- Midway Geyser
Basin:
- Midway is home to two of the largest thermal
features in Yellowstone. Grand Prismatic Spring,
at over 300 feet across is the largest hot spring
in Yellowstone. The various colors of
the cyano-bacteria around the pool are quite
pretty. Excelsior Geyser was the largest geyser
in the world in the 1880s. Now it is just a very
large crater that emits a copious amount of
water. After nearly 100 years of inactivity, it
had some minor eruptions in 1984. there are a few
other pools and geysers at Midway.
- Mud Volcano Area
- The
activity at the Mud Volcano area is interesting and worth
exploring. The temperatures here are lower than at the
geyser basins. In most cases, what looks like boiling is
actually just the evolution of gasses, especially carbon
dioxide..
- West Thumb Geyser
Basin:
- West Thumb is a small collection of geysers and
hot springs located on the shore of Lake
Yellowstone. This backdrop can be very pretty.
Two of Yellowstone's prettiest pools, Black Pool
and Abyss Pool are found here.
- Black Sand Basin:
- Black Sand Basin is actually part of the Upper
Geyser basin. There are a couple of frequent
small geysers and a couple of large very
infrequent geysers here but the stars of the area
are the very colorful hot springs.
- Biscuit Basin:
- Biscuit Basin is also part of the Upper Geyser
Basin. There are a number of small geysers here.
The most spectacular is probably Jewel Geyser
which erupts about every 10 minutes to 10-25
feet. Biscuit basin was named for biscuit shaped
sinter formations formerly found around Sapphire
Pool. For a few years following the 1959 Hebgen
Lake earthquake, Sapphire became a major geyser.
In the process, it greatly enlarged its crater
and washed all the biscuit formations away.
Sapphire is now a quiet green colored pool.
- Lone Star Geyser
Basin:
- This area is reached by an easy and enjoyable
three mile trail that follows the Firehole River.
This is one of the few trails in Yellowstone open
to bicycles. The small basin is dominated by Lone
Star Geyser. Lone Star erupts at three hour
intervals and is very predictable. About 1/2 hour
prior to the major eruption it has a minor
eruption which lasts about 5 minutes. The major
eruption lasts about 30 minutes and is concluded
with a loud steam phase. The eruption reaches
about 45 feet. Rarely, the major eruption is
preceded by two minor eruptions. Lone Star is a
nice destination for a day hike and picnic,
assuming you take bug repellent.
- Shoshone Geyser
Basin:
- Shoshone Geyser Basin is in the backcountry, only
accessible by a 9 mile trail. It contains at
least 40 geysers. Many of which are quite active.
The main performer is Minute Man Geyser which can
erupt to 40 feet.
- Heart Lake Geyser
Basin:
- Heart Lake Geyser Basin is in the backcountry,
only accessible by trail. the first geysers are
encountered about five miles in. There are close
to 40 geysers in the basin which stretches for
about 2 1/2 miles along Witch Creek. Two of the
major geysers are 50' Rustic and 60' Glade.
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