Midway Geyser Basin

Midway Geyser Basin is located just north of the Upper Geyser Basin (Old Faithful area). You will drive right past it on your way to Madison junction. It is definitely worth stopping to take a look. The boardwalk hike is a brief loop. The first thing you will see is the large steaming spring called Excelsior Geyser. (I guess if it is called a Geyser, it must have erupted at times in the past, but now it looks like a giant hot spring.) It is hard to get a sense of scale from these photos, but this is a large body of hot water!

The featured attraction of Midway Geyser Basin is the Grand Prismatic Hot Spring. This is humongous hot spring, and the colors that surround it are of every hue. The very best photos of Grand Prismatic are all taken from the air; the aerial photos show the size of the spring and the amazing coloration. Let me paste in a link I found on the web that shows a shot from the air Click here for professional Yellowstone photo site If the link is not broken, Grand Prismatic spring is the second photo on that web page. Note the puny size of boardwalk in that photo - it shows you the true scale of the Grand Prismatic Spring! My photos aren't so colorful, the steam obscured the water. You can see the burned trees from the 1988 fire on the hill behind the spring. I like the white puffy clouds in the beautiful blue sky. We had good weather this trip.

The Turquoise Pool is also at Midway Geyser Basin.