Description: This section has many places to visit en route, the first being Firehole Canyon Drive, which is a two-mile drive. In this section, you can see Firehole Falls with its swimming area – be careful, as there will be lots of cars pulled onto the side of the road whilst people take a swim. There are toilets, which you can change in should you have the urge.
Back on the main road following Firehole River on the right, the next point is on the left – Great Fountain Geyser. This is a predictable geyser erupting every 10-12 hours up to 150 feet. We didn’t see it erupt, just steaming.
The next point is Lower Geyser Basin which is a lovely walk through many pools and geysers such as Celestine Pool, which is large and very quiet. The next one is Fountain Paint Pot, again, a beautiful, large pool – but it stinks! According to the guidebook, a man jumped into this trying to save his dog and they both died. Others in this area are Leather Pool, Twig Geyser, Jet Geyser – this was erupting whilst we were there, up to about 25 feet or so - Spam Geyser and Celsydra Geyser, which seemed to be erupting the whole time we were here. There was hardly anyone here whilst we visited.
The next section, Midway Geyser Basin, should be the highlight, as it contains the largest hot spring in the entire park, the Grand Prismatic Pool. This is about 300 feet wide; however, because it is so big, from the ground, you cannot possibly appreciate it, so it can be a little disappointing. Get a guidebook to see aerial shots - it is truly beautiful.
Biscuit Basin is your next stop. This is another pleasant walk featuring Black Opal Pool, which is a beautiful deep green colour. Next to it is Wall Pool, then Sapphire Pool, Black Pearl Geyser, Mustard Spring, Silver Globe Geyser, Jewel Geyser and Island Geyser. The last two were erupting together whilst we were there and are apparently very active. Wouldn’t you just love to be the person responsible for naming all these?
Back on the main road and your next stop will be Old Faithful Village. This is an area leading to Upper Geyser Basin, containing Old Faithful; I will cover this area separately. The village itself is worth a visit - there are several shops, restaurants, hotels, and a visitor center where you can get estimated eruption times. The car park is huge, and whilst here, we saw a wild wolf wandering round the car park. He popped up a little later too whilst we were watching Old Faithful erupt.
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