#11 of 101 sights in Yellowstone
Sight · Yellowstone National Park
One to four bursts, sometimes up to 200 feet high.
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 place
Old Faithful and Upper Geyser Basin“You're approaching the Old Faithful area, and I'd make this more than a stop for one eruption. Check the next predicted window at the Visitor Education Center before you start walking.”
Plays as you drive up to Grand Geyser 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
Grand Geyser is a fountain geyser in Yellowstone's Upper Geyser Basin, reached by the basin's boardwalk network from Old Faithful. Unlike Old Faithful's steadier column, Grand erupts in powerful bursts: a typical show lasts 9–12 minutes, with one to four bursts that can sometimes reach 200 feet. If you have time to wait for one eruption, this is a strong stop for the height and the changing rhythm of the show.
Check the posted eruption prediction before walking out, then treat it as a window rather than an appointment. Visitors report waits ranging from under an hour to several hours, and some don't catch an eruption at all. Leave slack in your plans; Grand is a poor fit between two timed activities. If you arrive early, keep exploring nearby boardwalks in the basin while you wait.
For food, head back toward the Old Faithful lodges: Old Faithful Inn has a dining room and deli, while Snow Lodge has a dining room and grill. Those options are back in the developed area, away from Grand, so leave a loose window if you step away to eat.
The water column is the defining picture, and a long eruption can give you several chances as one burst follows another. From the boardwalk, keep some of the pale terrace and wooded slope in the frame; they help show the scale of the fountain instead of leaving a phone photo as a wall of white spray.
Geysers have narrowings in their underground plumbing that hold hot water below the surface. Steam builds underneath until pressure pushes the water up and out. Grand's water averages about 163°F (73°C), and the basin sits over Yellowstone's volcanic heat system.
Upper Geyser Basin has at least 150 geysers in one square mile, the world's largest concentration of active geysers. Grand is one of five major geysers regularly included in eruption predictions, alongside Old Faithful, Castle, Daisy, and Riverside. That density is the reason to make time for the surrounding boardwalks, not just arrive for one eruption and turn straight back.
Hydrothermal water can severely burn you. Stay on boardwalks and designated trails, supervise children, and don't touch the thermal mats.
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
EasyOld Faithful to Morning Glory Pool Trail2.7 mi · 2 hr · 0.5 mi awayA level geyser walk ends at a spring changed by its visitors.
ModerateObservation Point–Solitary Geyser Loop1.9 mi · 2 hr · 0.6 mi awayA short climb trades switchbacks for Old Faithful from above.
EasyGeyser Hill Loop Trail1.2 mi · 1 hr · 0.6 mi awayCompact boardwalk loop past geysers, vivid springs, and steaming runoff.
EasyBlack Sand Basin Trail0.5 mi · 30 min · 0.9 mi awayShort boardwalk spurs past colorful hot springs and geysers.
ModerateMallard Lake Trail7 mi · 4.5 hr · 0.9 mi awayPipeline Hot Springs and a Firehole crossing lead to Mallard Lake.
EasyFern Cascade Loop Trail2.5 mi · 1.5 hr · 1 mi awayA short woods loop slips down to a hidden cascade.
ModerateHoward Eaton Trail: Old Faithful to Lone Star Geyser6.3 mi · 3 hr · 1 mi awayBurned hill, spruce-fir forest, and a geyser at the end.
EasyBiscuit Basin Trail0.6 mi · 45 min · 1.5 mi awayA short boardwalk loop through Yellowstone's blue pools and geysers.
Sight · 0.1 mi awaySawmill GeyserA small geyser with a clear pool and a spinning burst.
Sight · 0.2 mi awayBeauty and Chromatic PoolsTwo hot springs with water levels that move in opposite directions.
Sight · 0.2 mi awayCrested PoolA clear blue spring that boils almost constantly, rimmed in pale sinter
Sight · 0.2 mi awayCastle GeyserA castle-shaped cone, with a major eruption worth a flexible wait.
Sight · 0.3 mi awayOblong GeyserAt least 10,000 gallons spill into the Firehole when this pool erupts.
Sight · 0.3 mi awayGiant GeyserEruptions can top 250 feet, but there’s no showtime to plan around.
Sight · 0.4 mi awayLion Geyser ComplexSeven thermal features, but Lion’s eruptions keep no schedule.
Sight · 0.4 mi awayDoublet PoolTwo clear pools, with a pulse that sometimes makes the water jump.Parkwolf’s Yellowstone ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
