident. No one on Florida's West coast thinks that they live on the Atlantic Ocean. The Gulf of Mexico is a distinct body of water. The St. John's River is an example of a Florida river that empties into the The Atlantic Ocean.
Glad you included Isa Lake in this; I always liked it. There's a roadside pullout at the lake, too, for tourists to get out, enjoy the scenery, and take lots of purty pictures. (I grew up within Sunday picnic drive of Yellowstone, living as we did in Ennis and later Bozeman, so i saw these things a lot back then). Always loved learning these things as a kid. And the geography geek in me (I studied it for 4 yrs in university), loves knowing things like this. Just as I fell in love with a sign I saw while driving I-94 across North Dakota, saying "Port of Bismarck next exit". I knew intellectually that the Missouri was navigable to Great Falls MT, but seeing this sign in the middle of North Dakota really brought it home to me :-)
Very interesting. The same thing happens in Southern Argentina where the "Arroyo Partido"(Split Creek) drains as far as Buenos Aires province to the Atlantic and the city of Valdivia in the pacific through the chilean lake district. Greetings from Chile
@@carlosdingevan801 Pero el río Negro en su curso más bajo hace de frontera entre las provincias de Buenos Aires (Carmen de Patagones) y Río Negro (Viedma)🤔 Saludos!!
Iv always seen the great Mississippi river as a large river that at some points close to the gulf it is a couple miles wide. When I visited Minnesota I was able to travel up the Mississippi close to the mouth. The closer I got the small the river got. It was interesting to see, eventually you make it to the mouth of the river that comes from a lake, and it's just a stream that a person can step across. So it is possible to step across the Mississippi river.
Yeah I think something like 34 state water flow into it....including all the fertilizer and wastewater and crap and it all goes into the Gulf of Mexico and poisons the water.
I fell in to the middle of the Mississippi at it's source lake Itasca . The rocks were slippery from algae .that water was cold I used to joke I fell into the the middle of the Mississippi and walked to the edge .
Fascinating, it's somewhat similar to the cassiquiare channel in Venezuela, its a natural channel that connects the Orinoco and Amazonian River Basins its also flows both ways, but in its case its technically navigable, so theoretically someone could navigate from Canada to Bolivia only using fluvial navigation (altrough you would need to pass in the carribean sea)
A husband/wife team went up the Amazon and down the Orinoco in a 21-ft sailboat with auxiliary power, writing about doing it in a book, The Five-Year Voyage: Exploring Latin American Coasts and Rivers by Stephen Ladd.
When I was a kid my father took us on a Western holiday to the great divide. This was back in the 1960s. And while there We took a cup of water from one side and dumped it into the other side. So I would like to apologize right now if I contributed anything from that moment To climate change.
I believe in climate change, it changes every second of every minute of every day of every week of every month of every year of every decade of every score of every century of, do you see where this went. The Earth's climate goes through changes perpetually, it has to or the World would cease to exist.
Where I live in Wisconsin, there's a marsh only about 15 miles from me where one side goes to the Great Lakes (and then the Atlantic) and the other out to a small river, then the Wisconsin River, the Mississippi, then the Gulf. Most people here don't even stop to think about a continental divide being right outside of town.
There's also a "Triple Divide Peak" in Minnesota, where rivers flow to The Great Lakes, The Mississippi River, and north to Hudson Bay. And that divide you're talking about is known as The Laurentian Divide, which branches off from The Main Continential Divide at Triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park in Montana, and runs through southern Canada, and northern U.S.A, all the way to where Hudson Bay drains out to The Northern Atlantic in NE Canada.
There are two lakes on border of SD and Minn, Big Stone and Lake Traverse. Traverse flows north into the Red River of the North and to Hudsons Bay. Big Stone flows into the Minnesota River to the Mississippi River.
Yup! The weirdest quirk in Canadian geography except the Alberta triple snow dome which is a marvel onto itself... Worth the glacier tour and chace of death... 3 died when it rolled over a few years ago. It's a breathtaking experience in every aspect... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Dome_(Canada)
This is so interesting; I had never realized how our Continental Divide relates to the other continents', where there are continental divides for oceanic watersheds around the world
I wonder if someday some robotics hobbyist with a lot of money and free time will build some kind of robot fish to actually make that journey from Astoria to New Orleans.
Edit: I typed out all of the following comment before reaching the part where he talks about Isa Lake..lol... There is a spot right on the south Grand Loop road in Yellowstone where you dan see this happen...at least during the spring snowmelt. Little bitty Isa Lake(really just a pond)sits right top of the Continental Divide, water flows out of both ends of the pond during the melt. Counterintuitively water that flows out of the west end of the pond goes swiftyly downhill to join the Firehole and of course from there it eventually makes it's way to the Missouri, then to the Mississippi and on to the Gulf of Mexico, while water that flows out of the east runs down the Lewis river, and then to the Snake, and then into the Columbia and eventually to the Pacific. Most people could never reach Two Ocean pass deep in the BTNF, but they can still witness this little quirky miracle at Isa Lake in the spring.
I-80 in Wyoming crosses the Continental Divide twice! I noticed this when I was driving it in 2019. I have a video of it on my channel (2K19 (EP 38). I didn't know that there were these other cool geographic features in Wyoming where all these waters split and flow into different ocean. Great content! Keep up the awesome work!
That's because it crosses The Great Divide Basin in Wyoming. The Great Divide Basin (Also known as The Red Desert) is an endorheic basic, meaning water doesn't flow to any ocean from that region. When you follow the path of The Continential Divide north from Colorado, or south from Yellowstone, and you get to The Great Divide Basin, The Divide splits in two to go around it; and I-80 crosses through that region where The Continential Divide has split in two around The Great Divide Basin. Therefore, you technically cross The Divide twice while going in one direction (West, or East, but not both).
I just recently visited Athabasca falls by Jasper, Canada and found it very interesting that the small river flows from there to the Arctic. I love this stuff!👌
I'm a huge geography fan and that was a great learning opportunity for me, I've driven through I-80 in Wyoming several times and wondered how the split of the continental worked, Thanks!
The Great Basin has no outlet to either ocean. It collects in what used to be Lake Bonneville, the remnant is now called the Great Salt Lake. That's why the GSL is high in salinity.
We have something similar. Though not connected, from the area of Mount Paektu, both the Yalu River and the Tumen River that form the majority of our northern border begin their journeys to the Yellow Sea and the East Sea respectively. With the Yalu beginning just south of the mountain while the Tumen begins just east. Pretty unique and more proof Paektu is such a holy mountain. It is the origin of the Korean people according to legend. I've hiked Paektu on horseback and on foot, and former President Moon Jae-in joined me on one of these occasions. He said he wanted to reach Paektu's peak and I made his dream come true. But for the tourists, we have a funicular.
had never heard of such an anomaly. i remember crossing the continental divide as an 8 year old, and being fascinated by the concept. in the years since, geographic features like endorheic basins and river sources have captured my imagination. i think "Parting of the Waters" just might have made my bucket list. thanks for the great video
I took that route in the summer of '85 to where the big fish were biting by the confluence of Atlantic Creek and the Yellowstone River. I knew not until I crossed over the Great Divide that it was not always a razor back ridge or at least some kind of a ridge. I figured out long before I got there that I should have taken a drier route. I found myself over and over again taking off mine Army combat boots and putting on my light canvas shoes and crossing the creek and then switching back to boots again and repeating the cycle over and over. I finally just secured my boots to my pack and wore the canvas shoes most of the rest of the way. Coming back, I took a higher and drier route. The fishing was good except that I had to stop after the first fish because they were so big that one was all that I could eat. I understand that the cutthroat trout are become a rarity now because of the introduction of lake trout in Lake Yellowstone.
