Yellowstone National Park guide · 2 min read
Norris Geyser Basin: Steamboat and Porcelain Basin
No thermal area in Yellowstone is hotter, older or more changeable than Norris Geyser Basin.
Scientists drilling 1,087 feet down here recorded 459 degrees, the highest reading taken anywhere in the park's geothermal areas. Only a handful of features at Norris stay cooler than 199 degrees, which is where water boils at this altitude. Heat has been reaching the surface in this spot for 115,000 years or more, and earthquakes and shifting water levels keep the basin changing from one day to the next.
No geyser on Earth throws water higher than Steamboat, whose major eruptions reach 300 to 400 feet. It sits along the Back Basin Trail and runs on no schedule, so catching a big eruption takes luck. Nearby Echinus Geyser is one of the rare acid geysers, with water around pH 3.5. Most of the water at Norris is acidic.
Porcelain Basin is the open, treeless side of Norris, and a three-quarter-mile route over boardwalk and bare earth leads through it. Hot springs send up steam, pools glow in pale blues and pastels, and fumaroles hiss loudly across the flats. You notice it as much with your ears and nose as with your eyes.
The Back Basin feels quieter, with forest closing in and features dotted here and there along a 1.5-mile trail. Emerald Pool, Steamboat and Echinus all lie close to the Norris Museum. Parts of the walk include stairs and steep climbs, and rocks and tree roots stick up from the path in places, so watch your footing as you go.
From the Norris Museum you can take in the steam and color of Porcelain Basin, a good first stop before you walk. The Museum of the National Park Ranger, close by, tells the story of the rangers who have looked after parks like this one. The area takes its name from Philetus W. Norris, Yellowstone's second superintendent, whose early reports were the first to describe these hot springs and geysers in detail.
