This small river is the only one in the world that flows into two oceans

In the world, there is only one water stream that flows into both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, which is the small river North Two Ocean.

Map of North America showing the Continental Divide, whose summit stretches from Alaska south through the Canadian Rockies and down through Mexico. It is the invisible line that separates major river basins that flow into different oceans.

North Two Ocean Creek splits into two streams exactly along the Continental Divide.

In general, if a drop of rain falls west of the continental divide, it will join the rivers flowing to the Pacific Ocean. If a drop of rain falls east of the divide, it will flow into the Atlantic or Arctic Ocean.

Located in Wyoming's Bridger-Teton National Forest, the alpine meadows at Two Ocean Pass look nothing like a pass. The slope of the pass is so low that when the meadows flood in the spring during a wet year, a fish can swim from the Pacific basin into the Atlantic basin!

North Two Ocean Creek splits into two streams exactly along the Continental Divide , forming Pacific Creek and the appropriately named Atlantic Creek. An old plywood sign at Parting of the Waters says it is 3,488 miles from the Atlantic Ocean and 1,353 miles from the Pacific Ocean.

Pacific Creek flows southwest toward the Snake River and Atlantic Creek flows northeast toward the Yellowstone River.

A recent study investigated a hypothesis that non-native lake trout may have invaded Yellowstone Lake by swimming across the North Two Ocean, instead of the initial assumption that they were illegally introduced by a human. .

The researchers used environmental DNA sampling, electrofishing, and angling to determine whether lake trout or other non-native fish species were present in waters near the North Two Ocean.

While the origins of Yellowstone Lake salmon remain uncertain, the potential for nonnative fish to cross the North Two Ocean in the future is a serious problem. To protect native Yellowstone salmon, it may be necessary to continue monitoring these waters and proactively remove non-native fish species.