Upper Geyser Basin, WY

Upper Geyser Basin in Old Faithful area offers 2.7 mi of paved trails, about 3 mi of boardwalks over hydrothermal surface areas and about 1.6 mi of dirt trail going to Old Faithful Observation Point.


Bicycles and wheelchairs are welcome on paved trails, bicycles are not allowed on dirt trails and boardwalks. Human traffic is not allowed to leave established walkways in order not to get burned by boiling water and chemicals contained in it. Bison, elk and other wildlife spending winters in hydrothermal areas must be boiling-resistant, so you can see a lot of evidence of them inhabiting geyser fields in colder months.

Upper Geyser Basin is one of three large geyser basins along the Firehole River and the majority of the world's active geysers are here. Five of six geysers that are predicted by Yellowstone park rangers are located in this area. Predicted eruption times are posted inside Visitor Center (all geysers), in lodges lobbies (Old Faithful), on information boards at geysers themselves.

• Old Faithful Geyser located in the center of the village erupts about every 1.5 hours for 1.5-5 minutes reaching height of 185 feet of boiling water. For spectators' convenience there are a lot of benches along the boardwalk rounding the geyser as well as elevated terraces with a geyser view in nearby lodges.
• Castle Geyser is located on the east side of the northbound paved trail erupts about every 13.5 hours for about 20 minutes reaching 75 feet.
• Daisy Geyser is located further along the paved trail, on the west side, erupts every 2-3.5 hours for 3-5 minutes reaching 75 feet.
• Riverside Geyser is on the east side of the paved trail and also on the other side of the river sitting just on the river bank. It erupts every 5.5-7.5 hours for 20-25 minutes with a 75 feet column of water arching over the river.
• Giant Geyser is located along the boardwalk on the east side of the river, its eruptions last up to 1 hour reaching 250 feet, but are irregular though predictable and happen once in a several days.

Of course, along the trails you'll see a lot of other geysers, water pools and steam holes showing different levels of activity and a lot of steam coming up off the ground everywhere around.

Leave No Trace and +Add a Triplog after your hike to support this local community.

2010-06-02 AndreyP