Grand Prismatic Springs
Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, WY
$$
parks, seasonal-activities, hikes
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The Grand Prismatic Springs are some of the most striking features Yellowstone has to offer. With their effervescent greens, blues, and orange hues steaming far into the horizon line, this is a vision unlike any other. It's about 2 hours and 20 minutes away from Jackson and right down the road from Old Faithful.
On our way to the Grand Prismatic Spring, we encountered a Bison lapping water from a nearby stream. Seeing this beautiful animal was one of the highlights of our family's summer. Always remember to keep a healthy distance from these inhabitants though! They are more afraid of you then you are of them and encounters that become dangerous are often the result of a human overstepping their boundaries.
There are two ways for your family to go about enjoying the springs. You can either pull in at the first entrance at the Fairy Falls TH, park and hike out and back to the overlook. Otherwise, drive a little further and pull into a roadside viewing area. We opted for the hike as our legs were in dire need of some movement after the long drive.
The hike gradually rose 105 feet over a distance of 0.6 miles. Our three-year-old kids happily trotted alongside us and sometimes even raced ahead. We did have to clearly specify to her that the tiny pools of water along the trail were dangerously hot and not to be touched though.
It took us no more than 20 minutes to reach the viewpoint and, boy was it worth it. The Grand Prismatic Spring and Midway Geyser Basin exploded with color and steam; a phenomenon I’ve never experienced before. The few visitors we saw took turns taking photos of each other overlooking the views. We left feeling satisfied and overwhelmed by the absolute unfathomable nature of our country's very first National Park and arrived back to Jackson around 5 pm.