Sentinel Meadows & Queen’s Laundry Trail

Sentinel Meadows & Queen’s Laundry is an out-and-back through open meadow and thermal ground in Yellowstone’s Lower Geyser Basin. The National Park Service lists it at 3.8 miles round trip and 2–4 hours, starting at the end of Fountain Flats Drive. The NPS-surveyed path we could verify covers about 1.6 miles to a meadow junction; it stops about 0.3 mile from the mapped bathhouse, and no official connector for that last stretch turned up. Treat the listed mileage as the NPS itinerary, but don’t cross open thermal ground to make the line meet the ruins.

Cross the Firehole River, follow it briefly, then turn into broad, wet meadows dotted with steaming sinter mounds. The path can be hard to pick out across marshy ground. Take your time at the junctions and stay on the marked tread; off-trail walking in hydrothermal areas is prohibited.

The unfinished bathhouse was started in 1881 and abandoned as park priorities changed. Hot-spring minerals helped preserve its remains. The NPS describes it as the first government-built structure intended for public use in a national park, and recognizes the site as a National Historic Site. The trail’s appeal is the contrast between that bit of park history and the open, steaming meadow around it.

Park at the end of Fountain Flats Drive and cross the bridge over the Firehole. This is an easy-to-moderate walk rather than a boardwalk basin; expect uneven, marshy ground. Pets aren’t allowed. There’s no activity fee, though Yellowstone’s entrance fee may apply.