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Atlantic Creek
Modified portion of the USGS Two Ocean Pass showing Atlantic Creek flowing northeast
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Two Ocean Pass
• coordinates	44°00′58″N 110°09′23″W / 44.01611°N 110.15639°W / 44.01611; -110.15639
• elevation	8,130 ft (2,480 m)
Mouth
• location	Confluence with Yellowstone River
• coordinates	44°05′56.043″N 110°06′0.6″W / 44.09890083°N 110.100167°W / 44.09890083; -110.100167
• elevation	7,860 ft (2,400 m)
National Wild and Scenic Rivers System

Atlantic Creek is one of two rivers formed at the hydrologically unique site of the Parting of the Waters. The creek begins in the Teton Wilderness of Bridger-Teton National Forest in the U.S. state of Wyoming near the southern border of Yellowstone National Park. It originates directly on the continental divide from North Two Ocean Creek, which splits roughly in half at the Parting of the Waters. One half of the flow becomes the headwater of Atlantic Creek.

Atlantic Creek, as its name suggests, ultimately flows into the Atlantic Ocean 3,488 mi (5,613 km) away. From the Parting of the Waters, it flows northeast over five miles of wilderness through the alpine valley of Two Ocean Pass and ends it short run into the Yellowstone River approximately 15 mi (24 km) southeast of Yellowstone Lake. Following the flow to the Atlantic Ocean, the Yellowstone River meanders north in its river plain feeding Yellowstone Lake and leaving the lake's northern edge. The river continues north going over Yellowstone Falls at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and eventually flows into the Missouri River in far western North Dakota. From the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri, the Missouri flows mostly south across the Dakotas. It then forms the borders of Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri before finally flowing east into the Mississippi River which empties into the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana.

Atlantic Creek's twin, the other half of North Two Ocean Creek, forms the headwater of Pacific Creek. It flows further than the relatively short run of Atlantic Creek, emptying at Moran over 20 miles to the southwest into the Snake River below Jackson Lake Dam and ultimately the Pacific Ocean 1,353 mi (2,177 km) away via the Columbia River.

See also

• Divide Creek, in the Canadian Rocky Mountains
• Teton–Yellowstone tornado, an unusual 1987 F4 tornado that passed over neighboring Pacific Creek

References

1. Two Ocean Pass Quadrangle, Wyoming-Teton Co. USGS Topographic Quadrangle, 1996: Note the 1996 quad does not show a split in the continental divide; however both the 1959 Two Ocean Pass, Wyoming 15 minute quadrangle and the 1982 Yellowstone National Park South, Wyo. 30x60 minute quad do show a split in the continental divide which includes the drainage basins of both North Two Ocean Creek and South Two Ocean Creek. The divide split is 8.7 kilometres (5.4 mi) in length.
2. "Two Ocean Pass — A place where fish can swim over the continetal divide!". USGS.gov. Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
3. Herman, Eric. "The Two-Ocean Stream". Watershapes.com. Retrieved 23 December 2024.

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