There's a somewhat similar anomaly on the border between Minnesota and South Dakota. There's only one mile that separates Big Stone Lake and Lake Traverse, which are the sources of the Minnesota River and the Red River of the North, respectively. There's a smaller continental divide that runs right between these two lakes. The Minnesota River flows into the Mississippi River and in turn the Gulf of Mexico, and the Red River of the North flows into Lake Winnipeg, which is then connected to Hudson Bay by the Nelson River. Once in a while one lake will flood into the other. There's a town in between the two lakes on the Minnesota side of the border called Browns Valley.
I have been looking for a video like this for so long! you nailed it. Fascinating. I was going to make one myself but you already made the video. Like one of the only ones
I absolutely love that you did this. I was just thinking about all the cities developed with rivers. Amazing how many are connected one single rivers. We really are all contented in so many ways. Thanks for making this. Excited to subscribe.
On the Alberta / British Columbia border, just west of Lake Louise AB , is Boundary Creek. It flows north on the Continental Divide, then spits into 2 channels, one going west into the Columbia River system, the other going east into the Saskatchewan River System.
Two Ocean Creek: I can flow to two different oceans People: No you can't! Two Ocean Creek: Yes I can! People: Then where do you split? Two Ocean Creek: Wyoming! People: What's Wyoming? Two Ocean Creek: ....dammit you got me
The more-than-half a million people that actually live in Wyoming: ARE WE A JOKE TO YOU??? The majority of Yellowstone National Park is in Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park is in Wyoming, Old Faithful is in Wyoming; WHAT IS WITH THIS "WYOMING DOESN'T EXIST" BS?!?!? Edit: The fact that some people don't know about Wyoming's very existence speaks volumes on just how IGNORANT people really are about Geography! 🤬🤬🤬
@@gehrigstory6674 Same thing of people not putting Antarctica on a world map: Even if there are barely any people on a piece of land in the world, doesn't mean it doesn't exist!
My boss in Blacksburg, VA proclaimed that the water in his front yard went to the Gulf of Mexico, and water in the backyard went to the Atlantic Ocean!
His house sits on a watershed divide, that's why. Most likely the front yard is in the New River Watershed, which flows to the Kanawa River into the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico, and the backyard is either in the James River or the Roanoke River watersheds, where the water either flows into the Chesapeake Bay or the North Carolina Sounds before reaching the Atlantic Ocean. Also, another cool thing is that the Calfpasture River, a stream that flows into the Maury River into the James River, has a source extremely close to the watershed divide, and on the other side of the divide lays the source of the North River, which flows into the South Fork of the Shenandoah River into the Potomac River. Most roads are built on watershed divides as the water on top of the divides evaporate the fastest, which reduces hydroplaning, where cars produce huge splashes of water when their tires go through the puddles. Finally, lots of cities in Virginia are on watershed divides, and Blacksburg is one example.
Excellent showing! I live just north of the great divide basin..I backpacked extensively in the wind river mountains in both the altlantic creek and pacific creek drainages and have been over two oceans pass..amazing country..extraordinary wilderness..highly recommend these areas for the adventurous sort..not so much for the faint of heart..the terrain can be rugged and very remote.
A somewhat similar concept used to exist in Wisconsin. Basically before the dikes at Portage were built, the Wisconsin River would overflow when flooded into the Fox River. This would create an huge "island" (most of the Eastern USA) which part of the Wisconsin River would flow north to Green Bay then through the Great Lakes to the Upper Atlantic. But the south flow would go down to the Mississippi and the Gulf.
That situation still exists in Chicago, where we have engineered the Chicago Rive to flow uphill to reach the Mississippi so that any pollution into that river wouldn't go into Lake Michigan but down towards St Louis.
Another very interesting river feature, is the existence of "canal Casiquiare" in Venezuela, that through the "río Negro" comunicates the "Amazonas" and the "Orinoco" rivers. It is the world's largest river of the kind that links two major river systems, a so-called bifurcation. The area forms a water divide, more dramatically at regional flood stage.
@@DanRustle My state was forced to rename one of our lakes by some group. They didn't even know that Rio Negro it was literally Spanish for "Black river", and then tried to force a farmer in court to rename a lake on his own 5,000 acre property named Black lake even though it was named after his family, the Blacks, over 200 years ago. He won.
Another similar phenomena can be found in Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park in North Canyon above Spooner Lake. A canyon has cut up through the ridge confining the stream so that the water splits somewhat equally into two drainages, separate paths to Tahoe.
There’s a pull out spot at the top of the pass on hwy 297 in Montana. This runs between Lincoln and Helena. The drainage on the west side flows into the Blackfoot river ultimately to the Pacific Ocean. The drainage on the east side flows ultimately into the Missouri River and beyond. I’ve contemplated that whichever direction the wind blows determines where my piss will wind up. (Theoretically.)
In Australia, there is the Lake Eyre Basin which flows to Lake Eyre (pronounced air). The Lake itself, which is often dry, is below sea level and the water in the 1,200,000 km sq, or 463,300 sq mile basin never reaches the ocean.
That would be an endorheric (I think that's how you spell it, but I could be wrong) basin, where water doesn't flow to any ocean. In The U.S.A, there's 2 such basins. The Great Divide Basin/Red Desert in SW Wyoming, and The Great Basin in parts of Utah, and Nevada. There's also The Lake Chad Basin in Africa; The Jordan/Dead Sea Basin in Israel, Syria, and Jordan; The Caspian Sea Basin in Central Asia, and many more Endorheric basins throughout Central Asia.
Lewis and Clark were not dumb enough to think there was a continuous water route to the Pacific Ocean from St Louis. They were expecting at the opposite to headwaters of the Missouri River, would be the headwaters of another great river system to the Pacific Ocean. They specifically had a steel frame canoe that they could collapse and carry over the mountains. That canoe was eventually abandon as their conventional canoes also, before reaching the continue divide. Along the same lines as this creek. There is oddly a river that flows on two continents. The Ural River is the 3rd longest river in Europe, but it is also the eighteenth longest river in Asia.
@@keyshahoodprincess9 of course they didn’t. Lewis and Clark Expedition had about thirty people in their party, I’m not going to sit here and name them all. All members contributed, and all came back alive, except one who died of natural causes.
@@johnkoziel789 I think you are missing the point. The Europeans were not randomly choosing one direction or the other when they came to each fork in a river. Some forks would be obvious but local knowledge helped guide them at others.
@@beepbop6542 maybe a poor choice of words, but an oddity nonetheless. Also an oddity because Europe is a continent in a political sense, not a in a geological one.
Soo.. watching this.. I realized, that my brother, father and uncle and I camped near/at two oceans pass about 20 years ago. We had to be packed in on horses and with mules carrying our gear. They left us for a week and came back to fetch us. I realized at the time how cool it was... but thanks for reminding me! LOL... I remember now the grizzly kills we saw on the way up, how we had to tree our food... and how my brother's horse wouldn't carry him out because he was too fat! Good times! And getting old is kinda fun when you can remember how you got there! Thanks again!!
Thank you for teaching me something I did not know as I have a huge interest in maps and I've drawn them by had too. While drawing them, I like the Eckert IV Projection out of all of them.
I used to pack dudes over two ocean pass and have been at the parting of the waters many times. Our camp was on Atlantic creek and just a couple miles south of the Yellowstone park boundary. In the early summer the trout spawn up into the Yellowstone and it's tributaries. It's probably some of the best fishing you'll ever encounter.
I really enjoyed this. I had never watched your channel before. Between this video and the one about the fall line along the eastern US coast, I'm impressed enough that I subscribed! This video made me want to travel to see the Parting of the Waters! I haven't yet dug into your past videos, and I really hope I find lots of information about Canada.
Back in 1979 when I was 18 years old, along with a friend, we took a bus/hitchhiked to Elk Canyon on the east entrance road to Yellowstone and walked to Dubois Wyoming. We walked over Two Ocean Pass en route.
That was very interesting. I was shocked when you brought up Wollaston lake in SK and even more impressed when you pronounced Saskatchewan correctly. Good job!!
I've actually been really close to the triple-divide, where water splits into paths that lead to three oceans - Arctic, Pacific, Atlantic - up on the Alberta/BC border. Cool place; lots of glaciers.
