Largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, with bright, vivid colors in the spring resulting from microbial mats around the edges of the mineral-rich water.
General Information
Pet Policy:
No pets allowed on trails
Seasons:
All year, though heavy snow affects the park between late fall and spring. Some higher elevation trails are snow-free for just a couple of months in mid summer
Overview
Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in the U.S. and the third largest in the world, in Yellowstone's Midway Geyser Basin. It is about 370 feet across and 160 feet deep, discharging about 560 gallons of 160 °F water per minute. The Hayden survey of 1871 named it for its rainbow of colors: heat-loving microbial mats make rings of green, yellow, orange, and red around a deep blue center.
Visiting
- Boardwalk: walk beside the spring for a close view, though steam can hide the colors
- Overlook: the Grand Prismatic Overlook Trail (about 1.6 miles round trip) gives the best view of the colors from above
- Timing: summer midday has the best color, but crowds are heavy, so arrive early
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Grand Prismatic Spring", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
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