Norris Geyser Basin

Norris is an interesting spot near the center of the park. It has several geothermal features and a couple of boardwalk paths to explore. There is a museum at Norris which is worth inspection, I think it closes at 5 PM.

Emerald Spring (Not to be confused with Emerald Lake in Black Sand Basin!) is first site we stopped at on the boardwalk tour.

Steamboat Geyser can erupt with a plume that reaches an incredible 300 feet high. I clearly remember that as a child on our 1972 trip to the park, I was keenly disappointed that Steamboat was dormant. I wanted to wait a while by the vent to see if just maybe Steamboat would go off. But Steamboat is irregular, the park service makes no predictions on when it will explode - sometimes months or years can pass in between major eruptions. So I was pleased to see that Steamboat was showing activity on this visit. It was spouting off 20 or 30 foot splashes. It always seemed to be ready to go off, maybe if we had just waited a little longer...

Cistern Spring is linked underground to Steamboat geothermal vents. The hot water pouring out of this steamy spring is flooding the nearby landscape.

We didn't see any activity at Echinus Geyser, but it used to be a very predictable geyser. There are plenty of benches set up on the boardwalk around this pool so that people can wait for an eruption. But lately Echinus eruptions vary between once every 1 to 4 hours, and we decided not to wait.

I tried to get a picture of Green Dragon Spring, but so much steam poured out of the vent that everything was obscured and the photo didn't turn out.

Near the Porkchop Geyser you can see where the boardwalk has been rerouted. Apparently the underground springs at Norris Basin are very active, and shift frequently. So they have to move the boardwalk periodically.

From the north side of the museum you can look out and down upon the Porcelain Basin. The ground here is constantly changing with dynamic underground shifts in geothermal activity. The big body of water is called Crackling Lake. I guess it is supposed to make popping noises due to bubbling, but I didn't hear anything.

When you walk down the boardwalk into Porcelain Basin, and look back up the hill toward the museum, you will be facing the Black Growler Steam Vent. It was dormant when we went by it.

We walked along all the boardwalks in the basin. This is Pinwheel Geyser.