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Midway Geyser Basin, Old Faithful & Geyser Basins

The thermal features at Midway Geyser Basin may not gurgle and spout but they are brightly colored and colossal. At 370 feet (112.8 m) wide Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot water pool in Yellowstone and third largest in the world. Yet what makes this hot spring truly stunning is its ringed perimeter, green, yellow and orange. Excelsior Geyser, a gaping crater 200 x 300 feet, discharges more than 4,000 gallons (151,000 liters) of water each minute. And while Excelsior no longer acts like a geyser its orange and yellow carpet ushers run-off in elegant fashion.

Child at Midway Geyser Basin

Alfredo De Simone

Excelsior Geyser

Alfredo De Simone

Thermophile fringed Grand Prismatic Spring

Alfredo De Simone

Grand Prismatic Spring

Alfredo De Simone

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Hot Spring Facts

Hot Spring Pools, Mammoth Hot Springs

Alfredo De Simone

There are lots of fun facts about hot springs. Did you know that?

Hot springs are a type geothermal feature just like geysers, mud pots and fumaroles.
Hot springs are heated by molten rock or magma a mile or more underground.
Hot springs differ from other geothermal features in one important way. They have more water than heat, rock and gas.
Hot springs, unlike geysers, don't have clogged pipes. The cracks in hot spring rock are wide enough for water to flow.
Hot springs have more water than heat whereas fumaroles have more heat than water. Hot springs emit water; fumaroles emit steam.
Hot springs have more water than gas so they don't pop and plop like mud pots do.