Was on a ship tour of Yellowstone lake in NP right before the flood, and the guide was saying that rainfalls on one side of the Mt Sheridan goes to the Pacific, on the other side goes to the Atlantic, so cool
I gained a new appreciation for the beauty of North America from this video. You’ve convinced me that I haven’t seen enough of my own country. Thanks for that, and God Bless America.
Another example: Two rivers (not creeks) flow out of Lesjaskogsvatnet, Norway. The one to the northwest (Rauma) reaches the Norwegian sea (The Arctic Ocean, going by your drainage-basin-divide-map). The one to the southeast (Lågen) runs into Mjøsa, which runs out into Vorma, which becomes a part of Glomma and eventually runs out in the Skagerakk (The Atlantic Ocean, going by your drainage-basin-divide-map).
Many years ago I travelled across Canada, visiting e.g. some majestic icefields (Columbia icefields?) and the three-continental divide from where a creek could end up in any of three oceans: the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic. It would be nice were you to describe that very special place. We in the group of Swedish visitors were joking about the fact that if you, facing north, let your water to the left, it would end up polluting the Pacific, if you aimed straight ahead the Arctic would be the worse for wear and if you were more of a right-winger the Atlantic would suffer. Hans Strömberg, Stockholm, Sweden
A few of us used to joke that a toilet could sit on the Continental Divide having a flushing handle that gave the user a choice as to which direction the water would go.
Fun fact about Isa lake in Yellowstone. It is the only known lake IN THE WORLD to drain into two oceans BACKWARDS. The Pacific ocean lies to the west; the Atlantic to the east. But water leaving the WEST end of the lake is actually on the EASTERN side of the continental divide, and thus its waters end up in the Gulf of Mexico via the Firehole, Yellowstone, Missouri, and Mississippi rivers. The water leaving the EAST end of the lake is actually on the WESTERN side of the divide, and ends up in the Pacific ocean.
Who knew, well at least I didn't know, a path of water that splits at the continental divide that goes to 2 different types of oceans, now that's really interesting
Funny story about the Great Divide Basin: Some years ago a fellow geologist and I were duck hunting on stock ponds in the Great Divide Basin. The Wyoming Game and Fish Migratory Waterfowl Orders had bag limits for the Central Flyway, defined as being east of the Continental Divide and different bag limits for the Pacific Flyway, defined as being west of the Continental Divide. We went into the Game and Fish Office to ask which applied in the Great Divide Basin which was not east or west of the divide. We got a stunned/blank reaction. You'd have thought that we'd asked about bag limits on triceratops. The finally told us to use which ever one was more restrictive. That didn't help much because the bag limits in the Central Flyway were calculated by point values for different species of ducks while the Placific Flyway was specific numbers of different species. Apples and oranges. In the end, we never approached out bag limits no matter how you calculated it. I see that now the Wyoming Game and Fish Department as eliminated the ambiguity by including the Great Divide Basin in the Pacific Flyway.
For people saying it's not the Atlantic it's the Gulf of Mexico, I would just like to say that it's the Atlantic the Gulf of Mexico is a subset of the ocean itself.
There is also a channel between the Big Stone lake and Lake traverse in the Minnesota South Dakota border dividing on the water level in each lake the can flow both ways one into the Mississippi basin and the other into the Hudson Bay basin this waterway divides the entire continental USA east and West.
There is a lake just north of Lake Superior called Long Lake. Its natural outlet was to the north, flowing into Hudson Bay, a part of the Arctic Ocean. A hydroelectric company cut a canal to the south, so that the water could flow through their generators and into Lake Superior and eventually to the Atlantic. So now the lake has two exits, one to each ocean.
One is an artifical route, not a natural one, so it doesn't really count. Edit: Otherwise, The Erie Canal, The Ohio/Chesapeake Canal, The Panama Canal, The Suez Canal, and others would all be considered rivers that flow to 2 different Oceans, or other large bodies of water. We don't think of them as such, though; so this canal near Long Lake doesn't count either. Sorry.
When I was in grade school in Cambridge Mass we had a lovely old spinster teacher in Grade 4 or so who told about this exact spot which she had apparently visited.
Now, a crazy part of me wants to follow this creek, from one end, to the other. I want to start at the Columbia River Basin (near where I already live) at the Pacific Ocean, and drive alongside the route of this river as much as humanly possible, all the way down to the exit point at New Orleans! That sounds like a great adventure journey that I can one day take, before I leave this world behind! It'll enable me to see so many iconic parts of this great country of ours! The only question is: "when can I do it?"
@@ghosthermes Yes, I get that. I was speaking in general terms. Which is why I wrote "as much as humanly possible." Obviously, I don't intend to drive through the woods, or on the banks of the river itself. I would have hoped that kind of thing would have gone unsaid just fine.
Thank you for a very interesting video. I've seen the pretty little pond or lake in Yellowstone where waters overflow two ways; it's on the route from Yellowstone to Grand Teton NP. And I've seen the little lake in Glacier NP that flows three ways--including the Arctic Ocean. But I've never heard of this creek. It looks a beautiful area. By the way, the seepage of water from Crater Lake in Oregon heads in different directions--not to two different oceans but at least east and west of the Cascade Range.This is rather hidden, because the water doesn't flow out directly from the lake but seeps through the rock until it emerges in springs, then streams ... Most of the water ends in the Pacific via the Rogue and Klamath rivers, but some into the inland lakes of the southern Oregon desert, part of the Great Basin.
I work in Grand Teton and there is a lake called two oceans lake and a lot of people think the water from that lake goes to north oceans but it doesn’t. That used to be the belief, but was found that it lies just slightly west of the divide so this is cool to learn
Probably the most important part of visiting Two Ocean creek at the split is just how nice of a place it is when the weather is nice. The other thing is to keep in mind how quickly that can change to a severe thunderstorm without any cover in sight! We found a small rock ledge to huddle under but tossed all our metal items out when the St. Elmo's Fire started. At that point in history- 50 years ago before most of the current air pollution- you could see the sun rising on the Tetons 50 miles away. One can certainly see why the tallest is called Grand when just the tip top is lit and the rest of the visible world is still in dark. And it's even grand-er when the full moon rises after an all day blizzard leaves feet of new snow and you are looking from the saddle due north of the Grand. Of course then it's also nice to have the full moon to get off the mountain.
The name of the channel totally meets the content. Algorithm blessed me with this video and it definitely looks subscription-worthy, thank you for your job, keep up!
Totally fascinating, I loved to imagine a Fish coming in from the Pacific Ocean and using this Creek as Expressway through the Continent to get to the Atlantic ^^ Thanks!
Well, that fish surely must be salmon, which probably is the only well-known fish that can survive both freshwater and saltwater environments, as they have a migration pattern that they use throughout their life cycle.
I believe that there is a small river at Kicking Horse Pass along the BC/Alberta border on Hwy 1 which splits into two rivers going to the Pacific and Arctic.
This is very interesting! I knew about the great devide basin but had NO idea that there ANY creeks or lakes that actually flowed to two different oceans. Wow. Thanks for this fascinating and infirmative video!
Another fun example: the St. Croix and Bois Brule Rivers in northern Wisconsin. The bog they come from sits on a small divide between two watersheds, and sitting right on the divide is a small pond. Water flowing out to the east is the source of the Bois Brule, which flows out into Lake Superior. Water flowing out of the pond to the west is the source of the St. Croix River, which pours into the Mississippi a couple hundred miles downstream. It's not too hard to get down to the pond, but good luck navigating around it.
I believe I know exactly where this is. I pass it quite often and first noticed it a few years back. As you’re driving south on hwy 191 towards west Yellowstone, the gallatin river flows north. Then, as you enter the small portion of Yellowstone national park, the river slowly fizzles out, disappears from view for about a mile, then reappears flowing the opposite (south) direction.
