Upper Geyser Basin Trail

With an outstanding collection of geysers, hot springs, and other thermal features, including the world-famous Old Faithful geyser, the Upper Geyser Basin is on every Yellowstone National Park visitor’s must-see list. The flat and easy loop up to the Morning Glory Pool and back will highlight many of the best features of this area.

The best place to park is at the Old Faithful Inn parking lot, which is the first left turn after taking the Old Faithful exit from the main park road. This parking area is right next to the paved trail up to Morning Glory Pool. Along this easy multi-use path are Castle Geyser, Daisy Geyser, and Riverside Geyser—all fairly predictable geysers in the basin. Download the GeyserTimes phone app for up-to-the-minute geyser eruption times and predictions. At the end of the paved path is the famous Morning Glory Pool, now somewhat faded in color because of the hundreds of pounds of foreign items like coins and rocks that visitors throw into the pool every year. It is still magnificent.

Heading back toward the visitor center, a left turn at Grotto Geyser leads to the boardwalk path along the east side of the Firehole River and many more pools and geysers. Grand Geyser is pretty spectacular and predictable (about every six hours), and Lion Geyser is gorgeous for photos with the Heart Spring in the foreground. Beehive Geyser is spectacular and erupts about once per day. Old Faithful can be seen from much of the basin and is always a crowd-pleaser and very predictable in its eruptions (about every 90 minutes). While here, be sure to check out the Observation Point Trail and visit the historic Old Faithful Inn to watch Old Faithful erupt from the second-floor deck.