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1. Old Faithful and other Yellowstone Geysers Erupt in the Mud Volcano Region
Yellowstone National Park delivers big when it comes to geysers and hot springs. In fact, Yellowstone National Park is a super volcano with the world’s largest active geyser field (including Old Faithful), boasting more than 10,000 geysers, steam vents, mud pots (also known as a mud volcano) and hot springs. About 250-300 Yellowstone geysers erupt yearly — some faithfully and others unexpectedly.
Check out the following areas for Yellowstone geysers:
Upper Geyser Basin
A full square mile, Upper Geyser Basin is Yellowstone National Park's biggest basin and the world’s largest single concentration of hot springs. It contains several groups of hot springs, including more than 150 Yellowstone geysers and the most famous geyser in America — Old Faithful. If you visit the Upper Geyser Basin on your Yellowstone vacation, plan to spend at least a full day there.
Old Faithful
Discovered in 1870 by the Washburn Expedition, Old Faithful geyser was named for its frequent eruptions — which number more than a million since Yellowstone became the world’s first national park in 1872. Old Faithful erupts about every 92 minutes, shooting water 135 feet into the air on average. Like most of theYellowstone's geysers, Old Faithful gets its water from deep inside the earth. Snow and rainwater reach depths of about 10,000 feet below the ground, where it is heated by magma and forced back up through the surface.
Castle Geyser
Castle Geyser is attracts a crowd because of its energy. 15 minutes into an eruption, Castle goes into a raucous steam phase that roars like a train. Erupting every 11-13 hours, Castle shoots water 70-80 feet into the air from one of the largest cones in the Upper Geyser Basin — over 30 feet tall.
Riverside Geyser
Riverside Geyser is unique because it erupts over a river — literally. Every six hours, Riverside shoots water about 80 feet into the air at a 60-degree angle across the Firehole River. Each eruption lasts about 20 minutes.
Midway Geyser Basin
Located “midway” between the upper and lower basins, Midway Geyser Basin covers a one-mile stretch along the Firehole River and is home to some of the largest single hot springs in the world.
Grand Prismatic Spring
Grand Prismatic Spring is Yellowstone National Park’s largest and the world’s third largest single hot spring. This enormous pool is not just huge — it’s also colorful. The steam suspended directly above the large spring reflects the colors of the rainbow, causing one naturalist to describe viewing Grand Prismatic as “like walking along a beach of color.”
Lower Geyser Basin
Located between Madison Junction and the Old Faithful area, Lower Geyser Basin is home to about 100 geothermal features. It covers five square miles and includes all four types of features: hot springs, geysers, fumaroles (steam vents) and mud pots (liquid pools of mud).
The surface rock in the Lower Geyser Basin area has cracked and broken into clay due to the acidity in the steam. The clay and steam pushing through it create natural geothermal occurrences throughout the region, the most popular of which is the Fountain Paint Pots — Yellowstone Park’s most easily accessed large group of mud pots.
The steam responsible for the Paint Pots turns the clay white, brown and gray, but it isn’t strong enough to wash the clay away. Additional liquid at different times of the year gives the Paint Pots their characteristic look of bubbling, blended mud.
Norris Geyser Basin
Norris Geyser Basin is the hottest of all of the Yellowstones geysers . A research drill hole at Norris found temperatures of 459 degrees F (237 degrees C) at a depth of only 1,087 feet. Many geyser-gazing experts feel Norris Geyser Basin — including the Black Growler Steam Vent, a hissing fumarole with temperatures ranging from 199 to 280 degrees F (93 to 138 degrees C)— is the most exciting and unpredictable of the various basins in Yellowstone.
Norris Geyser Basin is comprised of two smaller basins: Porcelain Basin and Back Basin. Porcelain Basin is home to many hot springs, vents and pools, while Back Basin has impressive geysers like Echinus Geyser.
Echinus Geyser
Echinus Geyser — named from the Greek word for “spiny” — is the most popular of the Norris geysers but also one of the most erratic. While it’s always active and certainly one of the best eruptions in the park, it’s also one of the Yellowstone geysers you may not want to wait around for. Echinus erupts anywhere from every 2 hours to once in 4 days. Echinus is a typical fountain-type geyser, throwing its water in a series of closely-spaced bursts.
Mud Volcano
Located just north of Yellowstone Lake, the Mud Volcano area is a collection of mudpots that includes more than a dozen unique geothermal features. It’s close to the center of the crater (or caldera) that forms Yellowstone National Park. If your Yellowstone vacation takes you to Mud Volcano, you’ll be sure to notice a “rotten egg” odor in the air. It’s caused by microorganisms that eat the sulfur in Mud Volcano’s soils, creating sulfuric acid. As it evaporates, it becomes hydrogen sulfide gas. This region is more acidic than some of the park’s other geyser areas, which is why it is also more muddy.
Dragon’s Mouth Spring
Mud Volcano’s most popular feature, Dragon’s Mouth Spring is a spring that fills a cave in the side of a hill. The gases that rise to the surface cause the water to splash back and forth against the three cave walls, resembling a tongue lashing out. “The rhythmic belching of water gave this spring its name,” says Karen Reinhart, a park ranger naturalist. “The spring is inside the cave and it’s so steamy that you can’t really see all the way back in, but we think it’s pretty shallow.” If you listen closely, you’ll hear rumblings from deep below, which indicates a large amount of stored energy and heat.
Mammoth Hot Springs
Located in the northwest section of the park, Mammoth Hot Spings is a beautiful landscape of terraces sculpted by travertine limestone. This area’s unique scenery is created by hot, acidic water ascending through ancient limestone deposits — resulting in the travertine terraces. On average, Mammoth Hot Springs deposits two tons of travertine (calcium carbonate). One of the most notable features in Mammoth Hot Springs is the colorfully streaked Minerva Terraces, with its gentle waterfall appearance.
Whether it’s hiking, fishing, biking, riding, climbing, rafting, soaking or just plain exploring in the Yellowstone Park area, there’s a Holiday Inn nearby. You’ll find a full-service restaurant, swimming pool, fitness center, free high-speed Internet, and, of course, Kids Eat Free.
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