Parking
Use Lone Star Trailhead (OK1) on Grand Loop Road, east of the Kepler Cascades pullout and about 3.5 miles southeast of the Old Faithful overpass.
Overview
About Shoshone Geyser Basin Trail
Why go
- Walk into a remote thermal basin with more than 80 geysers.
- Cross Grants Pass and the Continental Divide on a backcountry route.
Heads up
- A hard, remote day with stream crossings and little margin for delay.
- The basin has fragile hot ground and no boardwalks.
This is the 17-mile round-trip out-and-back from Lone Star Trailhead to Shoshone Geyser Basin over Grants Pass. Allow eight to ten hours for the long backcountry walk and time in the basin. The climb to the pass is modest for the distance, but the mileage, stream crossings and remoteness make this a hard day. Choose it for the chance to walk into a remote thermal basin, not for a quick look at geysers. The 4.8-mile round-trip Lone Star Geyser Trail is a much shorter outing if that is your main goal.
Parkwolf’s verdictIs this the hike for your day?Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Yellowstone map
Full mapElevation7,602–8,068 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Best time to go
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
Lone Star Geyser Trailhead0:00 / 0:26
“You're nearing the Lone Star Geyser trailhead, where a mostly level riverside walk leads to a pale cone in a forest clearing. It's about five miles round trip, taking two to three hours before any wait for an eruption.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Yellowstone Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Kepler Cascades
- When Trees Grew on Old Faithful
- Fern Cascades and Howard Eaton Trailhead
- Old Faithful and Upper Geyser Basin
- 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 Shoshone Geyser Basin Trail
From Lone Star to the basinStart at Lone Star Trailhead (OK1) on Grand Loop Road.
Start at Lone Star Trailhead (OK1) on Grand Loop Road. The first stretch follows the Lone Star corridor toward the geyser; at the junction, continue south toward Grants Pass. You climb through trees and open meadows to the pass at about 8,050 feet, crossing the Continental Divide. The trees limit the views here, so the best scenery is still ahead.
Beyond the pass, the route drops toward Shoshone Creek. Small streams and the creek itself need crossing, and the trail winds through a narrow, wooded canyon before the final junctions. These crossings can be high during snowmelt. The last signed turn leads into the basin; walking to Shoshone Lake’s shore is a nearby side trip and adds distance beyond the basin route.
Stay on the basin trailShoshone Geyser Basin packs more than 80 geysers into an area about 1,600 by 800 feet.
Shoshone Geyser Basin packs more than 80 geysers into an area about 1,600 by 800 feet. It has no boardwalks: the route uses narrow paths among hot springs, vents and fragile ground. Stay on the established tread and give every thermal feature plenty of room. Look for named features such as Minute Man, Taurus and Union geysers, but their activity and appearance can change.
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.