I believe that The Gallatin River actually starts in The NW portion of Yellowstone National Park, not where this "Parting of The Waters" is located at. It's south of Yellowstone National Park, and The Gallatin River doesn't originate there. The first waters of The Yellowstone River flow from this "Parting of The Waters", not those of The Gallatin River. Plus, it's not a place accessible by road, but rather by a hiking trail that goes there. Actually, The Gallatin River's water partially originates from The Firehole River (The River where the water from Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic Spring, and other hot springs/geysers in the area flows to), which starts on The Continential Divide inside the park. This "Parting of The Waters" is located outside of the park's boundaries to the south, not within the park like The Firehole River's (And thus, The Gallatin River's) headwaters are. Sorry if I sound like I'm repeating myself, or sound like I'm rambling. I'm just trying to respectfully correct your information as best I can.
Fascinating. I've been dreaming up a river voyage from my home in Washington to points east. It's been enjoyable trying to figure where I would have to haul out and truck the boat to the Missouri or tributary thereof. Your video doesn't answer that question but does seem an event of wondrous synchronicity. Thank you for posting.
Not to sound cliche, but that *is* interesting. Seriously! I've often wondered if there were places like this. Thanks for enlightening me. I'll have to put it on my list of places to check out. Thanks for an informative video! ~ Mike
Not surprised this is in Wyoming. Probably the most geographically interesting state in the country. Been all over that state and it's just constant changing scenery. Very beautiful.
There’s a 3 way watershed on Giants Ridge in Eveleth, MN. Depending on what part of the ridge water hits, it flows into Lake Superior (and so the Atlantic through the St. Lawrence River), Lake Itasca (and so the Mississippi), and the Red River of the North (and on to Hudson Bay).
Triple divide is about 20 miles from my home, from when I was very young we would travel over the divide and my father explained what it was. The continuation of the milk River ridge from the triple divide also is an interesting feature.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 89 | คู่เอก "ยอดไอคิว vs คิริลล์"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Z3vYkHJ_5Ig/mqdefault.jpg)
We also have a small river in Switzerland which, at a place aptly named "Middle of the World", splits in two. One branch is going North to the Rhine river and the North Sea, the other one South to the Rhone and the Mediterranean.
How far apart are the destinations compared to the pacific exit point and the Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans ?
@@Fee.1 Closer. You may have noticed, watching a world map, that Western Europe is much smaller than North America!
About 800 miles apart, I would say… but it is still two very different seas.
@@st-ex8506 no doubt. I know the size is warped dramatically on most world maps and globes etc so I was curious
@@Fee.1 Most maps we use (Mercator projection) are not warped at an approximately constant, and low latitude. They get warped, giving a much exaggerated apparent size to objects , for high latitudes. Russia, Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia, … are big places , but not nearly AS BIG as depicted on these maps.
But at the latitudes of the continental USA, and of Central Europe, the deformation is negligible.
There is even a place in Switzerland that is a triple divide: water from there goes to the Mediterranean, to the North Sea, and to the Black Sea.
There's a creek like this in Canada called the Divide Creek. After following the Continental Divide for a bit, one side drains through the Bow River and heads toward Hudson Bay while the other side drains west to the Pacific via the Kicking Horse River.
But if you go to Triple Divide Peak at Glacier National Park in Montana, you can see the water that falls at the summit can go in THREE different directions, to the Arctic Ocean (via Hudson Bay), the Pacific, and the Atlantic (Gulf of Mexico)! This is what I love about geography, you never run out of new things to check out about our planet
So, Canada has its own "Northwest Passage" that isn't the one in The Canadian Archepelago? Cool! Just like this "Two Ocean Creek" near Yellowstone National Park here in The U.S.A.
As for Triple Divide Peak, you Canadians (I'm assuming you're Canadian) have a "Triple Divide Peak" of your own at Snow Dome, on The Alberta/British Columbia border. Water there flows to The Pacific, The Atlantic (Via Hudson Bay; It's disputed whether Hudson Bay flows to The Arctic, or Atlantic Oceans; I'm just going by the idea that it flows to The Atlantic for this explanation here), or The Arctic.
Also, we Americans have a lot of "Triple Divide Peaks" in our country. There's one in Minnesota that divides water that flows to Hudson Bay, The Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River, and The Gulf of Mexico via The Mississippi River. There's also one in North-Central Pennsylvania that divides water that flows to The Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River, The Gulf of Mexico, and directly to The Atlantic Ocean. Finally, there's a couple of minor "Triple Divide Peaks" in Colorado, and NE Georgia that (In Colorado's case) flow to The Mississippi River, to The Rio Grande River, or The Pacific Ocean; or (In Georgia's case) water flows to The Mississippi River, The Atlantic Ocean Seaboard, or to The Gulf of Mexico via rivers not connected to The Mississippi River, such as The Chattahoochee/Apalachicola River(s).
One more thing: There's a slice of Canadian land in Southern Alberta, and Saskatchewan where rivers flow south to The Mississippi River, and The Gulf of Mexico; not north to Hudson Bay, or The Arctic, like most Canadian rivers tend to do. How crazy is that?
TL;DR Basically, Canada has its own "Triple Divide Peak"; We Americans have a lot of our own "Triple Divide Peaks"; and Canada has an odd hydrological fact that hopefully I just taught you about in this comment.
@@gehrigstory6674, the river you're thinking of is the "Milk" river.
But the thing is, that river doesn't originate in Canada.
Its headwaters actually start in Montana, the river doglegs into Alberta ( Canada) before going back down to Montana.
@@BillK.1973 Thanks for that clarification. But what about any tributaries of The Milk River that do start in Canada, and flow to The Milk River? That would mean that there are some rivers that start in Southern Canada, and flow south/east to The Mississippi River, and not north/east to Hudson Bay. Just not The Milk River itself, though.
Hi, saw this and thought I would comment on Two Ocean Pass since I've been there numerous times. I worked for an outfitter out of Moran, WY. for a couple of years. We would take wilderness horse pack trips into the wilderness just south of the Southeast Arm of Yellowstone Lake. To get there we would travel up Pacific Creek and cross Two Ocean Pass. This route has been used for centuries to cross the divide and both sides of the long grassy meadow that constitutes the pass are lined with numerous ruts and trails. Some quite deep. The willow-lined creek meanders down the middle of the meadow. Pine covered mountains rise gradually on either side. On the Northwest side rises Two Ocean Plateau. Two Ocean creek originates on this plateau, runs for a couple of miles through a small narrow canyon and empties into the meadow. Just before the creek meets the meadow, at the mouth of the canyon, it hits a large boulder and splits in two. We called it "the parting of the waters" and it was a regular rest stop for our trips. The guests would revel in its novelty and beauty, and of course, pose for lots of pictures. We would continue down the meadow along Atlantic Creek, dropping down to where it joined the Upper Yellowstone River and into the Yellowstone Meadows. Of course, we would stop again on our return trip. It is truly a unique place and I can testify that it begins as one stream of water, hits a rock and splits into two streams.
Well written and thanks for sharing! For us more “modern folk” this brings a nice image to mind ! Cheers!
Two Ocean Pass was featured in a C.J. Box "Joe Pickett" novel "Out of Range". Your description adds to the info in the novel, especially the evidence of how the route was used for centuries. Thanks for adding to my reading experience!
Thank you for such interesting information. You excel at writing.
Thank you, just recalling it as I saw it. One of those places where you feel the power. Obviously left an impression me, and others.
Cool stuff. Actually the river Danube in Europe does kind of the same thing, but rather than splitting into two creeks, it partially sinks into the ground, flows underground in caves where it crosses the continental divide (which, by itself, is quite extraordinary if you consider that it is impossible by definition) and emerges as a different creek that flows into the river Rhine that ends up in the North Sea.
Wow, really interesting. Wikipedia page: Danube Sinkhole.
Wait, hang on, how the fuck does it cross the divide
@@alaeriia01 it flows underground in caves and cracks
Why is it impossible by definition. It's impossible for it to go over it, not under it.
