 | Yellowstone National Park Geysers/hot springs Reviews | 1 - 10 of 183 |  |
 Firehole Lake by toonsarah
White Dome Geyser, a little further along the route, is less spectacular but much more frequent in its eruptions, and the large white cone is a good example of the formations that can build up around the geysers. Further still is the parking lot for Firehole Lake itself, with a short boardwalk across the steaming lake.
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 West Thumb overview by toonsarah
The basin's location at the edge of Yellowstone Lake gives it its unique character and provides some rather different photo opportunities from other areas of the park. There are a number of boardwalks across the basin offering good access to the various hot springs and colourful pools. It's a great place to get some close-up shots of the amazing colours caused by the different chemicals in the water.
This is the largest geyser basin on the shores of Yellowstone Lake. The heat source of the thermal features in this location is thought to be relatively close to the surface, only 10,000 feet down.
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This is a short boardwalk around the hill that lies just beyond Old Faithful and is well worth doing. There are a number of smaller geysers here, including Anemone, which erupts up to 10 feet (3 meters) every 7-15 minutes. There are also some much bigger ones such as Giantess, but we weren’t lucky enough to see one of its much rarer eruptions. There’s also the colourful Doublet Pool, and of course a different view of Old Faithful from that down on the path below.
We saw our first bison here, and although we were to see many others over the course of our visit, the first was not only the most exciting but also one of the best opportunities we had for a photo, as he wandered across the path in front of us.
One bonus of this walk is that it’s near enough to the parking lot for even visitors in a hurry to fit into their schedule but far enough away that many don’t bother (or in some cases, can’t manage the short climb up or find it off-putting). So there are considerably fewer people up here – though don’t expect to feel you’re off the beaten track in any way!
The loop is a little over a mile and is very easy once you've made the short initial climb. There are lots of other trails in the area - there's a helpful map in the Old Faitful Area trail guide available at all the visitor centers or in advance from the online bookstore http://www.yellowstoneassociation.org/store/
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 Castle Geyser by JanPeter74
It has the largest cone and may be the oldest of all geysers in the basin. A water eruption frequently reaches 90 feet (27m) and lasts about 20 minutes. This water phase is followed by a noisy steam phase lasting some 30 minutes.
Often Castle Geyser and close-by Grand Geyser (within sight of eachother and about a 10 min walk) are predicted to erupt at approximately the same time. What we did was wait at Grand since the eruptions here last shorter than Castle. As said Castle erupts for about 50 minutes. So you have plenty of time to walk to Castle once it erupts. Leave a Comment
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 Grand Geyser by JanPeter74
An average eruption lasts 9 - 12 minutes and consists of 1 - 4 bursts/sessions, sometimes reaching 60m. So it might seemed finished and then burst again for a grand finale.
Often Grand Geyser and close-by Castle Geyser (within sight of eachother and about a 10 min walk) are predicted to erupt at approximately the same time. What we did was wait at Grand since the eruptions here last shorter than Castle. Castle erupts for about 50 minutes. So you have plenty of time to walk to Castle once it erupts. FYI when we were there they both erupted more or less at the predicted time. Leave a Comment
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This was probably my favourite of the various geyser basins we visited. There’s a lot of variety: mud pots, fumeroles (steam vents), hot springs and geysers, all in a short walk (about half a mile). Secondly, we saw four geysers all erupting at once around us, including Fountain which drenched us with its spray. I found this so much more exciting than watching Old Faithful, although it was considerably smaller in height (c. 50 feet). For one thing, it’s less predictable so took us by surprise. Plus you can stand much closer so get a far better idea of the power behind the display. And although there were plenty of other people around it didn’t have the “staged” feeling that I got at Old Faithful.
The other geysers that put on a show for us here were Clepsydra (an almost constant performer), the small Spasm and mid-sized Jet. All in all it was an amazing, hot, smelly and very steamy experience!
Also on this walk you can see a bleak area with dead lodgepole pines whose interesting shapes make for some good photos.
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 Grand Prismatic Spring by JanPeter74
Grand Prismatic Spring is located in the Midway Geyser Basin and is the most spectacular spring/pool of Yellowstone. The blue water of the spring is surrounded by fringes in tones of yellow, brown and red. Click on the pic for a panoramic view.
Due to its size, the pictures hardly give you an idea what Grand Prismatic Spring really looks like. Therefore, I added a postcard picture with an aerial view of Grand Prismatic Spring at the end of my tips. Leave a Comment
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You could spend almost an entire day just exploring Norris Geyser Basin. Norris is the hottest geyser basin in Yellowstone. It is rather large basin with two loop trails passing by tons of thermal features. Unfortunately we did not have time to see them all. We visited Norris on two occasions. The first time it started to hail and thunderstorm so we cut our visit short, and the second we just didn't have enough time to see everything. We did manage to get through the Back Basin Loop. There we were able to see such beautiful and interesting features such as Echinus Geyser, one of the most regular geysers in the park with a beautiful rust color along it's edges, Steamboat Geyser, the tallest in the world, but it has no regularity, Emerald Spring, and the green Dragon Spring, amongst others. Next time we will be sure to see the Porcelain basin, which is supposed to be otherworldly.
UPDATE! We have been back to Norris and were able to explore the porcelain basin! more desciptions to come!
There is also a small Museum and Book Store at this stop. Midday, the bathroom lines can be brutally long. Leave a Comment
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Black Sand Basin was named for the black volcanic glass that can be found here. It's a small basin with a few geysers and springs, but definately worth the stop. Some of the most beautiful spings in the park are located here. One of my absolute favorites was Emerald Pool. It is a gorgeous green color (most of the springs are turquoise). I loved it, could have spent hours looking at it. Rainbow Pool is also located here,it's a large turquoise pool, it is also very pretty. Cliff Geyser, so named for the wall like structure that separates it from the creek, goes off almost constantly. Unmarked Handkerchief Pool got it's name from long ago visitors who would throw in their hankies and have them spat out again "clean" (Not the way I would clean my hanky, but whatever...throwing anything in any of the springs is now against the law) Leave a Comment Address: Grand Loop Road between Old Faithful and Madison
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 Jewel Geyser by toonsarah
Iron Spring Creek runs between the parking lot and the geyser basin itself, and the banks of the creek make a pretty setting for a picnic.
You can walk to this basin from the Old Faithful area (see the Old Faithful Area trail guide, available from the Visitor Center, for a clear map); alternatively it’s a 3 mile drive to the north.
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