Yellowstone National Park – Old Faithful Geyser

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park is located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with a small portion in Montana and Idaho. I visited Yellowstone National Park for the first time in September 2011, with my dog Pippy. I was awestruck! The more I explored the park, the more captivated my senses became. Due to my limited time, I didn’t get to see the whole park during the first visit. However, I knew I would be back, because there was something alluring about the park. My second trip to Yellowstone occurred in September 2016. The park gave me a sense of awe and wonderment each time I visited.

Every scene, every animal, every geyser I saw made me take a moment to reflect on how beautiful nature is. This beauty gave me a sense of awe. My sense of wonderment often led to thoughts such as “how can scenery be this beautiful.” Two other reflective thoughts that often came to mind were “how did these geysers (or pools or the scenery) come to be?” as well as “how can these colors be so bright and vivid?”. Many times the only words out of my mouth were, “Wow! Just Wow!” I felt mesmerized!

The wonder of seeing the geysers erupt, the bright colors of the hot springs, abundant wildlife including bison and elk, and other features of the park fascinated me. I would have stayed longer to gaze at the spectacular scenery if I had more time.

Facts about Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park became the first National Park in the United States on March 1, 1872. The park, named after the Yellowstone River, is 3,472 square miles and consists of 2.2 million acres. In addition, there are more than 10,000 hydrothermal features in the park; 500 of them are active geysers. Besides geysers, three other hydrothermal features found in the park are hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles.

Additionally, wildlife is abundant in Yellowstone National Park, with 67 species of animals residing there, and 285 species of birds have been found in the park, as well. Furthermore, over 290 waterfalls can be seen throughout the park.. For people who like to hike and experience the off-road scenic spots, there are 1,000 miles of hiking trails. For more information and for a link to the park’s webcams, visit the Yellowstone National Park website here.

Yellowstone has 251 miles of roads that lead to several areas of interest in the park, These include Mammoth Hot Springs, Lamar Valley, Canyon Village, and Hayden Valley. Additional points of interest include Yellowstone Lake, West Thumb, and the geyser basins between West Thumb and Madison Junction. These geyser basins include Lower Geyser Basin, Midway Geyser Basin, Biscuit Basin, Black Sand Basin, and Upper Geyser Basin.

I will focus on the Upper Geyser Basin in this blog. Old Faithful is located in Upper Geyser Basin and it is on the Firehole River in the Southwest portion of the park.

Old Faithful Geyser

The Washburn Expedition discovered Old Faithful in 1870. The group named the geyser Old Faithful because the eruptions were consistent and mostly predictable. Of all the geysers in Yellowstone, the eruptions of Old Faithful occur more often than any of the others. The time between each eruption ranges from 60 to 110 minutes with each eruption lasting from 1.5 minutes to 5 minutes. This amounts to an average of 20 eruptions on a given day.

The amount of boiling water expelled during each eruption of Old Faithful depends on the length of the eruption. This ranges from 3,700 to 8,400 gallons with a height of 106 to 184 feet. This information was found in the Old Faithful Trail Guide I picked up at the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center. More information about Old Faithful as well as a link to the Old Faithful Live Web Cam can be found at this link.

Watching the Eruption

It was the middle of the afternoon on a warm September day in 2011 when I arrived at Old Faithful Geyser. I had driven from West Glacier, Montana, south to the Upper Geyser Basin and stopped several times along the way to explore the thermal features. My stops included Lower Geyser Basin, Midway Geyser Basin, Biscuit Basin, and Black Sand Basin. However, my ultimate destination was Old Faithful Geyser.

Once I arrived at the parking lot, I walked to the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center where I learned the eruption was going to happen soon. With my camera in hand, I headed to the benches facing Old Faithful and found a spot to sit and watch the show. I waited in anticipation for the eruption to begin. I could hardly wait to see this geyser because I heard so much about it.

Soon the time arrived for the show to begin! The eruption started with a short burst of steaming water from the ground, then it got taller and taller as water gushed into the air with more force. I stood in awe as I watched the magnificent beauty of the water burst into the air like a fountain that had exploded. I had not seen anything like this before.

My senses were mesmerized. I couldn’t take my eyes off it but I managed to take some photos. Eventually, the bursts became less forceful and all that remained was steam. The eruption lasted about five minutes.

Hiking on the Boardwalk

When Old Faithful returned to a quiet state with only the steam remaining, it was time to hike on the trails in the area. On the boardwalk, I first crossed a bridge over Firehole River and walked around Geyser Hill. I saw several other geysers that were quiet at the time. It was getting late so I chose the short trail past Liberty Pool and crossed a different bridge over the Firehole River. As I crossed the bridge, a large geological feature in the shape of a cone caught my eye.

Castle Geyser

The cone was Castle Geyser. I stopped to take a photo. To my surprise, when I focused the camera for a second photo, this geyser started to erupt. I stood in awe as I watched this beautiful sight. Again, I became mesmerized as I watched water billow into the sky. I observed this magnificent beauty for at least ten minutes as the water continued to gush into the air. While doing so, I walked along the boardwalk for a view from different angles. The water didn’t rise as high as Old Faithful but this geyser had its own beauty.

I consulted my trail guide for information about Castle Geyser. The name fit as the cone reminded me of a castle. The eruptions occur around every 14 hours up to a height of 75 feet. It lasts about 20 minutes with a steam phase that is noisy following for about 30 to 40 minutes.

From Castle Geyser, I hiked back to the Old Faithful viewing area. Before going to my car, I stopped at Old Faithful Inn to see what it looked like inside.

Old Faithful Inn

Old Faithful Inn was constructed in 1903 and is a National Historic Landmark. When I entered the Inn, I saw how stunning the lobby looked. At first glance, I noted its rustic appearance. It was constructed with logs and had a 65 foot tall ceiling. Upon further observation, I saw log poles extending from floor to ceiling with log railings connecting the poles on two floors above the lobby. People sat on wooden benches on those floors and watched the first floor of the lobby below.

I proceeded to tour the lobby and walked over to see the enormous stone fireplace that stood in the middle of the lobby floor. It towered up to the third floor. I admired the rustic beauty of the lobby for several minutes before it was time to leave. Before going outside, I went inside the gift shop nearby.

Beehive Geyser

To my surprise, I spotted another geyser erupting when I stepped out of Old Faithful Inn Gift Shop. I walked towards the visitor center for a closer view and learned it was Beehive Geyser. Earlier, I hiked past the Beehive Geyser Cone while on Geyser Hill.

According to my trail guide, Beehive Geyser is a narrow cone that looks like a beehive. It erupts one or two times daily when it is active. During an eruption, the narrow cone projects water into the air in a nozzle-like fashion. The eruption is powerful and looks like a water column shot into the air. Water reaches a height of 150 to 200 feet. The eruption lasted 4 to 5 minutes.

End of the Day

Seeing Beehive Geyser from a distance was a perfect end to my time at the Upper Geyser Basin. It was late and I had to drive a little over an hour to get back to West Yellowstone where I stayed during my visit to Yellowstone National Park in September 2011.

I will write about more of my adventures at Yellowstone National Park in upcoming blog posts. In addition, you can read my background story in my “About Nancy” section at this link here.