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Exploring The Parks: Yellowstone's Shoshone Geyser Basin

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"Nightmare Spring" officially is SMMGNN014. This spring was the cause of death for a nocturnal explorer in 1988. He fell into the spring when caught by snowfall in the dark. He made it back to his friends in camp, but died of his burns overnight/Robert Pahre

Editor's note: Contributor Robert Pahre visited the Shoshone Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park in September 2018, and had the basin to himself. 

My bottom feels as if I left the car’s seat warmer on.

That’s impossible, of course. I’m sitting on a trail in Yellowstone, watching Minute Man Geyser erupt again.  As it turns out, I accidentally sat down next to a small steam vent. The vent has decided to keep me warm on this beautiful fall afternoon.

I move over, being a bit more careful to look where I’m sitting this time.  Minute Man dies down, but I decide to stick around for the next eruption.

Minute Man would be a crowd pleaser if there were any crowds here. It’s not the biggest geyser in the Shoshone Geyser Basin, but it puts on a good little show. Minute Man also gives frequent play, as the enthusiasts say. It erupted every two or three minutes during my visit.

The entire basin is a joy. There are perpetual spouters along Shoshone Creek, happily bubbling pools along the trail, and colorful hot springs on a side trail to the canoe launch – the kind of mix you would expect to find in the major geyser basins along Yellowstone’s roads. The park limits visitors to the official trails, so you can’t visit everything. Even so, there’s plenty to see.

Minute Man geyser at Yellowstone National Park/Robert Pahre

Minute Man geyser at Yellowstone National Park/Robert Pahre

And every few minutes, Minute Man erupts again.

I have the entire Shoshone Geyser Basin to myself for two hours. I would never spend that much time with frontcountry hot springs – and neither would anyone else, it seems. Most visitors to the geyser basins hustle along the boardwalks on their way to the next attraction. In the Upper Basin, the restaurants and shops fill up more quickly after Old Faithful erupts than the boardwalks do.

Though I enjoy getting off the beaten track, normally I wouldn’t spend two hours in a backcountry thermal basin. Truth be told, most backcountry thermal areas are second-rate. Hiram Chittenden and other engineers built Yellowstone’s roads to visit the best geysers and hot springs. The backcountry thermal features are off-road because they didn’t make the cut. While each has its charms, they tend to be less interesting than the big basins along the road.  

Fortunately, the road developers left Shoshone Lake off the road network. That decision leaves Shoshone Geyser Basin as the largest backcountry geyser basin in Yellowstone.  In fact, Shoshone has more geysers than almost any country – by Scott Bryan’s count, it has more geysers than Chile, Iceland, or New Zealand, though probably not as many as Russia.

Again, I have the place to myself.

Most people will never see Shoshone because, unlike Monument and some other off-road basins, it’s not a short hike. The shortest route to the geyser basin is about nine miles each way, though I will need a twelve-mile hike to reach my car tomorrow morning.  If you’re the kind of person who can enjoy a twenty-mile hike to a geyser basin, Shoshone may be the day hike for you. Most people will make it an overnight trip, or part of a longer trek.

Because it’s a Monday in September, I was able to get a permit for my dream camp site. It’s a beautiful location along Shoshone Lake, across a small bay from the geyser basin. The site is private, at the end of a half-mile spur from the trail. The sun sets across the bay as I finished my dessert.

Shield Geyser at Shoshone Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park/Robert Pahre

Shield Geyser at Shoshone Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park/Robert Pahre

I photograph sunrise to the sound of loons. Canada geese honk as they land on the water across the lake. Squirrels chirp behind me. As I eat breakfast, a small geyser erupts across the bay, its gurgling a unique addition to the natural soundscape. The western shores of Shoshone Lake on a crisp September morning have given me a particularly memorable Yellowstone experience.

Robert Pahre is a professor of political science at the University of Illinois, where he teaches and writes about national parks and other public lands. You can find more of his photos of Shoshone Geyser Basin at https://www.flickr.com/photos/rpahre/sets/72157679102667898

Traveler postscript: If you go, this is the essential reference for Yellowstone’s backcountry geysers: T. Scott Bryan, The Geysers of Yellowstone, Fifth Edition. University Press of Colorado, 2018.

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Comments

Thanks for the great read Bob!


Agreed, V.C. - One of those worthy articles lost in the annals of NPT. Nothing worth arguing about, but certainly enough to be wistful about for those of us no longer able to trek deeply into the wonders of the National Parks system.


Thanks, V.C. and Rock B. Glad you enjoyed it!


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