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Published: March 22nd 2008
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Distance: All locations - less than 1 mile
Rating: All locations - easy
For our first full day in the Yellowstone National Park, we decided to hit as many of the geyser-related tourist attractions as possible. Being a week day, we agreed that it made sense to visit the geyser basins that would be full of tourists over the weekend. For those who haven’t been to Yellowstone, much of the area is taken up by the caldera of a massive volcano. Within the caldera are numerous regions of geothermic activity that heats water on the surface. Voila! Geysers and hot springs are born. The amazing concentration of geothermic activity in the area is the basis for Yellowstone’s popularity. There are only a handful of other places in the world where this kind of phenomenon can be observed.
After taking a brief and worthwhile stop at the beautiful Virginia Cascade—essentially a low-angle water fall—we headed to Norris Geyser Basin. Norris is one of the larger basins in the park and features hundreds of individual springs, geysers, and fumaroles (waterless gas vents). Norris is home to Steamboat Geyser, the tallest active geyser in the world. Unfortunately, its eruptions don’t happen very
often, and during our visit it just sputtered a bit. It was in this area that we first learned about thermophiles, the microorganisms that create the unique colors in the springs and runoff streams. On the whole, Norris was interesting, but wasn’t as exciting as some of our other stops.
Our next stop was Artist Paint Pot, a small but colorful area south of Norris Geyser Basin. True to its name, Artist Paint Pot features a variety of colors created by thermophilic activity in the runoff from several small geysers and springs. A short climb brings visitors to a large, bubbling buff-colored mud pot at the end of the trail.
Next, we stopped at the impressive Fountain Paint Pots area and Great Fountain Geyser (along Firehole Lake Drive) in Lower Geyser Basin. Fountain Paint Pots features a number of very energetic geysers along the boardwalk and paved loop. During our visit, we got to see Clepsydra Geyser erupting. The real treat for us in this area was along Firehole Lake Drive. We arrived just in time to see Great Fountain Geyser erupting. This is one of the more magnificent geysers in the park, best known for the terraced
rings that surround the center. The impressive eruption can shoot water as high as 100ft and can last as long as an hour. As the name implies, Great Fountain is a fountain geyser, in that it erupts from a large central pool. Great Fountain’s nearest neighbor, White Dome Geyser (just to the north) is a perfect example of a cone geyser, where water erupts from a structure of mineral deposits (called geyserite). White Dome’s eruption is much smaller than Great Fountain’s and the water shoots through a small spout in its well developed cone. Continuing north along Firehole Lake Drive, we visited the Firehole Lake Group, which includes Steady Geyser, the strongest continuously erupting geyser in the world. The area also includes Hot Lake, which is essentially just a very large hot spring.
Our next stop was the much smaller Midway Geyser Basin. There are no active geysers in this area, but it is home to Yellowstone’s largest hot spring, Grand Prismatic Spring. One of the most unique features of this area is the runoff from the Excelsior Geyser Crater into Firehole River. Seen from the parking area, these cascading falls have created colorful channels in the scorched hillside
between the crater and the river. Excelsior Geyser Crater is a giant blue pool left behind by the violent explosion of the geyser long ago. When it was first discovered in the 1880’s, Excelsior was the largest geyser in Yellowstone, but structural weaknesses in its cone caused it to collapse at some unknown time. Grand Prismatic Spring is next along the path. Runoff from the spring has created more unique color patterns, thanks to our friends the thermophiles.
Our final stop for the day was Upper Geyser Basin, best known as the home of Old Faithful. Old Faithful gets its name from its relatively predictable eruptions (generally about every 1-1.5 hours). As the biggest tourist attraction in the park (other than maybe the roaming herds of bison), the area around Old Faithful is generally clogged with tourists. Fortunately, Upper Geyser Basin encompasses a large area, and as one gets further away from Old Faithful, the foot traffic tends to decrease a bit. A short loop to the north of Old Faithful brings visitors to a series of uniquely shaped springs and relatively unpredictable, but powerful geysers including Beehive, Giantess, and the Lion Group. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see
any of these erupt. A side trail can be used to access Observation Point, which—after a short climb—offers a great view of Old Faithful. After the loop, the trail heads northwest to Grand Geyser, the largest predictable geyser in the world. Grand is a fountain geyser that can erupt up to 200 ft. We arrived just in time to see one of these impressive eruptions. There are several smaller bursts during the eruption that can fire water in different directions. Several people along the observation deck were drenched while we were there. Two nearby geysers erupt around the same time; one that fires a tall, thin plume and one that is small, but wide. When we were there, the smaller geysers became more active after Grand had finished its eruption. The path continues north and west past Beauty Pool and Chromatic Spring to Giant Geyser. This is the second largest geyser in the park, but its eruptions are infrequent and difficult to predict. When it does erupt, Giant can expel as much as 1 million gallons of water at a height of 250 ft. Since emerging from a period of dormancy in the late 90’s, Giant has become a bit
more predictable. When we arrived, we learned from an official geyser observer that an eruption was overdue. Unfortunately, nothing happened while we were there. We had better luck at Riverside Geyser to the north. Riverside’s eruptions are around 75ft, with most of the water ending up in the Firehole River. On the way back to the parking area, we passed the unique cones of Grotto Geyser (which got its strange shape by forming around old tree stumps) and Castle Geyser (possibly the oldest geyser in the basin).
By the end of the day, we had had our fill of phrases like “geothermal activity” and “thermophilic bacteria.” There are dozens of other geyser basins in the park, but we agreed that we had seen enough. So, after a brief stop at the Visitor Center, we packed up and headed back to our camp. In terms of overall walking distance, my best guess is that we covered about 8 miles. Most of the areas mentioned have either boardwalks or paved paths, and there is negligible elevation gain.
Luck, patience, and good timing are all essential when visiting the geyser basins. While many of the park’s geysers are predictable, you can’t
exactly set your watch by them. We were lucky enough to catch some spectacular eruptions, but we also missed a lot of great ones. The geothermic activity kills most of the trees within the basins, so don’t expect much real shade along the walk.
Directions: From Canyon Village inside Yellowstone National Park, follow signs west towards Norris Geyser Basin (Virginia Cascades are along the way on the south side of the road). After Norris, follow the road south to Artist Paint Pots. Follow the road south then west to the Madison area then south again to Lower Geyser Basin (Fountain Paint Pots are to the west and Firehole Lake Drive is to the east). Continue south to Midway and Upper Geyser basins. (For directions to Yellowstone, see my entry titled “The Yellowstone/Grand Teton Trip”).
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