@@luciustarquiniuspriscus1408 it is not a US feature. c'mon
Interesting "part" of the Great Basin is Goose Lake a huge shallow lake on the border of Southern Oregon and NE California, the interesting thing is when the lake reaches a certain level in very wet years it has a outflow that flows into a small river that flows into the Sacramento River and into the Pacific so that area then is no longer part of the Great Basin. Another interesting fact about that region is a tiny corner of Northern Nevada in the Jarbridge area streams flow into a couple of small rivers that flow into the Snake then into the Columbia then into the Pacific and salmon swim all the way to those headwaters in Nevada so desert basin Nevada has salmon.
The Humboldt River isn't a huge river by any stretch of the imagination, but the truth that it just ends in a hole in the ground has always fascinated me. The Humboldt Sink.
Wow thats crazy about the salmon, that sht is why we need to protect our water ways and stop pollution
The SacrRiver. River really should be called the pit River due to the majority of its flow is from the pit river. Some of its water is seepage from Mt. Shasta.
@@skie6282
Calm down !
"salmon swim all the way to those [Jarbridge] headwaters in Nevada " MAYBE A LOT OF BULLSHIT-THEY'RE MOSTLY EXTERPATED; i'LL CONCEDE A COUPLE OF HUNDRED.
In Britain, our equivalent is the River Calder, which flows from the same bog in 2 directions, through Lancashire to the Irish Sea and through Yorkshire to the Humber Estuary. When you cross Copy Pit pass you notice that one minute, the river is flowing against you, then the next, it flows with you.
3:58 I'm a life-long Florida resident. No one on Florida's West coast thinks that they live on the Atlantic Ocean. The Gulf of Mexico is a distinct body of water. The St. John's River is an example of a Florida river that empties into the The Atlantic Ocean.
Glad you included Isa Lake in this; I always liked it. There's a roadside pullout at the lake, too, for tourists to get out, enjoy the scenery, and take lots of purty pictures. (I grew up within Sunday picnic drive of Yellowstone, living as we did in Ennis and later Bozeman, so i saw these things a lot back then).
Always loved learning these things as a kid.
And the geography geek in me (I studied it for 4 yrs in university), loves knowing things like this. Just as I fell in love with a sign I saw while driving I-94 across North Dakota, saying "Port of Bismarck next exit". I knew intellectually that the Missouri was navigable to Great Falls MT, but seeing this sign in the middle of North Dakota really brought it home to me :-)
Very interesting. The same thing happens in Southern Argentina where the "Arroyo Partido"(Split Creek) drains as far as Buenos Aires province to the Atlantic and the city of Valdivia in the pacific through the chilean lake district. Greetings from Chile
No llega a tocar Buenos Aires. Desemboca en la provincia de Río Negro, a través del río homónimo. Saludos!!
It is cool. Venezuela gives Amazonas and Orinoco, as well.
@@carlosdingevan801 Pero el río Negro en su curso más bajo hace de frontera entre las provincias de Buenos Aires (Carmen de Patagones) y Río Negro (Viedma)🤔
Saludos!!
Haven’t learned this much from a video in a while. Highly informative video and your presentation skills are truly incredible. Can’t wait for more!
Iv always seen the great Mississippi river as a large river that at some points close to the gulf it is a couple miles wide. When I visited Minnesota I was able to travel up the Mississippi close to the mouth. The closer I got the small the river got. It was interesting to see, eventually you make it to the mouth of the river that comes from a lake, and it's just a stream that a person can step across. So it is possible to step across the Mississippi river.
Yeah I think something like 34 state water flow into it....including all the fertilizer and wastewater and crap and it all goes into the Gulf of Mexico and poisons the water.
I fell in to the middle of the Mississippi at it's source lake Itasca . The rocks were slippery from algae .that water was cold I used to joke I fell into the the middle of the Mississippi and walked to the edge .
Fascinating, it's somewhat similar to the cassiquiare channel in Venezuela, its a natural channel that connects the Orinoco and Amazonian River Basins its also flows both ways, but in its case its technically navigable, so theoretically someone could navigate from Canada to Bolivia only using fluvial navigation (altrough you would need to pass in the carribean sea)
One of my favorite examples!
And go throw the Chicago Sanitary Canal.
There's a few rapids in the way. But yes theoretically possible.
A husband/wife team went up the Amazon and down the Orinoco in a 21-ft sailboat with auxiliary power, writing about doing it in a book, The Five-Year Voyage: Exploring Latin American Coasts and Rivers by Stephen Ladd.
When I was a kid my father took us on a Western holiday to the great divide. This was back in the 1960s. And while there We took a cup of water from one side and dumped it into the other side. So I would like to apologize right now if I contributed anything from that moment To climate change.
Well driving there probably did the most damage. but really corporations not individuals are most responsible for climate change
I believe in climate change, it changes every second of every minute of every day of every week of every month of every year of every decade of every score of every century of, do you see where this went.
The Earth's climate goes through changes perpetually, it has to or the World would cease to exist.
@@garycarlson1122 WHAT??????? 😭😭😭😭
It’s not the car that makes the climate change. It’s the energy plants that charge the Tesla batteries.
Why i was a kid my teacher took me camping and….😢
Great video!! Can’t wait for more of the US explained videos those are my favorite right now😁
Where I live in Wisconsin, there's a marsh only about 15 miles from me where one side goes to the Great Lakes (and then the Atlantic) and the other out to a small river, then the Wisconsin River, the Mississippi, then the Gulf. Most people here don't even stop to think about a continental divide being right outside of town.
There's also a "Triple Divide Peak" in Minnesota, where rivers flow to The Great Lakes, The Mississippi River, and north to Hudson Bay. And that divide you're talking about is known as The Laurentian Divide, which branches off from The Main Continential Divide at Triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park in Montana, and runs through southern Canada, and northern U.S.A, all the way to where Hudson Bay drains out to The Northern Atlantic in NE Canada.
There are two lakes on border of SD and Minn, Big Stone and Lake Traverse.
Traverse flows north into the Red River of the North and to Hudsons Bay.
Big Stone flows into the Minnesota River to the Mississippi River.
Yup! The weirdest quirk in Canadian geography except the Alberta triple snow dome which is a marvel onto itself... Worth the glacier tour and chace of death... 3 died when it rolled over a few years ago. It's a breathtaking experience in every aspect... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Dome_(Canada)
This is so interesting; I had never realized how our Continental Divide relates to the other continents', where there are continental divides for oceanic watersheds around the world
Canada... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Dome_(Canada)
I wonder if someday some robotics hobbyist with a lot of money and free time will build some kind of robot fish to actually make that journey from Astoria to New Orleans.
Hollow plastic balls with GPS transponders would do it.
You should do it bro can't be that hard. I believe in you
Might be kinda hard on a fish to pass through a hydro electric dam.
@@davidrowe4006 That's why they have fish ladders.
@@andyjay729 The Garrison dam and Oahe dam at Pierre have no fish ladders.
Edit: I typed out all of the following comment before reaching the part where he talks about Isa Lake..lol...
There is a spot right on the south Grand Loop road in Yellowstone where you dan see this happen...at least during the spring snowmelt. Little bitty Isa Lake(really just a pond)sits right top of the Continental Divide, water flows out of both ends of the pond during the melt. Counterintuitively water that flows out of the west end of the pond goes swiftyly downhill to join the Firehole and of course from there it eventually makes it's way to the Missouri, then to the Mississippi and on to the Gulf of Mexico, while water that flows out of the east runs down the Lewis river, and then to the Snake, and then into the Columbia and eventually to the Pacific.
Most people could never reach Two Ocean pass deep in the BTNF, but they can still witness this little quirky miracle at Isa Lake in the spring.
I-80 in Wyoming crosses the Continental Divide twice! I noticed this when I was driving it in 2019. I have a video of it on my channel (2K19 (EP 38). I didn't know that there were these other cool geographic features in Wyoming where all these waters split and flow into different ocean. Great content! Keep up the awesome work!
