A large thermal spring connected to Celestine hot spring near Fountain Paint Pots in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Deep blue sky contrasts with white clouds over the stark bacteria mats and mineral earth near the spring. The boiling water creates a deep blue and turquoise hue, surrounded by orange, yellow, and brown bacteria mats and a wide walkway for tourists to walk to viewing platforms.
Written by on July 22, 2019

The Best Places in West Yellowstone National Park: Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic Springs

#PNW . Hiking . Idaho . Montana . Outdoor Recreation . Trailer Camping . Travel . Wyoming
Dead trees stick up out of the ground near Celestine hot spring and Fountain Paint Pots in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Deep blue sky contrasts with white clouds over the stark bacteria mats and mineral earth near the spring.
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Yellowstone Vacation – Recommended 7 Day Itinerary (Day 3)

You are viewing Day 3 of our 7-Day Itinerary for Yellowstone National Park, “The Best Places in West Yellowstone National Park: Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic Springs.” Click on any of the days in the list below to view the post for other days. You can also click here to view our full, printable 7-Day itinerary with highlights from each day to help you plan your own adventure to and through Yellowstone National Park.

The large wooden entrance sign at the West Gate of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The National Park insignia in the shape of an arrowhead contains a painted image of a buffalo or American Bison, a large Ponderosa Pine tree, and a snow-capped peak.
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Day 1: Yellowstone Road Trip

Day 2: Henrys Lake State Park

Day 3: Yellowstone National Park – Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic Springs – THIS POST

Day 4: Lake Day and West Yellowstone

Day 5: Jackson, Wyoming and the Tetons

Day 6: Yellowstone Hot Springs – Mammoth Hot Springs

Day 7: Fishing Henrys Lake

A large, multicolored thermal spring near Old Faithful Geyser and the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Deep blue water contrasts with the orange, brown, and gray mineral earth and bacteria mats surrounding the spring.

The Best Places to go in Yellowstone National Park – Day 3: Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic Springs

A large, multicolored thermal spring near Old Faithful Geyser and the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Vibrant yellow and green striations lining the thermal vent are visible through crystal clear water that bubbles up from the volcanic caldera.

Pro Tips for Yellowstone National Park:

  • Plan ahead: federal campgrounds fill up FAST, as in minutes after the sites become available online, 6 months prior to travel dates. Figure out when you plan to travel and then set a calendar reminder 6 months ahead for federal campgrounds through Recreation.gov.
  • Here’s one trick for booking a federal campsite: if you want to travel on a specific date but have some flexibility with your start date, you can book the first day of travel 6 months in advance, extending as far out as you plan to stay. So if you want to travel on July 4, for example, but can start your trip on June 30, you can book 6 months before June 30 extending through the 4th. That way, you don’t have to wait until exactly 6 months before the holiday booking date, which will fill up as soon as they are released.
  • The absolute best way to enjoy Yellowstone is to stay inside the park, either in one of the park’s many campgrounds or at one of the park’s hotels (like the Old Faithful Inn or the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel). If you’re coming into the park like we are, the earlier you arrive, the better.
A google satellite image of Eastern Idaho, Western Wyoming, and Southwestern Montana, including West Yellowstone National Park and Henrys Lake State Park in Idaho.

What To Do in West Yellowstone National Park: Get Creative at Fountain Paint Pots

Here’s another quick tip for accessing the park: go online and purchase an annual park pass prior to your visit, and you can jump in the fast lane for pre-paid pass holders. The later you arrive, the more valuable this becomes. (At 8:oo am, the “fast” lane actually took longer than the other regular lines, but it’s generally the fastest way to get in).

A view of Celestine hot spring near Fountain Paint Pots in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Deep blue sky contrasts with billowing white thunderclouds clouds over the bacteria mats and stark, white, mineral earth near the spring. Crystal clear water that bubbles up from the volcanic caldera creates a deep blue hue in the bubbling spring.
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Our first stop today is the Fountain Paint Pots, a striking complex of thermal pools, geysers, and the bubbling, gurgling paint pots that give the area its name. Delicate bacteria mats surround the underwater thermal springs, coloring the grounds shades of orange, yellow, and white around the deep blue waters bubbling up from the ground. The hollowed-out remains of trees stand starkly against the blue sky where the bacteria and minerals have choked out their root systems, leaving an eerie forest of deadwood among the sulfuric ground.

