Parking
Start at Howard Eaton Trailhead (OK2), just south of the Old Faithful Area; reach it by the connecting trail from the developed area. Dedicated parking at OK2 was not confirmed.
Overview
About Howard Eaton Trail: Old Faithful to Lone Star Geyser
Why go
- A forested approach to a distinctive geyser destination.
- A burned hillside and spruce-fir forest make the walk varied.
Heads up
- 6.3 miles round trip; eruption timing is approximate.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Yellowstone map
Full mapElevation7,398–7,864 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
5 active Yellowstone alerts
- ClosureBiscuit Basin closed after hydrothermal explosionBiscuit Basin’s parking lot, boardwalk, and Firehole River are closed to all travel.Official details
- ClosureMost Yellowstone roads close to regular vehicles November 1Most Yellowstone roads and the West, South, and East entrances are scheduled to close to regular vehicles November 1, 2026, as the park prepares for winter operations.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Yellowstone Tour Guide
Hear Yellowstone as you drive it.
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 trailhead
Fern Cascades and Howard Eaton Trailhead0:00 / 0:25
“Howard Eaton Trailhead is ahead, with a wooded loop to Fern Cascades. Choose this for a small creek canyon rather than a big waterfall view.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Yellowstone Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Old Faithful and Upper Geyser Basin
- Old Faithful Inn and Village
- Black Sand Basin
- Kepler Cascades
- 243 audio storiesacross Yellowstone’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Wolf, Grizzly Bear, Bison, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 167 trails, 192 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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.”
Trail guide
Hiking Howard Eaton Trail: Old Faithful to Lone Star Geyser
The walkThis is a 6.
This is a 6.3-mile out-and-back from Howard Eaton Trailhead (OK2) to Lone Star Geyser, returning on the same trail. Allow about three hours for the walk and a stop; the sampled elevation profile adds roughly 500 feet of cumulative climbing.
Hill, forest, geyserThe route crosses a burned hillside, continues through spruce-fir forest, then descends to the…
The route crosses a burned hillside, continues through spruce-fir forest, then descends to the geyser. It is a moderately easy walk, with the distance and rolling climb doing most of the work. This is the wooded Howard Eaton approach; a separate, shorter route follows the old service road beside the Firehole River.
At Lone StarThe geyser rises from a 12-foot cone and can send water up to 45 feet.
The geyser rises from a 12-foot cone and can send water up to 45 feet. Eruptions come roughly every three hours, but the interval is approximate, so treat a show as a bonus rather than a schedule. At the end, frame the cone with the runoff and forested slope for a sense of scale. An information kiosk is listed at OK2; no food or drinking water along the route was identified.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Yellowstone
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.