Snow Dome in Alberta is a triple divide. Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic from the same single drop! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Dome_(Canada)
That's because it crosses The Great Divide Basin in Wyoming. The Great Divide Basin (Also known as The Red Desert) is an endorheic basic, meaning water doesn't flow to any ocean from that region. When you follow the path of The Continential Divide north from Colorado, or south from Yellowstone, and you get to The Great Divide Basin, The Divide splits in two to go around it; and I-80 crosses through that region where The Continential Divide has split in two around The Great Divide Basin. Therefore, you technically cross The Divide twice while going in one direction (West, or East, but not both).
For those wondering, it is a 16 mile hike one way to get to this (I've looked at the topo maps of the area)
I just recently visited Athabasca falls by Jasper, Canada and found it very interesting that the small river flows from there to the Arctic. I love this stuff!👌
Bingo! The triple snow dome which is about a 2-hour drive from my place! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Dome_(Canada)
I'm a huge geography fan and that was a great learning opportunity for me, I've driven through I-80 in Wyoming several times and wondered how the split of the continental worked, Thanks!
The Great Basin has no outlet to either ocean. It collects in what used to be Lake Bonneville, the remnant is now called the Great Salt Lake. That's why the GSL is high in salinity.
lake Lahotan
We have something similar. Though not connected, from the area of Mount Paektu, both the Yalu River and the Tumen River that form the majority of our northern border begin their journeys to the Yellow Sea and the East Sea respectively. With the Yalu beginning just south of the mountain while the Tumen begins just east. Pretty unique and more proof Paektu is such a holy mountain. It is the origin of the Korean people according to legend. I've hiked Paektu on horseback and on foot, and former President Moon Jae-in joined me on one of these occasions. He said he wanted to reach Paektu's peak and I made his dream come true. But for the tourists, we have a funicular.
Do you offer private tours?
Hey these waterway videos are phenomenal - came here from the Fall Line. Hopes you're well served by the algorithm
had never heard of such an anomaly. i remember crossing the continental divide as an 8 year old, and being fascinated by the concept. in the years since, geographic features like endorheic basins and river sources have captured my imagination. i think "Parting of the Waters" just might have made my bucket list. thanks for the great video
More on the continental divide! I really love learning about the quirks of America
I took that route in the summer of '85 to where the big fish were biting by the confluence of Atlantic Creek and the Yellowstone River. I knew not until I crossed over the Great Divide that it was not always a razor back ridge or at least some kind of a ridge. I figured out long before I got there that I should have taken a drier route. I found myself over and over again taking off mine Army combat boots and putting on my light canvas shoes and crossing the creek and then switching back to boots again and repeating the cycle over and over. I finally just secured my boots to my pack and wore the canvas shoes most of the rest of the way. Coming back, I took a higher and drier route. The fishing was good except that I had to stop after the first fish because they were so big that one was all that I could eat. I understand that the cutthroat trout are become a rarity now because of the introduction of lake trout in Lake Yellowstone.
There's a somewhat similar anomaly on the border between Minnesota and South Dakota. There's only one mile that separates Big Stone Lake and Lake Traverse, which are the sources of the Minnesota River and the Red River of the North, respectively. There's a smaller continental divide that runs right between these two lakes. The Minnesota River flows into the Mississippi River and in turn the Gulf of Mexico, and the Red River of the North flows into Lake Winnipeg, which is then connected to Hudson Bay by the Nelson River. Once in a while one lake will flood into the other. There's a town in between the two lakes on the Minnesota side of the border called Browns Valley.
Thanks for the interesting lesson! I love your content! Please keep doing what you're doing!
I have been looking for a video like this for so long! you nailed it. Fascinating. I was going to make one myself but you already made the video. Like one of the only ones
I absolutely love that you did this. I was just thinking about all the cities developed with rivers. Amazing how many are connected one single rivers. We really are all contented in so many ways. Thanks for making this. Excited to subscribe.
My new favorite channel! I've been a geography buff since I was a kid. Thanks for doing this.
I moved to the bitterroot valley, western Montana. First thing I noticed was that the bitterroot river was flowing north. I was geeking out!
It's nice Out Here. I love it, too, except for the Wildfires and smoke.
@@Diana1000Smiles this season has been nice, for smoke. Hotter than hell.
On the Alberta / British Columbia border, just west of Lake Louise AB , is Boundary Creek. It flows north on the Continental Divide, then spits into 2 channels, one going west into the Columbia River system, the other going east into the Saskatchewan River System.
This really was interesting. Learned something new tonight, thanks for sharing your knowledge of geography with everyone 👍🙂
Two Ocean Creek: I can flow to two different oceans
People: No you can't!
Two Ocean Creek: Yes I can!
People: Then where do you split?
Two Ocean Creek: Wyoming!
People: What's Wyoming?
Two Ocean Creek: ....dammit you got me
The more-than-half a million people that actually live in Wyoming: ARE WE A JOKE TO YOU???
The majority of Yellowstone National Park is in Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park is in Wyoming, Old Faithful is in Wyoming; WHAT IS WITH THIS "WYOMING DOESN'T EXIST" BS?!?!?
Edit: The fact that some people don't know about Wyoming's very existence speaks volumes on just how IGNORANT people really are about Geography! 🤬🤬🤬
@@gehrigstory6674 Same thing of people not putting Antarctica on a world map: Even if there are barely any people on a piece of land in the world, doesn't mean it doesn't exist!
My boss in Blacksburg, VA proclaimed that the water in his front yard went to the Gulf of Mexico, and water in the backyard went to the Atlantic Ocean!
😂
What brand of whiskey does he favor?
This does happen in the Eastern side of Wisconsin. Mid-Continental divide.
His house sits on a watershed divide, that's why. Most likely the front yard is in the New River Watershed, which flows to the Kanawa River into the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico, and the backyard is either in the James River or the Roanoke River watersheds, where the water either flows into the Chesapeake Bay or the North Carolina Sounds before reaching the Atlantic Ocean. Also, another cool thing is that the Calfpasture River, a stream that flows into the Maury River into the James River, has a source extremely close to the watershed divide, and on the other side of the divide lays the source of the North River, which flows into the South Fork of the Shenandoah River into the Potomac River. Most roads are built on watershed divides as the water on top of the divides evaporate the fastest, which reduces hydroplaning, where cars produce huge splashes of water when their tires go through the puddles. Finally, lots of cities in Virginia are on watershed divides, and Blacksburg is one example.
Excellent showing! I live just north of the great divide basin..I backpacked extensively in the wind river mountains in both the altlantic creek and pacific creek drainages and have been over two oceans pass..amazing country..extraordinary wilderness..highly recommend these areas for the adventurous sort..not so much for the faint of heart..the terrain can be rugged and very remote.
A somewhat similar concept used to exist in Wisconsin. Basically before the dikes at Portage were built, the Wisconsin River would overflow when flooded into the Fox River. This would create an huge "island" (most of the Eastern USA) which part of the Wisconsin River would flow north to Green Bay then through the Great Lakes to the Upper Atlantic. But the south flow would go down to the Mississippi and the Gulf.
That situation still exists in Chicago, where we have engineered the Chicago Rive to flow uphill to reach the Mississippi so that any pollution into that river wouldn't go into Lake Michigan but down towards St Louis.
Another very interesting river feature, is the existence of "canal Casiquiare" in Venezuela, that through the "río Negro" comunicates the "Amazonas" and the "Orinoco" rivers. It is the world's largest river of the kind that links two major river systems, a so-called bifurcation. The area forms a water divide, more dramatically at regional flood stage.
im offended by the name "rio negro" and in demand south america change the name NOW
@@DanRustle have fun with this one: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_River_(New_York)
@@DanRustle lol
@@DanRustle My state was forced to rename one of our lakes by some group. They didn't even know that Rio Negro it was literally Spanish for "Black river", and then tried to force a farmer in court to rename a lake on his own 5,000 acre property named Black lake even though it was named after his family, the Blacks, over 200 years ago. He won.
Another similar phenomena can be found in Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park in North Canyon above Spooner Lake. A canyon has cut up through the ridge confining the stream so that the water splits somewhat equally into two drainages, separate paths to Tahoe.
