Old Faithful

Written by A. Miller at www.casago.com

About

Old Faithful is one of Yellowstone National Park's best-known attractions, and to say it's worth seeing is an understatement. Being one of the most consistent and regular geysers in the area, people flock from far and wide to marvel at its beauty. 

I was able to visit the area about two weeks ago and had a very beautiful experience here. There are a lot of people who come to visit Old Faithful so I suggest coming early in the day or later in the evening to see it. 

We went when it was time to blow up, and it was amazing!

Geyser thermal characteristics often change due to our ever-changing planet. In fact, some say that the geyser will one day stop spewing water. And since there's plenty of evidence of ongoing volcanic activity just below the surface, it's hard to know what might happen next.

So if you're in the Yellowstone area, I highly recommend stopping by to take a look! 

And when you visit the area, you can watch Old Faithful doing what it does best from the boardwalks found throughout the area. These boardwalks take you through the entire Upper Geyser Basin.

Make sure you bring a camera and be ready to go. Photos of this geyser can be quite impressive if you take them right. It's interesting to see how high the water shoots up and then all of a sudden it seems to stop. 

In fact, the entire area is geologically beautiful, making Old Faithful a perfect photo spot.

Interesting Features of Old Faithful

Old Faithful is one of the 500 geysers found within the park. And it's one of six that park rangers can predict when they'll explode and shoot super-hot water everywhere. 

Over the past 30 years, the time between eruptions has been very stable and constant, only changing by about 30 minutes in total. That is amazing.

To learn about the history and amazing features of this geyser, visit the Old Faithful Visitor Center. It is only a few minutes away and provides a lot of information, educational programming, and really in-depth information. That includes the history of the geyser and a lot of information about the development of the park itself.

I also toured the Upper Geyser Basin when I visited. It's quite a beautiful place, and from what I learned, it's one of the more fragile features of the park due to hydrothermal development there. There are more than 150 such wonders in the area.

Get there

The park itself spans 3,500 square miles. Old Faithful can be accessed by entering through the west entrance of the park.

Local Tips

  • If you want to time your trip to see the Old Faithful eruption, you can do that by using the National Park System (NPS) app. They will provide you with lots of information about what to expect (they also keep things updated on Twitter!)
  • When I visited, I also checked out Old Faithful Inn, which was built in 1903 and 1904. It is such a masterpiece in its overall creation and worth exploring.
  • If you are local, get your children into the Junior Ranger program or the Young Scientist program that is available at the Visitors Center.
  • Some of the other geysers that scientists can predict in the area include Castle, Riverside, Daisy, and Grand.

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