It was a “burdensome journey” to reach Yellowstone National Park’s southwestern corner in the 1920s, making it an “almost inaccessible portion of the park,” according to W.A. Lansberry, editor of the nearby Ashton Herald newspaper in Idaho.

Long referred to as the park’s Cascade Corner for its numerous waterfalls, the region is so ignored by the 4 million-plus people who visit Yellowstone each year that the Park Service doesn’t publish entry statistics or man a fee station.

Yet on a September day the parking lot at the Bechler Ranger Station office is packed with vehicles from around the nation, hauling visitors from as far away as Missouri, Iowa and Oregon. They come to fish the Bechler and Falls rivers, day hike trails to nearby waterfalls or backpack into the remote terrain seething w

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