Swift Creek-Periodic Spring Trailhead
Afton, Lincoln County, Wyoming. Trailhead.
Details
- Where
- Afton, Lincoln County, WY. No street address stated. Directions
- When
- Open 24 hours/day, Year-round.
- Season
- Year-round; Access weather dependent 05/01-12/01.
- Getting there
- From Afton: take US-89 north, then East 2nd Avenue for one mile, then FS-10211 for 5 miles.
- Fees
- No fees are required for this site.
- Access
- Vault toilet; Potable water is not available at this site; hitching rail for stock.
- Phone
- 307-886-5300
- Website
- fs.usda.gov
- Managed by
- Greys River Ranger District.
- Coordinates
- 42.749746, -110.860724.
Periodic Spring is the largest intermittent non-geothermal spring in the world; the spring turns off and on every 15 minutes in the late summer and fall.
Notable Events
- 1894Olympic gold medalist wrestler Rulon Gardner's great-great-grandfather discovered the phenomenon in August 1894. cowboystatedaily.com
- 1950sIn the late 1950's the town of Afton tapped the spring for a water supply that did not need filtration or treatment. geowyo.com
- 2000sStudies conducted by the University of Utah in the mid-2000s confirmed no gas content in the water, strongly suggesting support for the siphon theory. cowboystatedaily.com
People
- Bruce Gardner, Logger who found the intermittent spring in Swift Creek Canyon.
- Kip Solomon, University of Utah hydrologist who has studied the spring.