Dead trees stick up out of the ground near Celestine hot spring and Fountain Paint Pots in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Deep blue sky contrasts with white clouds over the stark bacteria mats and mineral earth near the spring.
A view of a thermal pool connected to Celestine hot spring near Fountain Paint Pots in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Clear, bubbling water creates a deep blue hue against the white minerals lining the volcanic caldera's thermal vent.
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We picked the perfect day to visit Fountain Paint Pot, because the hot, humid air cooled when thunderclouds rolled by. The dramatic sky also made for even more gorgeous photos, highlighting the scale of this incredible landscape. My favorite part of the thermal pools has to be the perfectly clear boiling hot water and the deep blues it creates against the bright white minerals just beneath the surface. Contrast that with the vibrant orange and yellow bacteria mats at the edge, and the ground looks more like an abstract painting than a natural feature you’d expect to see while out hiking around the forest. To be fair, this IS an active volcanic zone, and there’s a reason Yellowstone is known worldwide for its biodiversity and unique ecosystems. But this is really an amazing landscape, even for someone who has hiked some of the most scenic locations around the world.

A view of a thermal pool connected to Celestine hot spring near Fountain Paint Pots in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Clear, bubbling water creates a deep blue hue against the white minerals lining the volcanic caldera's thermal vent. Orange and brown bacteria mats surround the spring.
A young girl looks over a wooden fence from a walkway near Fountain Paint Pots in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The bubbling vats of mud contain a clay mixture that gurgles and spurts continually.

Fountain Paint Pot: Making Mud

“This vat of bubbling mud contains the perfect mix of ingredients to create mudpots: heat, gases, water, volcanic rock, minerals, acid, and even living microorganisms! Heat-loving ‘thermophiles’ consume some of the gases and help convert them into sulfuric acid. The acid breaks down rock to form clay – clay that mixes with water in mudpots.”

– Interpretive Sign at Fountain Paint Pot, Yellowstone National Park
A young girl looks over her mother's shoulder while they stand near a wooden fence on a walkway near Fountain Paint Pots in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Clepsydra Geyser bubbles and gushes behind them as billowing white clouds form against dark blue skies.
Two young girls smile while peeking through the large root system of a toppled tree near Celestine spring and Fountain Paint Pots in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
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Fountain Paint Pots is a lot more than just the bubbling clay and nearby thermal springs; wooden walkways continue out to a series of small geysers and panoramic views of the surrounding valley before circling back around to the most colorful thermal pools and bare trees sticking up like matchsticks from the clay. There’s Red Spouter and the leather pool, not far from Twig, Fountain, and Morning Geysers. Spasm and Clepsydra Geysers sit further along the path before the half-mile walkway circles back to Celestine Pool.

A view of a thermal pool connected to Celestine hot spring near Fountain Paint Pots in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Clear, bubbling water creates a deep blue hue against the white minerals lining the volcanic caldera's thermal vent. Orange and brown bacteria mats surround the spring.

“The half-mile (.8k) Fountain Paint Pots trail takes you through one of the most complex and dynamic hydrothermal areas in Yellowstone. Here you will find geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and mudpots. The geysers in the Fountain Group exhibit a variety of eruption patterns and intervals. In the spring, the mudpots are thin, soupy, and splash a lot. As the year goes on and there is less water, they become thick and gurgly.”

– Interpretive Sign at the Entrance to Fountain Paint Pots, Yellowstone National Park
A piece of dead wood sits among the bacteria mats of a thermal pool connected to Celestine hot spring near Fountain Paint Pots in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

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Do the Geyser Walk: Beehive, Old Faithful, Grand Geyser, and Castle Geyser

Continuing on from Fountain Paint Pots, we decided to save Grand Prismatic Spring for the afternoon, once we explore the geysers around Old Faithful and the famous Old Faithful Inn and Lodge. Grand Prismatic is about halfway between Fountain Paint Pots and Old Faithful, but by mid-morning, the crowds had swelled and people were parking a half mile away to walk back to the access point. (This turned out to be a great decision; we explored the area around Old Faithful for hours in the late morning, and by the time we doubled back to Grand Prismatic after lunch at the Inn, the crowds had thinned there, as well).

