• Visitors stand on the boardwalk of Grand Prismatic, the park's largest hot spring which is ringed with orange, brown and yellow runoff channels.

    Yellowstone

    National Park ID,MT,WY

Norris Geyser Basin Tour

The view looking down on Porcelain Basin, one of the most spectacular areas in Norris Geyser Basin. One geyser is erupting and two others steaming.
 

Welcome the Norris Geyser Basin Online Tour. To navigate this tour of geothermal features, simply click 'next stop' at the bottom of each page. If you prefer you may select features from the 'List of Stops' or from the 'Tour Map'.

Norris Geyser Basin is the hottest and most changeable thermal area in Yellowstone. We will explore many of the features you would see if you walked the 2 1/4 miles (3.6 km) of trails. Discover the location of the world's tallest active geyser, colorful hot springs, and microscopic life in one of the most extreme environments on earth.

Our tour starts at the Norris Museum. The museum houses exhibits relating to the origins of the geothermal features found at the basin. Two loop trails leave from here. They provide a safe route for viewing the Porcelain Basin and Back Basin.

Rainbow Colors, hissing steam, and pungent odors combine to create an experience unique in Yellowstone. Porcelain Basin is open terrain with hundreds of densely packed geothermal features; in contrast, Back Basin is forested and its features are more scattered and isolated. Click the 'Next Stop' link below to begin your tour of Porcelain Basin.

Next Stop >

Did You Know?

Fire in Yellowstone Pineland in 1988

The 1988 fires affected 793,880 acres or 36 percent of the park. Five fires burned into the park that year from adjacent public lands. The largest, the North Fork Fire, started from a discarded cigarette. It burned more than 410,000 acres.