And in Alberta? A triple divide! Pacific, ARCTIC and Atlantic in one go... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Dome_(Canada)
There’s a pull out spot at the top of the pass on hwy 297 in Montana. This runs between Lincoln and Helena.
The drainage on the west side flows into the Blackfoot river ultimately to the Pacific Ocean.
The drainage on the east side flows ultimately into the Missouri River and beyond.
I’ve contemplated that whichever direction the wind blows determines where my piss will wind up. (Theoretically.)
Haha 😆
In Australia, there is the Lake Eyre Basin which flows to Lake Eyre (pronounced air). The Lake itself, which is often dry, is below sea level and the water in the 1,200,000 km sq, or 463,300 sq mile basin never reaches the ocean.
That would be an endorheric (I think that's how you spell it, but I could be wrong) basin, where water doesn't flow to any ocean. In The U.S.A, there's 2 such basins. The Great Divide Basin/Red Desert in SW Wyoming, and The Great Basin in parts of Utah, and Nevada.
There's also The Lake Chad Basin in Africa; The Jordan/Dead Sea Basin in Israel, Syria, and Jordan; The Caspian Sea Basin in Central Asia, and many more Endorheric basins throughout Central Asia.
Lewis and Clark were not dumb enough to think there was a continuous water route to the Pacific Ocean from St Louis.
They were expecting at the opposite to headwaters of the Missouri River, would be the headwaters of another great river system to the Pacific Ocean. They specifically had a steel frame canoe that they could collapse and carry over the mountains. That canoe was eventually abandon as their conventional canoes also, before reaching the continue divide.
Along the same lines as this creek. There is oddly a river that flows on two continents. The Ural River is the 3rd longest river in Europe, but it is also the eighteenth longest river in Asia.
They had a Aboriginal American helping them they didn't do it on there own.
@@keyshahoodprincess9 of course they didn’t. Lewis and Clark Expedition had about thirty people in their party, I’m not going to sit here and name them all. All members contributed, and all came back alive, except one who died of natural causes.
@@johnkoziel789 I think you are missing the point. The Europeans were not randomly choosing one direction or the other when they came to each fork in a river. Some forks would be obvious but local knowledge helped guide them at others.
The Ural river isn't the same at all. The reason it flows through two different continents is because it's contiguous route is used as the border.
@@beepbop6542 maybe a poor choice of words, but an oddity nonetheless.
Also an oddity because Europe is a continent in a political sense, not a in a geological one.
The backpack looks sick
Soo.. watching this.. I realized, that my brother, father and uncle and I camped near/at two oceans pass about 20 years ago. We had to be packed in on horses and with mules carrying our gear. They left us for a week and came back to fetch us. I realized at the time how cool it was... but thanks for reminding me! LOL... I remember now the grizzly kills we saw on the way up, how we had to tree our food... and how my brother's horse wouldn't carry him out because he was too fat! Good times! And getting old is kinda fun when you can remember how you got there! Thanks again!!
Thank you for teaching me something I did not know as I have a huge interest in maps and I've drawn them by had too. While drawing them, I like the Eckert IV Projection out of all of them.
Another excellent video. Please keep them coming!
Would love to visit the parting of the creek, looks awesome
I used to pack dudes over two ocean pass and have been at the parting of the waters many times. Our camp was on Atlantic creek and just a couple miles south of the Yellowstone park boundary. In the early summer the trout spawn up into the Yellowstone and it's tributaries. It's probably some of the best fishing you'll ever encounter.
This was maybe the most interesting TH-cam video I've seen in years. I loved it. Instant sub.
I really enjoyed this. I had never watched your channel before. Between this video and the one about the fall line along the eastern US coast, I'm impressed enough that I subscribed! This video made me want to travel to see the Parting of the Waters! I haven't yet dug into your past videos, and I really hope I find lots of information about Canada.
Wow!!! Another great video! I live in the Pacific Northwest and was unaware of the "Parting of the Waters"! Thanks!!!
Back in 1979 when I was 18 years old, along with a friend, we took a bus/hitchhiked to Elk Canyon on the east entrance road to Yellowstone and walked to Dubois Wyoming. We walked over Two Ocean Pass en route.
That was very interesting. I was shocked when you brought up Wollaston lake in SK and even more impressed when you pronounced Saskatchewan correctly. Good job!!
I've actually been really close to the triple-divide, where water splits into paths that lead to three oceans - Arctic, Pacific, Atlantic - up on the Alberta/BC border. Cool place; lots of glaciers.
Was on a ship tour of Yellowstone lake in NP right before the flood, and the guide was saying that rainfalls on one side of the Mt Sheridan goes to the Pacific, on the other side goes to the Atlantic, so cool
I gained a new appreciation for the beauty of North America from this video. You’ve convinced me that I haven’t seen enough of my own country. Thanks for that, and God Bless America.
Another example: Two rivers (not creeks) flow out of Lesjaskogsvatnet, Norway.
The one to the northwest (Rauma) reaches the Norwegian sea (The Arctic Ocean, going by your drainage-basin-divide-map).
The one to the southeast (Lågen) runs into Mjøsa, which runs out into Vorma, which becomes a part of Glomma and eventually runs out in the Skagerakk (The Atlantic Ocean, going by your drainage-basin-divide-map).
Many years ago I travelled across Canada, visiting e.g. some majestic icefields (Columbia icefields?) and the three-continental divide from where a creek could end up in any of three oceans: the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic. It would be nice were you to describe that very special place. We in the group of Swedish visitors were joking about the fact that if you, facing north, let your water to the left, it would end up polluting the Pacific, if you aimed straight ahead the Arctic would be the worse for wear and if you were more of a right-winger the Atlantic would suffer.
Hans Strömberg, Stockholm, Sweden
A few of us used to joke that a toilet could sit on the Continental Divide having a flushing handle that gave the user a choice as to which direction the water would go.
we found that in 1980 on Holiday
@@bobjacobson858 And make those four choices if the toilet has a 1-drop and a 3-drop button for environmental reasons.
Fun fact about Isa lake in Yellowstone. It is the only known lake IN THE WORLD to drain into two oceans BACKWARDS. The Pacific ocean lies to the west; the Atlantic to the east. But water leaving the WEST end of the lake is actually on the EASTERN side of the continental divide, and thus its waters end up in the Gulf of Mexico via the Firehole, Yellowstone, Missouri, and Mississippi rivers. The water leaving the EAST end of the lake is actually on the WESTERN side of the divide, and ends up in the Pacific ocean.
Excellent video. Very interesting and informative
Who knew, well at least I didn't know, a path of water that splits at the continental divide that goes to 2 different types of oceans, now that's really interesting
Funny story about the Great Divide Basin: Some years ago a fellow geologist and I were duck hunting on stock ponds in the Great Divide Basin. The Wyoming Game and Fish Migratory Waterfowl Orders had bag limits for the Central Flyway, defined as being east of the Continental Divide and different bag limits for the Pacific Flyway, defined as being west of the Continental Divide. We went into the Game and Fish Office to ask which applied in the Great Divide Basin which was not east or west of the divide. We got a stunned/blank reaction. You'd have thought that we'd asked about bag limits on triceratops. The finally told us to use which ever one was more restrictive. That didn't help much because the bag limits in the Central Flyway were calculated by point values for different species of ducks while the Placific Flyway was specific numbers of different species. Apples and oranges. In the end, we never approached out bag limits no matter how you calculated it.
I see that now the Wyoming Game and Fish Department as eliminated the ambiguity by including the Great Divide Basin in the Pacific Flyway.
For people saying it's not the Atlantic it's the Gulf of Mexico, I would just like to say that it's the Atlantic the Gulf of Mexico is a subset of the ocean itself.
There is also a channel between the Big Stone lake and Lake traverse in the Minnesota South Dakota border dividing on the water level in each lake the can flow both ways one into the Mississippi basin and the other into the Hudson Bay basin this waterway divides the entire continental USA east and West.
