We saw Mammoth on our way out of Yellowstone, driving north from Norris. The drive itself is a spectacular view of mountains, cliffs, and valleys, including Roaring Mountain (multitudes of hissing fumeroles), Obsidian Cliff (the site of origin of many ancient arrowheads), and Yellowstone's "Golden Gate" (an incredible view). Prior to reaching the village itself, you'll see a sign to Upper Terrace area. This is what you want for some of the most incredible views of nature's sculpture.

From the Upper Terrace area, you can see a great view of Mammoth (the village), the Lower Terrace area (all of which can be hiked albeit with quite a bit of elevation change), and best of all, a one-way drive that is spectacular. Note, though, this one way drive can NOT accommodate RVs or trailers due to tight twists and turns.

The "white" you see is a substance called "Travertine," a calcium carbonate deposit left as the hot water from the springs evaporate. The colors you see are bacteria, thriving in their worlds. Different colors come from different temperatures. They all create a wonderful canvas - no, not canvas, but sculpture, as it's in awesome 3D - natural terraces and mounds. Springs open and dry up on nature's whim, making this an ongoing and changing art project. The Upper Terrace Loop Drive mentioned above takes you on a tour, twisting and turning between formations, each of them a feast for your eyes. There are some pull outs where you can get out and look closer—and for great pictures.

We did take a quick hike to Canary Spring, a brilliant yellow in spots, as its name implies. There were more hikes that could be explored (including the whole lower terrace) if we had had more time. All hikes in the terraces are boardwalked and elevation change comes in the form of steps (in some places, ramps for limited handicap accessibility to a couple spots).

In Mammoth Hot Springs itself (farther north), you can find gas, food, lodging, a campground, a post office, and a medical clinic. I highly recommended the visitor center, offering films and exhibits of the park's history and critters. (The stuffed animal exhibit is superb. Here's your chance to see some of those really reclusive critters up close...) Historic Fort Yellowstone is located here, as is the park's headquarters.

Wooden walkways and stairs throughout the area allow viewing with dry feet. There's even a drive around the top part of the terrace area. The town itself has shops, a hotel, restaurants and a museum. The campground lies just outside town along the road to the north entrance to the park.

Mammoth Hot Springs are thousands of years old and are another natural wonder of Yellowstone National Park. The Jupiter-like terraces are from limestone deposits called travertine. This element gives the terraces its pristine white colors along with algaes and other minerals that give the springs its Jupiter-like rings and colors.

When Dad, Erika, and I first arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs, we were overcome by a stench like rotten eggs. It was from all of the sulfur from the natural hot springs. We both declared we had arrived in Jupiter, but we were still on Planet Earth.

Mammoth Hot Springs are located in the Upper Loop of Yellowstone National Park near the Montana border. They are in the northernmost part of the park and are about 30-45 minutes from Roosevelt Lodge, where we were staying during our Yellowstone stay.

In this protected park, the elk and buffalo are not timid. In the town of Mammoth Hot Springs and on the terraces of the hot springs, the elk are almost always found sprawled on a lawn or on the warm rocks. And their curiosity in the campground was fascinating to the campers. Several times a day, a herd would stroll through the camp checking things out. Herds of campers often followed them (not always a good idea with these large animals). They liked to browse on the adjacent grassy field, where they attracted lots of photographers.

One family in particular was determined to follow the elk, which were easily able to walk just out of the crowd's reach. This family had a poodle in tow, and they became convinced that the elk were avoiding them because of the dog. So they tied the dog to a tree at their campsite. And the elk made a great circle, ahead of the crowd, back to the campsite where they investigated the dog. Of course, the dog was terrified.

Once, a coyote came strolling past. Camping offered a great way to see the wildlife. And, in spite the May temperatures, we were comfortable in our (heated) pop-up camper. But strolling the terraces around the hot springs, it was warm jacket time. On our drive into Yellowstone from the east entrance, we thought the lake was completely iced over. Not so, we found later. But loose ice on the partially frozen lake had been driven by the wind to our side of the lake -- and the ice field extended out of sight.

The terraces are multicolored from white to oranges, pinks, browns, greens and yellows throughout the area.

Among special features in this area are the Liberty Cap, a tall, dormant hot spring cone. Orange Spring Mound on the upper Terrace drive is a tall, orange colored mound that is very beautiful.

The upper terrace has a nice 2 mile, one-way driving loop around it to see a lot of the area but with parking areas where you can wall along the upper part of the Main Terrace. Elk can be found on the terraces.

The lower terrace borders on the main Park Headquarters area where many of the employees of the park live and the offices of the employees in charge of the overall running of the park are. This area includes a Visitors Center, hotel, eating places, souvenir shops and gas stations. You can drive around the residential area and see how the residents (employees) can walk right out their front door to find animals such as Elk grazing right in their front yard.

The lower terrace is where you'll find the Libery Cap plus a nice walking trail around the terrace to observe the interesting formations created over time.

If your time in Yellowstone is limited, this might be an area to bypass as it is not nearly as exciting as the thermally active geyser basins but if you have plenty of time it is definitely worth spending part of a day at.