Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.
| # | Point | Type | Lat, Lon | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grebe Lake Outlet Yellowstone NP backcountry site | Campsite | 44.75365, -110.56435 | Designated site at the outlet of Grebe Lake, the Gibbon's source. Four designated sites ring the lake; this is the one on the outlet. Permit required. |
| 2 | Wolf Lake Yellowstone NP backcountry site | Campsite | 44.74549, -110.58104 | Designated backcountry site; a park backcountry permit is required and sites are reserved. Walk-in only. |
| 3 | Wolf Lake Outlet Yellowstone NP backcountry site | Campsite | 44.74340, -110.58588 | Designated backcountry site; a park backcountry permit is required and sites are reserved. Walk-in only. |
| 4 | Ice Lake East Yellowstone NP backcountry site | Campsite | 44.72204, -110.62032 | Designated site on Ice Lake, 220 m off the Gibbon. Ice Lake has four sites; the other three sit 780 m to 1.04 km off the river. Permit required. |
| 5 | Virginia Cascades Picnic Area NPS picnic area | Access / boat ramp | 44.71441, -110.63458 | Picnic area on the one-way Virginia Cascade Drive, above the cascade. |
| 6 | Virginia Cascades Waterfall on the Gibbon | Dam / hazard | 44.71308, -110.64776 | A 60-foot fall on the upper river beside the one-way drive. Not wadeable. |
| 7 | Norris Meadows Picnic Area NPS picnic area | Access / boat ramp | 44.73102, -110.68931 | Picnic area on the meadow reach above Norris; slow, silty water and undercut banks. |
| 8 | Norris Campground NPS campground | Campsite | 44.73824, -110.69319 | The developed campground above the Norris bridge, 180 m from the river. |
| 9 | Grand Loop Road bridge at the Norris Campground entrance Regulation section limit | Regulation section limit | 44.73815, -110.69880 | Upstream end of the reach the park gives an extended season. The park's web page calls it the bridge at the campground entrance; the 2026 booklet calls it the bridge near the Museum of the National Park Ranger. |
| 10 | Gibbon River Rapids Rapids | Dam / hazard | 44.71196, -110.73687 | Mapped rapids on the reach below Norris. |
| 11 | Chocolate Pot Thermal feature on the bank | Spring | 44.71010, -110.74124 | An iron-stained hot spring cone right on the Gibbon's bank below Norris; mapped in OSM as two adjacent nodes, one point here. |
| 12 | Gibbon Meadows Picnic Area NPS picnic area | Access / boat ramp | 44.70608, -110.74572 | Picnic area on the Gibbon Meadows reach. |
| 13 | Artists Paintpots parking NPS parking | Access / boat ramp | 44.69642, -110.74133 | Roadside lot for the Artists Paintpots trail, 260 m from the river; the nearest parking on this reach. |
| 14 | Grand Loop Road bridge above Beryl Spring Road crossing | Bridge crossing | 44.68405, -110.74438 | Crossing between Artists Paintpots and Beryl Spring. Grand Loop Road crosses the Gibbon five times; a third crossing 1.4 km downstream of here is left off the sheet as the least distinctive of the three in the canyon. |
| 15 | Beryl Spring Thermal feature on the bank | Spring | 44.67869, -110.74654 | A large boiling spring on the roadside at the river, with a road bridge 20 m away; one point here. |
| 16 | Caldera Rim Picnic Area NPS picnic area | Access / boat ramp | 44.65947, -110.74979 | Picnic area on the canyon reach above Gibbon Falls. |
| 17 | Iron Springs Picnic Area NPS picnic area | Access / boat ramp | 44.65970, -110.76794 | Picnic area on the canyon reach above Gibbon Falls. |
| 18 | Grand Loop Road bridge above Gibbon Falls Road crossing | Bridge crossing | 44.65752, -110.76946 | The last crossing upstream of the falls; a wade-in point for the reach above the lip. |
| 19 | Gibbon Falls Waterfall on the Gibbon | Dam / hazard | 44.65402, -110.77075 | An 84-foot fall, and the park's dividing point on this river: the water below it is managed differently from the water above. Do not wade near the lip. |
| 20 | Gibbon Falls Picnic Area NPS picnic area | Access / boat ramp | 44.64853, -110.77367 | Picnic area just below the falls. |
| 21 | Tuff Cliffs Picnic Area NPS picnic area | Access / boat ramp | 44.65062, -110.82944 | Picnic area on the lower canyon reach. |
| 22 | Madison Junction Picnic Area NPS picnic area | Access / boat ramp | 44.64356, -110.86042 | Picnic area at the Firehole confluence, where the Gibbon ends and the Madison begins. |
| 23 | Gibbon River at Madison Junction USGS 06037100 | USGS gauge | 44.64080, -110.86106 | Real-time flow at the mouth. The OSM monitoring-station node sits on the roster coordinate. A Tantalus Creek station 12 km upstream is on a tributary, not this river, and is not shown. |
| 24 | Madison Campground NPS campground, Madison Junction | Campsite | 44.64445, -110.86614 | The developed campground at the mouth; reservable. Serves the lower Gibbon, the lower Firehole and the upper Madison. |
Gauge: USGS 06037100 — Gibbon River at Madison Jct, YNP. Live flow on the web page.
Species: Arctic Grayling, Brook Trout, Brown Trout, Mountain Whitefish, Rainbow Trout
Regulations: wgfd.wyo.gov/regulations
Emergency: call 911 and give the number of the nearest point on this map plus its coordinates.
Madison Junction - the gauge reach at the confluence with the Firehole, with campground and road access.
Gibbon Falls - the canyon water above and below the falls, reached from the road pullouts.
Gibbon Meadows - slow undercut meadow water with a pullout and an open walk to the bank.
Elk Park - the upper meadow reach, quieter than Gibbon Meadows and reached on foot.
Norris Junction - the top of the fishable river near the Norris Geyser Basin.
Grand Loop Road pullouts - repeated roadside access through the canyon reach.
Terrace Springs - the lowest thermal input above the junction, a short walk from the road.
Spring: high and cold from snowmelt, with the meadows fishing first as the water drops.
Summer: good dry fly fishing in the canyon, with the meadows demanding a careful approach.
Fall: the run of brown trout and rainbows out of the Madison makes this the peak season.
Winter: closed to fishing within the park for the season.