Beehive Geyser erupts in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Dark clouds gather above as the geyser shoots sulfur water skyward and tiny tourists on a nearby boardwalk observe. Lush green forests cover the surrounding hills near Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin near the Firehole River.
Beehive Geyser sits to the Northeast of the Old Faithful Inn, not far from Old Faithful
Beehive Geyser erupts in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Dark clouds gather above as the geyser shoots sulfur water skyward as tourists on a nearby boardwalk observe. Lush green forests cover the surrounding hills near Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin near the Firehole River.
Another view of Beehive Geyser erupting
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Approaching the Old Faithful Inn and surrounding development from the North, you’ll pass a Sinclair service station and the Old Faithful General Stores before spotting the Inn and several surrounding geysers. Immediately to the North of the complex sits Castle Geyser, with Grand Geyser beyond that. Across the main street to the Northeast you’ll see Beehive Geyser; Beehive is easy to mistake for Old Faithful, but you’ll have to continue on beyond the Inn to the Southeast to see the most famous Geyser of all, Old Faithful.

A view of the entrance to the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The iconic Lodgepole Pine lodge sits near Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin near the Firehole River.
The Old Faithful Inn

The Best Places in West Yellowstone: The Old Faithful Inn

The Old Faithful Inn has a partially-covered viewing platform on the second story above the main entrance where you can get an elevated view of the eruption every 70 minutes or so. And a wide, circular walkway in front of the geyser connects the Inn to the Lodge and the more contemporary visitor center in-between. Expect exuberant, cheering crowds when Old Faithful does its thing. For a more secluded view, watch the eruption from the paths on the opposite side. Even better, hike up the hill path that leads to Geyser Hill and watch the sulfuric spray from a distance, with the Inn and surrounding hills beyond.

The second-story viewing platform at the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, looks out to Old Faithful below. Wooden benches under a rooftop covering provide comfortable, covered viewing, no matter the weather.
The partially-covered viewing platform at the Inn looks out to Old Faithful
The second-story viewing platform at the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, looks out to Old Faithful below. Tourists gather on the platform of the Inn to watch Old Faithful erupt.
A close-up shot of the second-story viewing platform at the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The platform provides elevated, unobstructed views of Old Faithful below. Tourists gather on the platform of the Inn to watch Old Faithful erupt.
A close-up shot of Old Faithful Geyser erupting in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Tourists stand on a wide viewing platform to watch Old Faithful erupt.
Old Faithful doesn’t disappoint!
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The landscapes in Yellowstone are so varied, so unique, and so interesting that it’s hard to pick a favorite. If I had to choose, though, I’d pick the chains of thermal pools connecting the geysers behind Old Faithful on the opposite bank of the Firehole River. The crystalline formations, deep pools, and labyrinths of volcanic vents combine to create one of the most spectacular zones in Yellowstone. Don’t get me wrong; there are many epic, otherworldly landscapes throughout the park. But I spent hours photographing the unique formations and cones and vents and springs along the North Bank of the Firehole. Maybe I just like the aptly-named river. But whatever the reason, I found myself drawn to this dramatic landscape and all its variations more than most of the other spots we visited.

