Old Faithful to Morning Glory Pool Trail

Old Faithful to Morning Glory Pool is an out-and-back through Yellowstone’s Upper Geyser Basin. It starts on the paved path in front of Old Faithful Inn and ends at a boardwalk beside the spring. The mapped corridor is about 1.34 miles each way, or 2.7 miles round trip. It is mostly level, following an old paved road before boardwalk reaches the thermal features. Allow about two hours if you stop to watch geysers. The walk earns its distance from what lies along it: geysers and hot springs on the way, then a color-rich pool at the end.

Published figures do not match. One description gives 2 miles round trip from the Inn; another places the pool 1.5 miles from the Visitor Center. The mapped line from the Inn to the pool measures 1.34 miles one way, so this trail uses the full corridor there and back. Optional geyser boardwalk loops add distance. For a shorter thermal-area visit, stay near Old Faithful and walk the boardwalks around the viewing area. Use designated Old Faithful visitor parking, then walk to the Inn-front trail start. The nearby Visitor Education Center has restrooms and exhibits. Day hikes need no permit; the park entrance fee may apply.

The path leaves the Inn on an old paved route that is nearly flat but starting to break up in places. Take care on the uneven surface. As you head into the basin, signed boardwalks branch toward geysers and hot springs. Castle and Grotto geysers sit close to the mapped line, with more features on adjacent boardwalks. You can make short stops on those spurs, then return to the corridor. Bicycles may use the paved route, but riders leave them at racks before exploring boardwalks; hikers have priority. The return follows the same way.

Morning Glory is a hot spring, not a geyser. It was named in the 1880s for the blue morning-glory flower, and its deeper blue color has since faded. Visitors threw coins, rocks and other debris into the spring, restricting the flow of hot water. Cooler water let colorful microbial mats grow around the rim, leaving yellow, orange and green bands around the darker center. The boardwalk gives a clear view of the whole spring. For a useful photo, include part of the boardwalk and the colored rim; stay behind the railing.

Upper Geyser Basin has at least 150 geysers in one square mile, along with hundreds of hot springs. Rangers regularly predict eruptions at Old Faithful, Castle, Grand, Daisy and Riverside geysers. Check which eruptions are expected while you are there, and treat them as a chance rather than a schedule. The surrounding hills are rhyolitic lava flows formed after Yellowstone’s caldera eruption about 600,000 years ago. High-silica lava moved like thick dough and left the ridges around the basin. Heat and mineral-rich water continue to shape the pools and feed the colorful life in their runoff.

Thermal ground can look solid while only a thin crust covers superheated water; even runoff can burn. Stay on boardwalks and designated trails, and keep children beside you. Bison, coyotes and ravens live in the Old Faithful area; bears also use developed areas, and marmots are seen near Grand and Riverside in summer. Keep at least 25 yards from bison and most wildlife, and 100 yards from bears, wolves and cougars. Pets cannot come on this trail, boardwalks or thermal areas.