Yellowstone National Park is the site of a super volcano, one of the largest in the world. Huge volcanic eruptions occurred at the site, the latest being 631,000 years ago. The center of the volcano collapsed and formed a 30 by 45 mile caldera. Yellowstone National Park is the site of the caldera. The heat powering the volcanic eruptions all those years ago still fuels the geysers, hot springs, fumaroles and mud pots. Yellowstone National Park is home to more than 10,000 hydrothermal features. There are approximately 500 geysers, the largest concentration in the world. Yellowstone still has several hundred to thousands of earthquakes per year and several entities monitor daily activity to keep visitors safe. The caldera continues to rise and fall, with plate movements, averaging around 5-7 cm per year, in certain parts of the park. Yellowstone became a National Park March 1, 1872 and is 3,468 square miles.
Yellowstone National Park contains 5 hydrothermal features: hot springs, geysers, travertine terraces, fumaroles and mud pots.
Hot springs are the most common hydrothermal feature. Surface water seeps underground and is heated by magma. It then rises as superheated water. Lack of constriction in its underground plumbing keep it from being a geyser. The worlds third largest hot spring is Grand Prismatic Spring at 370 feet across. The colors in the hot springs are caused by minerals such as sulfur and iron as well as thermophiles. Thermophiles are microorganisms that thrive in extremely high temperatures and convert light into energy.
Geysers are hot springs with narrow spaces near the surface of the ground. Constriction prevents water from circulating easily and pressure builds below the surface and the hot water and steam blows through the constriction. The worlds most famous geyser is Old Faithful. It is one of the most predictable geysers, erupting approximately every 94 min at an average of 130 feet high.
Travertine terraces are located in the Mammoth Hot Springs area of Yellowstone National Park. The terraces are an interaction of hot springs that rise up through limestone, dissolving the calcium carbonate, creating chalk white travertine terraces. They are the fastest changing features and emerge and dry up quickly.
Fumaroles (steam vents) are the hottest hydrothermal feature. There are over 4,000 in Yellowstone National Park. They mostly occur on high ground and are noisy like a tea kettle. Water boils away before the surface so it is just heat and vapor.
Mudpots are acidic hot springs with a limited water supply. The acid decomposes the surrounding rock into clay and mud. Hydrogen sulfide and microorganisms convert gas to surlfuric acid and causes the smell released from the mudpots.
This was our third visit to Yellowstone National Park and the first visit without our children along. We decided to concentrate this visit on two areas of the park, Upper Geyser Basin and The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. It was also the first time we booked lodging in the park.
We spent 2 days at the Old Faithful Inn which is located in the upper geyser basin. The Inn was opened in 1904. The lobby is 76 feet tall, has a huge stone fireplace and unique overhanging balconies. The Inn has rooms with all queen beds, with and without private bathrooms. I highly recommend getting a room on the east wing facing the geyser basin since these rooms have a view of Old Faithful. Reservations open up 13 months in advance on the 5th day of the month. The rooms go very quickly, all of the rooms on the east wing were gone within 5 min. With this in mind, you need to do your research and know what you want and act quickly. Lodging reservations can be made at yellowstonenationalparklodges.com. For lodging questions call 307-344-7311. Old Faithful Inn has a dining room serving buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as Bear Paw deli serving to go sandwiches, snacks and ice cream. Bear Pit Lounge serves drinks, appetizers, burgers and wings. The Inn has a gift shop in the lobby. There is no WiFi service available at the Inn, however we were able to get cellular service at places in the park.
There are 2 other lodging options in the Upper Geyser basin. Old Faithful Lodge and Cabins have double or single beds with private and shared bathrooms. It also has a cafeteria and a bake shop. Old Faithful Snow Lodge is behind the Visitor Center and is the newer lodging option. All rooms have private bathrooms. Snow Lodge has the Obsidian dining room serving game dishes for dinner and the Geyser Grill serving American fare. The Firehole Lounge is a bar serving drinks and appetizers.
The upper geyser basin has 150 thermal features in 2 square miles. The basin has boardwalks to traverse the area, keeping visitors off the potentially hot ground. As you amble along the boardwalks, you will be amazed at how many geysers, hot springs and fumaroles there are in such a short distance. The Old Faithful Inn will have a timetable in the lobby of when the most predictable geysers erupt. With this in mind you can time your walk through the basin to see as many of them erupt in the time that you are there. Keep in mind that the basin is a favorite hangout of bison and we did see a big bull bison laying near one of the boardwalks. Visitors are encouraged to stay at least 25 yards from bison. Several people are gored every year by bison when they feel threatened! For this reason, do not try to take pictures with them or try to pass them if they are on the boardwalk.
Additionally, we drove to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and drove the South Rim. Visitors can view the canyon and Yellowstone Falls from many view points along the way. All of the viewpoints are a short hike from the parking lots. The Yellowstone River runs through the canyon and produces the upper and lower Yellowstone falls. Yellowstone Falls are an impressive site and should not be missed. There are several hikes you can do from the North and South rim to view the falls.
As well as the short hikes we did on our South rim drive, we decided to venture off on a different kind of hike than we had done before. Cascade Lake Trail started at the Cascade Lake picnic area north of Canyon Village and was 4.4 mile round trip. The hike has minimal elevation and goes through a lodgepole forest and meadows. Due to the rain that the park had experienced the meadows were filled with beautiful wildflowers. Also as a result of the rain, the trail was rather muddy as you got closer to Cascade Lake and the mosquitos were scary bad, so take lots of bug spray with you. We did not see any wildlife but this area is prime grizzly bear habitat and other hikers had seen a grizzly that morning. Make sure you have bear spray with you and that you know how to use it.
Obviously we love Yellowstone National Park and keep finding ourselves going back to experience the wonders of the area.
All maps printed by the National Park Service.