A view of the Firehole River near Observation Point, behind Old Faithful Geyser and the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Hot water from thermal pools above the river trickles down into the river, seen here winding around fallen logs and steep banks.
A view of the Firehole River, behind Old Faithful toward Upper Geyser Basin
The Old Faithful Inn sits beyond the Firehole River near Observation Point, behind Old Faithful Geyser and the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Hot water from thermal pools above the river trickles down into the river, seen here winding around fallen logs and steep banks.
The Old Faithful Inn, seen from the banks of the Firehole River
Bacteria mats and hot springs at the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Hot water from thermal pools above the Firehole River trickles down into the river, leaving streaks of color along the ridge and riverbank.
One of many springs along the Firehole River
Thermal hot springs at the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Hot water from thermal pools above the Firehole River trickles down into the river, leaving streaks of color along the ridge and riverbank.
A deep thermal vent displays shades of green and yellow at the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The thermal spring opens up under the water, creating a funnel-like appearance.
A deep thermal vent displays shades of green and yellow at the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The thermal spring opens up under the water, creating a funnel-like appearance.
Another view of thermal hot springs at the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. In this photo, a large, circular calcified ridge blocks boiling spring water from spilling out into the bacteria mats surrounding the springs.

The girls are used to my photography and the time it takes to get that “perfect” shot. They soon left me behind to photograph the pools that to them had started to all look alike. As they found their way back to the Old Faithful Inn, I made my way back across the Firehole River to Castle Geyser, hoping to see one of its two daily eruptions (Spoiler alert: Castle Geyser erupted just as we were driving away from the Inn, so I didn’t manage to capture it against the dark thunderclouds in the distance).

Another view of thermal hot springs at the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. In this photo, round, calcified material bulges over and down toward hot springs pools below.
A deep thermal vent displays shades of green and yellow at the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
A view of Castle Geyser at the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The calcified mound has built up for centuries longer than Old Faithful, and currently erupts about twice daily.
Castle Geyser erupts about twice a day

Castle Geyser

“The massive cone is a sign of old age. Eruption after eruption, probably for thousands of years, scalding water has deposited this mineral formation. By contrast, Old Faithful’s fledgling cone may be only a few hundred years old. Castle Geyser has dramatically changed its surroundings. By altering soil chemistry, the geyser has devoured part of a pine forest and turned it into a thermal desert. Tree skeletons are entombed within the cone.”

– Interpretive Sign at Castle Geyser, Yellowstone National Park
Bacteria mats and hot springs at the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Hot water from thermal pools above the Firehole River trickles down into the river, leaving streaks of color along the ridge and riverbank.
A thermal spring above the Firehole River
Runoff from the thermal hot springs at the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Hot water from thermal pools above the Firehole River trickles down into the river, leaving streaks of color along the ridge and riverbank.
Adding fire to the Firehole River

The Best Place for Lunch in Yellowstone: The Old Faithful Inn

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One of the most iconic sties in Yellowstone, the Old Faithful Inn, nearly burned down in the great fire of 1988. Architect Robert C. Reamer designed the Inn, which was constructed with lodgepole pine and volcanic rhyolite from the surrounding area. (Read this NPR piece about the fire that threatened the Old Faithful Inn).

A front exterior view of the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The iconic Lodgepole Pine lodge sits near Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin near the Firehole River.
The Old Faithful Inn

The interior space soars up past the surrounding floors, each bordered by heavy wooden railings that draw the eyes upward to the “Crow’s Nest,” the central lookout that is now closed to the public but used to host a stringed orchestra that entertained visiting guests below. The Inn is truly one-of-a-kind, a national architectural and historical treasure, an Old West icon in the center of the original national park. The Old Faithful Inn is an emblem of Yellowstone and the wilderness that surrounds the 100-year-old structure. (Check out our free, downloadable stock images of the Inn here).

An interior view of the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The interior soars with locally-sourced Lodgepole Pine that draws the eye upward past story after story of wooden beams and supports.
An interior view of the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The interior soars with locally-sourced Lodgepole Pine that draws the eye upward past story after story of wooden beams and supports.
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The food at the main restaurant is pretty good, too. You can choose from locally-sourced, organic bison, cheese plates, a delicious salmon spread, and vegetarian options to enjoy in the lodgepole pine dining room. If you’re in a hurry to get back outside, there’s a buffet option as well.

