Sight · Yellowstone National Park
The cone is the main show; an eruption is a bonus.
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
White Dome Geyser“Up ahead is White Dome Geyser, with a pale, rust-streaked cone about twelve feet high. It's worth a short stop for the cone even if the geyser is quiet.”
Plays as you drive up to White Dome 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
White Dome Geyser is a cone geyser in Yellowstone’s Lower Geyser Basin, beside Firehole Lake Drive. Its roughly 12-foot sinter cone, coated white and rust-red, is among Yellowstone’s largest. The cone is worth a look even when the geyser is quiet.
When it erupts, the water typically reaches about 30 feet and the burst lasts roughly two minutes. The timing is unpredictable, so don’t build a tight schedule around catching one. If you have a little time, wait; if not, the cone itself makes the stop worthwhile.
White Dome dominates a small group of thermal features on both sides of the drive. Cave Spring spouts from deep in its opening, so you may not see much from the road, and Crack Geyser’s vent is easy to miss when quiet. Gemini Geyser’s activity can range from nearly daily to years of dormancy.
Mushroom Pool, another thermal feature along Firehole Lake Drive, supplied the Yellowstone sample of Thermus aquaticus collected by Thomas Brock. The bacterium’s heat-resistant Taq polymerase later made PCR possible, a reminder that Yellowstone’s hot pools have mattered well beyond the park.
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 Paint Pot Trail0.6 mi · 38 min · 0.7 mi awayMud bubbles, geysers and steam, packed into one short loop.
EasyThree Senses Nature Trail0.2 mi · 12 min · 0.9 mi awayA quick boardwalk stop beside Artesia Geyser
EasyMidway Geyser Basin Trail0.7 mi · 45 min · 1.8 mi awayA compact boardwalk loop to a giant spring and a blue crater.
EasyGrand Prismatic Overlook Trail1.6 mi · 1.5 hr · 2.2 mi awayA short climb to see Grand Prismatic from above
EasyFairy Falls Trail4.5 mi · 3 hr · 2.2 mi awayAn easy forest walk to a 200-foot waterfall.
EasyImperial Geyser Trail6.6 mi · 4 hr · 2.2 mi awayA forest walk to a 200-foot waterfall and two active geysers.
EasySentinel Meadows & Queen’s Laundry Trail3.8 mi · 3 hr · 2.4 mi awayA meadow walk to Queen’s Laundry and its 1881 bathhouse
EasyFountain Freight Road Trail4 mi · 2.5 hr · 2.5 mi awayA level old-road walk past hot springs, river, meadows, and a lake.
Sight · 0.2 mi awayGreat Fountain GeyserIts long, multi-burst eruptions reward a flexible wait.Sight · 0.8 mi awayFountain Paint PotThe mudpot is the star; the boardwalk adds three more thermal types.
Picnic area · 1.3 mi awayWhiskey Flat Picnic AreaA meadow-side picnic break where bison sometimes pass.
Sight · 2 mi awayGrand Prismatic SpringThe overlook turns a vivid close-up into a full ring of color.
Picnic area · 3.1 mi awayNez Perce Picnic AreaA shaded riverside picnic stop near Old Faithful.Sight · 3.4 mi awayFairy FallsA 200-foot waterfall rewards a longer walk beyond Midway.Sight · 3.7 mi awayImperial GeyserThe blue geyser pool adds 1.2 miles beyond Fairy Falls.
Picnic area · 4 mi awayFirehole River Picnic AreaPause by the Firehole where geothermal water warms the river.Parkwolf’s Yellowstone ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
