Norris Geyser Basin

Our travels in the park took us to the Norris Geyser Basin on the lower loop. Steamboat Geyser was our goal for this part of the trip but we discovered so much more. This basin is the oldest and hottest basin in all of Yellowstone. Steamboat Geyser last erupted large in June 2022 but it’s unpredictable and we were hoping for another large eruption! Water can shoot out of this geyser up to 400 feet in the air. There’s also another popular geyser in the area, Echinus Geyser, which is a rare acidic geyser with a pH of 3.5. There are two areas of the basin: Porcelain Basin and Back Basin. Porcelain Basin is barren of trees and you’re able to walk this area along a boardwalk trail. It almost looked like snow on the grounds of this area. Back Basin is more heavily wooded with lots of features scattered throughout the area. This hike was mostly boardwalk and bare ground and was a 1.5 mile trail. This was really a beautiful area with mud pots, geysers, and springs. The pictures don’t show the activity so I’ll upload a few videos as well.

I’ve learned a lot about the four different thermal features in the park. Much of the information I’ve read is too technical for me, but I do understand their basic differences. Geysers form if the underground plumbing contains a restriction. Between the eruptions, the temperatures in the superheated, pressurized water beneath the constriction increase, creating steam. Eventually the steam pushes water past the constriction and pressure drops causing some water to change to steam and the geyser erupts. It’s a pretty cool thing to see. Hot springs are pools of water heated by an underground heat course with no underground plumbing constriction.

Porcelain Basin was beautiful. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. (click on photos to enlarge and scroll through)

We also drove to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and saw the Upper Falls and Lower Falls. These were at the intersection of the upper and looper loops by Canyon Village. I’m not good with heights but the views from the overlooks onto the falls were beautiful. Easy to see where it gets the name Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The trail leading down to the base was closed and I’m sure that would have been cool to see the falls from a different perspective. The canyon is about 20 miles long and was formed by erosion as the Yellowstone River flowed over softer, less resistant rock. Here are some photos of the Upper Falls and Grand Canyon area.