Firehole Lake Drive - Yellowstone National Park
N 44° 32.102 W 110° 48.117
12T E 515735 N 4931319
One of Yellowstone's best hidden secrets
Waymark Code: WMNG5
Location: Wyoming, United States
Date Posted: 08/26/2006
Views: 284
The turnoff onto the Firehole Lake Drive is only eight miles North of Old Faithful but most people are too busy to get there and miss out on this great loop leading to some really impressive features:
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Firehole Spring is constantly bubbling. Early explorers thought the large bubbles looked like flashes of light – hence the origin of the spring’s name. The spring passed the name on to Firehole River and Firehole Lake and eventually to Fire Hole Lake Drive. Thats why we choose the coordinates of this particular location (the first stop on the drive) as coordinates for the waymark.
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Great Fountain Geyser is really huge. Too big to fit in one picture. Thats why we had to take three (Click on the thumbnails to get the larger pictures.)
Weather Great Fountain Geyser is in eruption or not, it is always obvious why early explorers were so enthusiastic about its beauty. Eruptions average 100 feet but can reach up to 200. They last 45 to 60 minutes in a serious of bursts. It is somewhat hard to predict the next eruption since it can take anything between 9 and 12 hours for the pool to slowly refill. Here is a movie of Great Fountain's eruption, curtesy of Stromboli Network.
White Dome Geyser’s eruptions are even harder to predict than Great Fountain’s. They vary from 10 minutes to 3 hours. We waited for a while and then moved on, only to watch the eruption a little bit later from the distance (right picture).
Stromboli Network was more patient and has a movie of an eruption.
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White Dome’s massive cone (left picture) suggests that it has been erupting for hundreds of years. Its vent is a mere 4 inches across, having nearly sealed itself off with deposits of sinter.
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For some reason, we missed Pink Cone Geyser, which is really strange since it is right next to the road. The road builders actually had to cut into the geyser's cone while building the road, so one can be up close and personal with this geyser. fortunately, Stromboli Network has a movie.
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Right before getting back onto the main road, we passed Firehole Lake. Several vents supply water that averages 158°F. The water contains high levels of carbon dioxide. This allows the water to transport more calcium, which forms deposits of travertine around the lakes edge and in pearly deposits around its geysers.
Click here for larger picture:
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There are more features along the drive and especially in the lake area and we are looking forward to more pictures posted by other people visiting this extraordinary area!
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