Quote: Traveling from the northeast part of the park from Lamar Valley, we approached Mammoth Hot Springs. We could see it from several miles away. It took another 20 to 30 minutes to arrive at the base of the springs from where we first caught sight of them.

The springs are very impressive as the name implies. We walked up from below on boardwalks winding up the hill. This afforded us a very good view as well as an excellent perspective of how large the hot springs are. As we advanced up the slope, we could see white rock formations with steaming pools at the top. Even in the heat of July when we were there, the water was still much hotter than the surrounding air.

I especially loved the contrast of the deep sapphire blue pools of water against the stained rust-colored rock caused by the sulfur and other mineral deposits from the water. The view of the distant evergreen covered mountains was also breathtaking.

It took the better part of an hour to reach the top where we could best view the pools. After climbing all the way up, we discovered that we could have driven to a parking lot on the upper level. While this would have been helpful for those who have difficulty climbing especially in the heat, we were glad we made the effort to start at the bottom.

The boardwalks made it easy to negotiate with strollers as well as wheelchairs. Our family enjoyed this part of the park probably the best of all the natural geological features we encountered on the entire trip.

From journals An Awesome Week at Yellowstone