An interior view of the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. This photo, taken in the main dining room, shows an antique lantern chandelier and an open window through the wooden roof and support beams.
Inside the Inn’s main dining room

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Run with the Buffalo (at a Safe Distance, of Course)

As we drove through the park along the winding, two-lane roads that criss-cross Yellowstone, we were able to move around at a reasonable pace. That is until we came upon a line of cars, trucks, trailers, and motorcycles slowly making their way around a very large bison that was slowly plodding down the middle of the road, apparently not too annoyed by all the idling vehicles and curious tourists snapping away. Once the shoulder opened up into a narrow meadow along the river, the massive beast headed down toward the water.

A large American Bison or Buffalo saunters down the two-lane highway at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Cars, trucks, and RVs stop to allow the bison to pass by.
A large American Bison or Buffalo stands in tall grass near the Madison River after wandering off a two-lane highway at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
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A little later, another large bison made its way along a small stream before heading back up into the meadow, directly toward me. I kept a safe distance (the park recommends at least 100 yards), and used my lens to get a little bit closer. (We found out later today that the bison we saw near Old Faithful charged and tossed a 9-year-old girl into the air after a crowd got to close and may have even been petting the bison’s coat. Needless to say, these are WILD ANIMALS and should be given their space, even though it’s tempting to want to get close and hang out with the wildlife).

A large American Bison or Buffalo stands in tall grass near the Madison River in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The large grazing animal wanders through an open field while occasionally stopping to graze.
A large American Bison or Buffalo stands in tall grass near the Madison River in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The large grazing animal wanders through an open field while occasionally stopping to graze.
A large American Bison or Buffalo stands in tall grass near the Madison River in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The large grazing animal wanders through an open field while occasionally stopping to graze.

The rain started to fall as I stood in the field, watching the bison meander through the grassy field, stopping occasionally to nibble on some grass before making his way closer to me and the road. And instead of trying to get even closer to pet its coat or otherwise interact with the animal, I slowly backed away and left it alone.

A large American Bison or Buffalo stands in tall grass near the Madison River in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The large grazing animal wanders through an open field while occasionally stopping to graze.

Walk Across the Glassy Surface of Grand Prismatic Springs

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After taking my fair share of American Bison photos (which you can download and use from our stock photography collection), we headed back to Grand Prismatic Springs, the rainbow-colored thermal complex that is often featured in aerial photography of Yellowstone. From the ground, it’s equally impressive, because of the adjoining craters and glassy surface of the sprawling hot springs. Even though it’s harder to see the vibrant colors of the springs up close, there are enough vantage points and lookout spots to get a good feel for the site.

A view atop Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. From the air, Grand Prismatic is one of the most colorful and eye-catching thermal springs in Yellowstone. Viewing platforms and a raised walkway carry visitors across and through the massive springs.
Clouds reflected in Grand Prismatic Spring, one of the most colorful and eye-catching in all of Yellowstone
A view atop Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. From the air, Grand Prismatic is one of the most colorful and eye-catching thermal springs in Yellowstone. Viewing platforms and a raised walkway carry visitors across and through the massive springs.
Ample walkways and viewing platforms provide excellent views of Grand Prismatic Spring
An interpretive sign describes Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

Grand Prismatic Spring: Prism of Light, Spectrum of Life.

“Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest and one of the most brilliant of Yellowstone’s many colorful hot springs. Its massive expanse stretches approximately 200 feet (61m) across. The high temperature of its water – 160F° (70C°) – ensures that the spring is often cloaked in steam.”

“Deep beneath us, magma from an active volcano heats water that rises to the surface through fissures in the rocks. The result is a hot spring that pours almost 500 gallons of hot water each minute into the Firehole River. Minerals dissolved in the hot water are deposited and gradually build the gracefully terraced shoulders of this feature.”

– Interpretive Sign at Prismatic Hot Spring, Yellowstone National Park Foundation, NASA Astrobiology Institute, and Lockheed Martin Space Operations
A view atop Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. From the air, Grand Prismatic is one of the most colorful and eye-catching thermal springs in Yellowstone. Viewing platforms and a raised walkway carry visitors across and through the massive springs.

“The intense blue color in the center of this hot spring is due to sunlight being scattered by fine particles suspended in the water. The yellow, orange, and brown colors encircling the hot spring and lining the runoff channels are caused by thermophiles – heat-loving microorganisms. The microbes contain colorful pigmnts that allow them to make energy from sunlight and thrive in the harsh conditions of hot springs.”

