Steamboat Geyser

How to Get There

Overview

Steamboat Geyser, in Yellowstone National Park's Norris Geyser Basin, is the world's tallest currently-active geyser. Steamboat Geyser has two vents, a northern and a southern, approximately 20 feet (6.1 m) apart. The north vent is responsible for the tallest water columns; the south vent's water columns are shorter.

Steamboat's major eruptions generally last from 3 to 40 minutes (a couple of durations surpassing an hour were observed during the 2018 active phase), and are followed by powerful jets of steam. During these eruptions, water may be thrown more than 300 feet (91 m) into the air. Steamboat does not erupt on a predictable schedule, with recorded intervals between major eruptions ranging from three days to fifty years. The geyser was dormant from 1911 to 1961. In 2018, the geyser began a prolonged period of frequent activity lasting through at least 2021, with more than 40 eruptions recorded annually in both 2019 and 2020.

Minor eruptions of 10 to 15 feet (3.0 to 4.6 m) are much more frequent.

After an eruption, the geyser often vents large amounts of steam for up to 48 hours. Sometimes during this part of an eruption, water may return to Steamboat, causing it to jet water once again, though to lesser heights. Cistern Spring, located nearby, will drain completely following a major eruption of the geyser; the spring refills within a few days.

The most recent eruption of Steamboat Geyser occurred on May 5, 2021 at approximately 1202am MDT. In 2019 the 48th eruption for the year occurred on December 26th and this set a new annual number for eruptions. The calendar year 2020 also saw a record breaking 48 eruptions, tying the record set in 2019. This was the 139th eruption since it re-activated in early-2018.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Steamboat Geyser", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0