Norris Geyser Basin is a unique place in Yellowstone National Park. It is very large. It has geysers, steam vents, mud vents, pools, fumaroles, springs, and more.
Norris Geyser is home to Steamboat Geyser, the world’s tallest active geyser. Unlike Old Faithful, it is very unpredictable. A major eruption of Steamboat Geyser can shoot up as high as 300 feet. There is a warning sign at the parking lot that your car’s paint job will probably be damaged if it erupts. The parking lot is about 1/4 of a mile away!
Steamboat Geyser was very active, but not erupting today. We were there early in the morning. The mist, the steam and the sun low in the sky gave the entire area an apocalyptic atmosphere.
Even from a distance, Steamboat Geyser still looms large in the Norris Geyser Basin.
The hike around Norris Geyser Basin is a larger loop around the southern portion and a smaller connected loop through the northern portion. We hiked the southern loop first.
The southern loop has too many sites to count. The colors of the pools and springs are vivid. The variety is overwhelming. Here is a small selection of the things we saw. Cistern Spring had a blue green color. Echinus Geyser is acidic. It contains iron, arsenic and silica. The deposits from its eruptions provide the red color. At Crater Spring, we could again see Steamboat Geyser in the distance. There are many sites with no names. The last place in this group was Arch Steam Vent.
Mystic Spring and an unnamed spring with even more steam were near each other.
There were some larger steam vent pools very close to a small geyser named Orby.
We also found an interesting place where the hot water, steam and chemicals formed an unusual brown foam on top of the water.
It was still early in the day, so the steam, mist, and fog were still hanging in the air. Some pools and geysers like Pearl geyser were not as active as other places. The last place we saw on the southern loop was the Forgotten Fumarole. It is tucked away in a corner slightly off the trail. You can still find it because the steam rises above the trees.
During our hike on the southern loop, we had noticed how the steam, chemicals, and eruptions had turned much of the ground into rocky, barren, hard surfaces. Still there were trees disbursed among the the volcanic activity.
When we crossed over to the northern loop, the environment changed. There was a much larger expanse of barren ground with steam, hot flowing water, and volcanic activity all crammed together. The area is called Norris Porcelain Basin. Norris Porcelain Basin is named that because of its dish shape and the fragile nature of its surface.
Here are a few pictures that give a broad view of the basin.
From the west to the center to the east, it was big and barren, and yet beautiful at the same time.
Within the great gray expanse, you can find color everywhere. Some is from minerals. Some is from living organisms. Even though the ground water can reach temperatures as high as 150 degrees Fahrenheit, there are organisms that can survive. They also serve as thermometers. The green plants exist in a temperature range from 100 to 130 degrees. The red plants live between 120 and 150 degrees.
As we prepared to leave, we found a vent that seemed to be increasing in strength. We decided to watch it for a short time to see what happened. It reached a peak and then stayed there for some time.
Our next stop was Artists Paint Pots Trail. Compared to Norris Geyser Basin, it is small. It had its own special attraction. From the top of the hill, there was a wide array of colorful features laid out like a palette before you. The colors of the rainbow were before us in pools of water, in flowers, and in mud pots. It was a very nice short hike.
After Artist’s Paint Pots, it was time to drive to Roosevelt Corral in the northern part of the park for a western cookout. Away from some of the more popular attractions, you can see how large, remote, and wild Yellowstone really is. The mountains and the plains of the park are filled with wildlife, including the occasional bison.
The Western Cookout was quite the event. We rode to the cookout in a horse drawn wagon. We crossed an open plain where we saw birds, bison, and lots of dust from the wagons riding across the plains.
There were over 150 people at the cookout. The food was good. The site was historic and remote. For the cookout, they use a place where one of the original settlers had built an inn. The inn is long gone. Still, it was fun to get a feel for western life out on the plains over 150 years ago.
On our drive back Canyon Lodge Hotel, we got to see the wilderness and wildlife as the sun was setting. The late afternoon and early evening gave everything a new perspective.
It was a long full day filled with wonders to behold.