hiking to the Shoshone Geyser Basin in Yellowstone NP

For those that love a great variety thermal features and want to see something that most people will not see outside of the tourist spots, this is the hike for you; but this an all day hike and there are no boardwalks to protect and guide you. This trail takes you to the Shoshone Geyser Basin, which is next to Shoshone Lake and it is full of thermal features.

If you drive south past the entrance to Old Faithful, you will soon arrive to a parking area for the Kepler Cascades parking lot, just drive a few yards and take the road to the right to a larger parking area; that is the start of the trail. The trail is paved for a couple of miles while it hugs the Firehole river to your left; it was a road that took people directly to Lone Star geyser.

That part of the trail is well shaded and you may see people fishing in the river. It is a very tranquil hike with the river always next to you:

Yes, that trail used to be a road so there is a lot of asphalt still remaining. People will bike on this trail until the paved road ends at Lone Star geyser:

This is the destination of most people and you need to be CAREFUL since left and right of the trail there is fragile thermal ground; people have been seriously burned here.

The geyser I think erupts every hour on average.

Now this is where you will continue on a real trail and this is an all day hike, but with very little elevation changes.

Below is a small meadow that gets flooded easily, so they have a boardwalk for it:

Past that boardwalk you will be hiking in a forested area for a while until to get to the prize. I am showing a map of the thermal area, but my videos and images are not labelled except for Minute Geyser, which is obvious which one it is.

This is the start of the thermal area:

The trail is to be followed religiously since there are thermals left and right of the trail and incredibly closed to the trail. Some pools:

The amount of thermal features is absolutely incredible and there are more that you can not reach. Look at this pool:

This is a small boiling pool (I wish I had a ladder since many of them I can’t really see well):

Looking at the area before you reach Minute Geyser ……… so many !!!

You finally reach Minute Geyser:

I wish I could get closer to this one:

Once you hike past the thermal area, you can get views of the lake (more on that later). That trail leads to a campsites that go all around Shoshone Lake; some also go south towards the Bechler area. There are lots more thermals that way but they are not reachable:

From this satellite image you realize how much is there to explore, but it is no safe at all to leave the trail. At this area, you will see signs prohibiting to leave the trail, so do not. This must be the only trail that crosses a large thermal area with no protection at all. I suspect one day a new thermal will open and destroy the trail and end the fun, so enjoy it before that happens.

Another look at Minute Geyser on the way back:

More pools:

There is a another way to get to this area and that is by boat, yes, boat. You can see a side trail to your left (when going into the thermal area) that takes you to a beach. When I was there I guy arrived that way.

The Shoshone Geyser Basin is a treasure of backcountry thermal areas and a must area to be visited by fans of thermals that want more. The hike is about 16 miles but I found it very pleasant and with no effort to get to. From the top of my head I think 2 miles to Lone Star and then 6 more to the basin.