This was way cool and I learned heaps. Fascinated and subbed.
There is a lake just north of Lake Superior called Long Lake. Its natural outlet was to the north, flowing into Hudson Bay, a part of the Arctic Ocean. A hydroelectric company cut a canal to the south, so that the water could flow through their generators and into Lake Superior and eventually to the Atlantic. So now the lake has two exits, one to each ocean.
One is an artifical route, not a natural one, so it doesn't really count.
Edit: Otherwise, The Erie Canal, The Ohio/Chesapeake Canal, The Panama Canal, The Suez Canal, and others would all be considered rivers that flow to 2 different Oceans, or other large bodies of water. We don't think of them as such, though; so this canal near Long Lake doesn't count either. Sorry.
I live not far from the first creek. Gonna have to hike up there and check it out!
I hiked to the Parting of the Waters back in 1995. So I enjoyed the video!
When I was in grade school in Cambridge Mass we had a lovely old spinster teacher in Grade 4 or so who told about this exact spot which she had apparently visited.
Now, a crazy part of me wants to follow this creek, from one end, to the other. I want to start at the Columbia River Basin (near where I already live) at the Pacific Ocean, and drive alongside the route of this river as much as humanly possible, all the way down to the exit point at New Orleans! That sounds like a great adventure journey that I can one day take, before I leave this world behind! It'll enable me to see so many iconic parts of this great country of ours! The only question is: "when can I do it?"
This is hardly drivable
@@ghosthermes Yes, I get that. I was speaking in general terms. Which is why I wrote "as much as humanly possible."
Obviously, I don't intend to drive through the woods, or on the banks of the river itself. I would have hoped that kind of thing would have gone unsaid just fine.
Glad I stumbled
across your channel. Love it
I’ve been to the parting of the waters in 1995 during a 28 day backpacking trip with the National Outdoor Leadership School based in Lander.
You're in my neck of the woods!!!!! Great video. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for a very interesting video. I've seen the pretty little pond or lake in Yellowstone where waters overflow two ways; it's on the route from Yellowstone to Grand Teton NP. And I've seen the little lake in Glacier NP that flows three ways--including the Arctic Ocean. But I've never heard of this creek. It looks a beautiful area. By the way, the seepage of water from Crater Lake in Oregon heads in different directions--not to two different oceans but at least east and west of the Cascade Range.This is rather hidden, because the water doesn't flow out directly from the lake but seeps through the rock until it emerges in springs, then streams ... Most of the water ends in the Pacific via the Rogue and Klamath rivers, but some into the inland lakes of the southern Oregon desert, part of the Great Basin.
Triple Divide in Montana splits and runs into 3 bodies of water, the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico.
I work in Grand Teton and there is a lake called two oceans lake and a lot of people think the water from that lake goes to north oceans but it doesn’t. That used to be the belief, but was found that it lies just slightly west of the divide so this is cool to learn
Probably the most important part of visiting Two Ocean creek at the split is just how nice of a place it is when the weather is nice. The other thing is to keep in mind how quickly that can change to a severe thunderstorm without any cover in sight! We found a small rock ledge to huddle under but tossed all our metal items out when the St. Elmo's Fire started. At that point in history- 50 years ago before most of the current air pollution- you could see the sun rising on the Tetons 50 miles away. One can certainly see why the tallest is called Grand when just the tip top is lit and the rest of the visible world is still in dark. And it's even grand-er when the full moon rises after an all day blizzard leaves feet of new snow and you are looking from the saddle due north of the Grand. Of course then it's also nice to have the full moon to get off the mountain.
NIce video. I learned something. Living in Kanasa and traveled several times to M-id Colorado. I love it.
That WAS interesting. Well done. Thank you for making this.
The name of the channel totally meets the content. Algorithm blessed me with this video and it definitely looks subscription-worthy, thank you for your job, keep up!
Totally fascinating, I loved to imagine a Fish coming in from the Pacific Ocean and using this Creek as Expressway through the Continent to get to the Atlantic ^^ Thanks!
Well, that fish surely must be salmon, which probably is the only well-known fish that can survive both freshwater and saltwater environments, as they have a migration pattern that they use throughout their life cycle.
3:25 Wow, you're the first non-native I've heard pronounce the capitol of South Dakota correctly!
I believe that there is a small river at Kicking Horse Pass along the BC/Alberta border on Hwy 1 which splits into two rivers going to the Pacific and Arctic.
Nicely Done, sir. Great Video. #NowThatIsInteresting !
- David from Perth Western Australia (A place few Americans have heard of!)
Image what an epic trek it would be to go from Astoria to New Orleans by following the path the water takes!
This is very interesting! I knew about the great devide basin but had NO idea that there ANY creeks or lakes that actually flowed to two different oceans. Wow. Thanks for this fascinating and infirmative video!
Another fun example: the St. Croix and Bois Brule Rivers in northern Wisconsin. The bog they come from sits on a small divide between two watersheds, and sitting right on the divide is a small pond. Water flowing out to the east is the source of the Bois Brule, which flows out into Lake Superior. Water flowing out of the pond to the west is the source of the St. Croix River, which pours into the Mississippi a couple hundred miles downstream. It's not too hard to get down to the pond, but good luck navigating around it.
I did learn something new: Great Divide Basin and Hell's Canyon. Thanks!
Finally. I can pee in both oceans at once
I believe I know exactly where this is. I pass it quite often and first noticed it a few years back. As you’re driving south on hwy 191 towards west Yellowstone, the gallatin river flows north. Then, as you enter the small portion of Yellowstone national park, the river slowly fizzles out, disappears from view for about a mile, then reappears flowing the opposite (south) direction.
I believe that The Gallatin River actually starts in The NW portion of Yellowstone National Park, not where this "Parting of The Waters" is located at. It's south of Yellowstone National Park, and The Gallatin River doesn't originate there. The first waters of The Yellowstone River flow from this "Parting of The Waters", not those of The Gallatin River. Plus, it's not a place accessible by road, but rather by a hiking trail that goes there.
Actually, The Gallatin River's water partially originates from The Firehole River (The River where the water from Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic Spring, and other hot springs/geysers in the area flows to), which starts on The Continential Divide inside the park. This "Parting of The Waters" is located outside of the park's boundaries to the south, not within the park like The Firehole River's (And thus, The Gallatin River's) headwaters are.
Sorry if I sound like I'm repeating myself, or sound like I'm rambling. I'm just trying to respectfully correct your information as best I can.
@@gehrigstory6674 it’s all good buddy thanks for the info! I embrace constructive criticism/feedback.
Fascinating. I've been dreaming up a river voyage from my home in Washington to points east. It's been enjoyable trying to figure where I would have to haul out and truck the boat to the Missouri or tributary thereof. Your video doesn't answer that question but does seem an event of wondrous synchronicity. Thank you for posting.
Not to sound cliche, but that *is* interesting. Seriously! I've often wondered if there were places like this. Thanks for enlightening me. I'll have to put it on my list of places to check out. Thanks for an informative video! ~ Mike
Seems like you should have twice the number of subscribers than Half as Interesting, we need to right this wrong immediately!
Agreed and then some!!!
Not surprised this is in Wyoming. Probably the most geographically interesting state in the country. Been all over that state and it's just constant changing scenery. Very beautiful.
There’s a 3 way watershed on Giants Ridge in Eveleth, MN. Depending on what part of the ridge water hits, it flows into Lake Superior (and so the Atlantic through the St. Lawrence River), Lake Itasca (and so the Mississippi), and the Red River of the North (and on to Hudson Bay).
There’s a spot in Glacier NP then when it rains, that water could end up 3 places: Arctic, Pacific or Atlantic Oceans.
Thank you! I was trying to remember where it was I'd seen this on my travels. Had a vague impression it was in Canada (well, it is almost!).
@@elainechubb971
Yep. It’s really close to the US/Canada border.
Triple divide is about 20 miles from my home, from when I was very young we would travel over the divide and my father explained what it was. The continuation of the milk River ridge from the triple divide also is an interesting feature.