رحلة مشي Wyoming — Yellowstone National Park، الولايات المتحدة

The Upper Geyser Basin Boardwalk Walk

An easy day on the boardwalks of the Upper Geyser Basin — Old Faithful, the Castle, Grand and Riverside geysers, Morning Glory Pool, and a loop through Black Sand Basin.

المدة: 1 يوم
المسافة: 8 km
الصعود: 40 m
مستوى الصعوبة: سهل
أفضل موسم: Late spring to early autumn (about May–September), while the park roads are open to cars; most entrances close to vehicles from around early November until spring

The Upper Geyser Basin holds the densest concentration of geysers on Earth — roughly 150 of them within about a square mile — and a flat boardwalk runs through the middle of it. There is almost no climbing and no route-finding. The whole walk is about 8 km of level planks and paved path, and it is one of the great days out in any national park.

The rhythm of the day is set by the geysers, not by you. Rangers post predicted eruption windows for several of the large ones at the visitor center; plan your loop around those, and expect to sit and wait.

Staying on the boardwalk is not a suggestion — leaving it can kill you. The ground here is a thin mineral crust over water at roughly 93 °C, the local boiling point, and in places that crust covers voids you cannot see from above. It does not look dangerous. Bare, pale ground beside the planks looks exactly like ground. Several people have died in Yellowstone after falling through into hot springs, and others have been very badly burned; the water is not only near-boiling but chemically aggressive, and in the more acidic basins remains have not been recoverable. There is no rescue that arrives fast enough. Keep children within arm’s reach, keep pets out entirely, and do not step off the planks for a photograph — this is the single rule that matters here.

Getting there. Old Faithful sits on the park’s lower loop road, reached most easily from the West Entrance. The basin has a large visitor center with eruption predictions, water, and toilets.

Good to know:

Most park roads close to cars from around early November until spring — dates vary by entrance — so this walk is effectively a May-to-September outing. In deep winter the basin is reached only by snowcoach or snowmobile.
The basin sits above 2,200 m and is fully exposed; bring sun protection, and layers for cold mornings even in July.
Afternoons are busiest. An early start puts you on quiet boardwalks with steam hanging in the cold air.

تنزيل نقاط الطريق (GPX) نقاط اهتمام بترتيب المشي — وليست تتبّعًا للدرب.

يومًا بيوم

اليومالمسافةالصعودالهبوطوقت المشي

اليوم1 أصعب يومOld Faithful, the geyser boardwalks, and Black Sand Basin

المسافة8 kmالصعود40 mالهبوطغير مسجّلوقت المشيغير مسجّل

اليوم 1

Old Faithful, the geyser boardwalks, and Black Sand Basin

Old Faithful Visitor Education Center ← Old Faithful Visitor Education Center 8 km 40 m

التنقّل في هذا اليوم

The standard basin circuit: watch Old Faithful, walk the boardwalk out past the big predictable geysers to Morning Glory Pool, then return and add the short Black Sand Basin loop.

مقاطع

Old Faithful 0.5 km 0 m خريطة

Old Faithful Visitor Education Center ← Old Faithful viewing area

Paved path and benched boardwalk

Check the predicted eruption window posted inside, then take a seat on the boardwalk ring. Old Faithful is famous for being predictable, not punctual: the gap between eruptions varies widely — very roughly an hour to nearly two — and rangers forecast the next one from the length of the last, usually within about ten minutes. Allow an hour with the wait.
Castle and Grand geysers 1.2 km 10 m خريطة

Old Faithful viewing area ← Grand Geyser

Flat boardwalk over sinter

Head north across the basin to Castle Geyser, whose huge geyserite cone — built up over a very long time and likened to a castle — makes it the most striking structure here; it erupts at long intervals, on the order of half a day. Just beyond stands Grand Geyser, the tallest predictable geyser known, which fires in bursts from a pool rather than a cone. About 30 minutes' walking.
Along the Firehole River to Riverside Geyser 1 km 10 m خريطة

Grand Geyser ← Riverside Geyser

Boardwalk beside the river

Follow the boardwalk along the Firehole River to Riverside Geyser, which sits on the bank and arcs its column out over the water — the most photogenic eruption in the basin, and another that rangers predict. About 20 minutes.
Morning Glory Pool and back 2.3 km 10 m خريطة

Riverside Geyser ← Old Faithful area

Flat boardwalk and paved trail

Continue to the far end of the basin for Morning Glory Pool, a hot spring named for the flower it once resembled. Its colours shifted after decades of visitors threw coins and debris into the vent, partly clogging it — the pool is a monument to what crowds do to a fragile thing. Return the way you came. About 1 hour.
Black Sand Basin loop 3 km 10 m خريطة

Old Faithful area ← Old Faithful Visitor Education Center

Paved connector and short boardwalk loop

A short, often-skipped satellite group just west of Old Faithful, named for the dark obsidian sand in its runoff channels and worth the detour for Emerald Pool and Sunset Lake. Walk or drive the connector, loop the boardwalk, and close the day back at the visitor center. About 1 hour on foot.