Picnic area · Yellowstone National Park
Pause by the Firehole where geothermal water warms the river.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Yellowstone Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Yellowstone National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Yellowstone audio tourRecorded for this area
The Flies Beside the Hot Springs“When you're walking a geyser-basin boardwalk, look for tiny flies around the runoff. Some live among the mats of microscopic organisms, and their larvae feed on algae there.”
Plays on the road 0.6 mi from Firehole River Picnic Area in the Parkwolf Yellowstone Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“First time driving through a national park. We used the Yellowstone tour on grand loop Road and it’s just like having a tour guide in your car with you.”
Guide
Firehole River Picnic Area is a designated NPS picnic site beside the Firehole River in Yellowstone. Its 12 picnic tables and one wheelchair-accessible vault toilet make it a practical place for lunch or a breather. Visitors often mention the river views, so this is a good place to pause rather than a headline attraction.
The Firehole runs 21 miles from near Madison Lake to Madison Junction, passing through Lone Star, Upper, Midway and Lower geyser basins along the way. Geothermal water warms the river, tying this simple picnic stop to the park's geyser landscape.
Keep food, trash, coolers and cooking tools in a bear-proof container whenever they are not in immediate use. Overnight camping is not allowed in picnic areas.
Wildlife
713 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
743 sightingsWolfMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
5,273 sightingsBisonMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
3,258 sightingsElkMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
397 sightingsMooseMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
1,494 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Yellowstone. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyFountain Freight Road Trail4 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.8 mi awayA level old-road walk past hot springs, river, meadows, and a lake.
EasySentinel Meadows & Queen’s Laundry Trail3.8 mi · 3 hr · 2.2 mi awayA meadow walk to Queen’s Laundry and its 1881 bathhouse
EasyFountain Paint Pot Trail0.6 mi · 38 min · 3.3 mi awayMud bubbles, geysers and steam, packed into one short loop.
ChallengingPurple Mountain Trail6.6 mi · 4 hr · 3.8 mi awayEleven switchbacks climb to views over the Gibbon and Madison valleys.
EasyTerrace Spring Trail0.2 mi · 15 min · 4 mi awayA short boardwalk loop to Yellowstone’s small thermal area.
EasyThree Senses Nature Trail0.2 mi · 12 min · 4.1 mi awayA quick boardwalk stop beside Artesia Geyser
EasyHarlequin Lake Trail1 mi · 45 min · 4.3 mi awayA quick walk through young pines to a quiet lake.
EasyMidway Geyser Basin Trail0.7 mi · 45 min · 4.5 mi awayA compact boardwalk loop to a giant spring and a blue crater.
Picnic area · 1 mi awayNez Perce Picnic AreaA shaded riverside picnic stop near Old Faithful.
Beach · 2.2 mi awayFirehole Canyon Swimming AreaA river dip that follows the snowmelt’s schedule.
Sight · 3 mi awayFirehole FallsA 40-foot waterfall beside the one-way canyon drive.Sight · 3.2 mi awayFountain Paint PotThe mudpot is the star; the boardwalk adds three more thermal types.
Visitor center · 3.7 mi awayMadison Information Station and Trailside MuseumA useful stop inside an original 1930 trailside museum.
Campground · 3.9 mi awayMadison CampgroundA handy base near the river confluence and geyser basins.
Picnic area · 3.9 mi awayTuff Cliff Picnic AreaA roadside picnic beneath a cliff of welded volcanic ash.
Sight · 4 mi awayTerrace SpringA short boardwalk ends at a spring bubbling with carbon dioxide.Parkwolf’s Yellowstone ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
