Grand Prismatic Spring

Every November, I get messages from people saying that they're in West Yellowstone.

How can they go see Grand Prismatic, the Grand Canyon, or Old Faithful in November? Even people staying in Gardner will ask those questions.

And sadly, you can't get to those.

Your only option is the Northern Range on November 1st.

It's one of those places where you realize just how active the earth beneath our feet really is.

Grand Prismatic Spring.

Nature's incredible colors, if old, faithful impresses visitors with its power.

Grand Prismatic Spring impresses them with its colors.

This enormous hot spring is one of Yellowstone's most extraordinary natural features.

Deep blue water is surrounded by bands of orange, yellow, and other brilliant colors created largely by heat-loving microorganisms.

The result almost looks like a painting, but it's completely natural.

Standing near the spring, watching steam rise above those remarkable colors is an experience difficult to describe.

Yeah.

[laughs] And then Grand Prismatic Spring, it's the largest hot spring in the US.

Um, and it's really cool because it has different colors in the water, and that's due to bacteria and the microbiome of the water- Yeah ... to tie into our earlier comment where different bacteria turns different colors, kinda like algae in your pond, but imagine really hot versions of that.

With like yellows and reds.

And in some ways, in the summer, you're right.

If you're looking at Grand Prismatic or trying to see the details of a particular feature, you certainly don't want everything obscured by giant clouds of vapor.

But when you're walking through the larger basins... or just driving through the park, the steam can actually make everything better.

The reason is that it helps you see just how much is going on.

Early October mornings have that low-angle autumn light that catches the edges of the steam and makes the whole basin look almost surreal.

You'll see sunlight filtering through vapor plumes rising behind colorful pools and steam drifting slowly across the boardwalk.

Grand Prismatics and its overlook are obviously spectacular, but if it's super steamy, you probably don't want to go there.

You want to go to the other places.