Lower Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park

The Lower Geyser Basin is the largest geyser basin in Yellowstone National Park, covering about 11 square miles.  It consists of a large flat plain, interspersed with meadow and stands of pine trees.  Besides being the largest geyser basin, the Lower Geyser Basin releases the greatest volume of hot water in the park, approximately 15,000 gallons per minute.

(Flooded pine forest, the hot mineralized water proving lethal to the trees)

There are about 100 geothermal features in the area, clustered in widely space groups.  Only some of these are easy to visit, so these are the ones we’ll focus on in this blog post.

Celestine Pool:

A lovely pool of water that looks crystal clear and inviting, like a hot spring.  Don’t be deceived!  The water in this pool is almost at boiling point, and the crust at the edges of such pools can be thin and crumbly.  At least one person has died as a result of falling into this pool.

Bacterial mats:

As with many of the geothermal features in the park, this region contains large growths of thermophilic bacteria, to the point where the bacteria form broad visible mats.  These are often quite colorful, generally in shades of orange, red or yellow.

Fountain Paint Pot Trail:

One of the first features you’ll encounter is the Fountain Paint Pots.  These are the most easily accessed mud pots in the park.

The nature of the muck in the Fountain Paint Pots depends on how much moisture is present.  With a lot of rain, the paint pots become soupy.  As things dry, the muck becomes thicker and even dries up (as you would expect).  It’s interesting to see and hear it boil and bubble.

Fumaroles:

There are a number of steam vents in the Fountain Paint Pots area. Known as fumaroles, they are the driest features in the region and located at the highest levels.  You can hear how they hiss in the following videoclip.

Clepsydra Geyser:

We watched Clepsydra erupting for a long period of time (the geyser is named for a mythical water clock).  Its maximum height is about 45 – 50 foot.  Before the 1959 Hebgen Lake Earthquake, Clepsydra Geyser erupted with regularity in the early history of the park.  Since that earthquake it has been erupting most of the time.

As you can see, it’s a pretty geyser.

Leather Pool:

Leather Pool’s name is derived from the thick brown bacterial mat growing in its lukewarm warm water.

Silex Spring:
Silex Spring is a beautiful blue hot spring, as you can see.

Sizzling Pool:

You can watch the water boil, and steam rise from its surface.

Steady Geyser:

Steady is a small geyser close to the boardwalk. It seems to erupt most of the time, kind of like a boiling kettle.

Great Fountain Geyser

Great Fountain Geyser is the only predicted geyser in the Lower Geyser Basin, although the range of predicted eruption is pretty broad.  Predictions for this geyser are posted at the Old Faithful Visitor Center, allowing you to add it to your itinerary if time allows.  As the geyser was erupting in the evening of our visit, we did not stick around to see it erupt.  But we did get to study its massive cone.

Great Fountain’s maximum height ranges from about 75 feet to over 220 feet. Its duration of eruption is usually about one hour.

The Landscape:
Besides the individual geothermal features, the broad open landscape of the Lower Geyser Basin is well worth studying and taking in, as you can see from these photos below:

I think Yellowstone is a magical place that every traveler should see at least once in their lifetime.  It requires some advanced preparation to do so, as hotel rooms in and near the park are limited, and the season for visitation is quite short.  But it is such a tremendous experience that it’s worth the effort.