“The billions of colorful microorganisms lining this hot spring’s runoff channels are called ‘extremeophiles’ because they live in conditions that were once thought to be too extreme to host life. Extremeophiles that live in hot springs are called ‘thermophiles’ – heat-lovers.”

“Yellowstone National Park is one of the most accessible places to study extreme environments and the organisms that inhabit them. Understanding lifeforms here provides clues for scientists searching for life elsewhere in the universe. Because conditions on other planets in our solar system are harsh, if life exists elsewhere it is probably as some form of microscopic extremeophile.”

– Interpretive Sign at Prismatic Hot Spring, Yellowstone National Park Foundation, NASA Astrobiology Institute, and Lockheed Martin Space Operations
A view atop Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, looking down toward the crater near the river. Visitors stand stop viewing platforms and a raised walkway that winds across and through the massive springs.
A view atop Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, looking down toward the crater near the river.
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Visiting the Best Places in West Yellowstone National Park: You’re Not Alone!

Yellowstone has around 4 million visitors each year mostly during the peak season of May through September. The sheer number of people coming through the park creates an enormous impact on the park’s ecosystems and natural resources. The park service has done a remarkable job protecting these natural environments while designing ways for tourists to visit and view the park’s remarkable points of interest. From wide, accessible elevated walkways to carefully planned pullouts and central operations run from the historical Fort Yellowstone at Mammoth Hot Springs, the federal employees who manage and operate the park have managed to maintain an accessible national treasure while minimizing impact on the environment. And all this despite skyrocketing numbers of tourists each year.

A view atop Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Viewing platforms and a raised walkway carry visitors across and through the massive springs.
A view atop Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Striated formations lay beneath the surface of hot water in the spring.
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The park service even has remote “arms” that can reach out and collect objects that fall (or are thrown) into fragile ecosystems like the bacteria mats at Prismatic Hot Spring. Whether they blew off in a windstorm or were thrown into the spring by devious tourists, the handful of hats that sat among the striated colors of the springs will hopefully be fished out before too long – and before any copy-cat hat-throwers get the same idea.

A view atop Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. This thermal pool and vent sits just to the side of the main spring. Ominous clouds build in the sky above the spring and surrounding forests.

Miniature Forests

“Within the rainbow of orange, brown, and red colors, some microorganisms live in communities of thick mats. Like miniature forests, these mats have a vertical structure and stratified functions. Microbes that live on or near the top of the mat (similar to a forest canopy) use sunlight to perform photosynthesis, which fuels the mat community. Organisms living deeper in the mat (similar to a forest understory) derive energy from chemicals produced by the surface microbes. They perform other vital functions such as decomposition and recycling nutrients to the mat’s ‘canopy’ just like their counterparts in a forest. All of these organisms create an ecosystem in the expanse of a few inches.”

– Interpretive Sign at Prismatic Hot Spring, Yellowstone National Park Foundation, NASA Astrobiology Institute, and Lockheed Martin Space Operations
A mother and her young daughter stand atop walking platforms at Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
Tourists walk up and down wooden walking paths at Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

Previously: Day 2 – Henrys Lake State Park

Up Next: Day 4 – Lake Day and West Yellowstone

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[…] Yellowstone: Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic Springs […]

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Pubali

Thanks for putting together this very detailed information about visiting the Yellowstone National Park. Agree that the landscapes are too stunning to pick one for favorite. Good to know that the park authorities have been taking measures to protect the park from the ever increasing number of tourists.

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Margie

There’s so much to see in Yellowstone! Loved your pictures and can’t wait to return

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madhu sharma

Yellowstone national park is on my bucketlist. Thanks for sharing this lovely post…pictures are inspiring!

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Broo6

Your photos are absolutely stunning. I’ve wanted to go Yellowstone National Park for a long time, but now I want to go even more!

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molly

Great post! We are headed from Oregon to Michigan in mid June and are hoping to safely make some stops along the way. Last year we saw my first wolf at Yellowstone! It was awesome.

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