Golden Gate Canyon is along the road to Mammoth Hot Springs (Highway 89). The canyon was cut by Glen Creek. The canyon owes it name to both the color of the rocks a variety of yellowish lichen that grows on them. The rock consists of the massive Huckleberry Ridge Tuff, a product of the most massive Yellowstone caldera eruption of about 1.8 million years ago (Fritz, 1985). Huckleberry Tuff is also visible along the distant ridge top across the valley of the Gardener River.