Grand Prismatic Spring — Attraction in West Yellowstone

Of the four pools at this stop, this one takes home the Gold medal. So very impressive, colorful, and inspiring. It is just fascinating that nature can create something so seemingly docile and still and yet so vibrant and intriguing.

As this stop is very popular it may be challenging to find a parking spot. If you see people parking on the street, it’s probably a good idea to follow suit. TIP: don’t park behind the last car drive up a little way, because odds are there is a closer parking spot. Due to the amount of people who stop here, the boardwalks can get very crowded as well. Do your best to keep from bumping people and blocking the flow of people.

The round trip walk is about a half mile and it is on boardwalks. Easy breezy. Speaking of wind, every time I have been here it has been windy. This location is known as a hat graveyard, so either cinch down your hat or leave it in the car, especially if it is a windy day.

I recommend walking this in a counterclockwise path. This allows you to take in the smaller pools first and enjoying their color and uniqueness and then be awed by the monster big Grand Prismatic Spring. Otherwise you will walk past the small pools last and won’t be impressed with them at all.

This pathway does not give you vantage point above the Prismatic Spring, you are essentially at ground level with it. Still very impressive. If you want a higher vantage point go to the Grand Prismatic Spring Overlook, which you can get to from the Fairy...

One of the "crown jewels" of Yellowstone, this was, in my humble opinion, the one of the five most awesome things to see in the park - both up close and from the nearby Observation Deck. You can park in the lot and easily do a loop hike to the nearby falls, then head north and get into very remote area, still with clear paths, see amazing hot springs that, while signs are posted, you could easily break the rules and die or get hurt cause no park rangers are back there, have the space all to yourself, then head east through the meadows, and then south back to the GP spring - probably 8-12 miles, and a little bit of elevation, but for fit people it will be a highlight of your trip. My group of twenty four people were in the park during July 4th week, and while there were some people that hiked from the Observation Deck over to the nearby falls, it was small crowds, and from the time we left the falls after a fifteen minute break, we hiked for three hours, on easy to follow and maintained trails, all marked on AllTrails and Google Maps, and we saw those aformentioned geysers and the beautiful meadows and for those three hours - and 6-9 miles, we saw NO, I mean NO, other human beings. Felt like we had the park all to ourselves.

Fyi the "wait" is for parking during the busy summer months, especially on Fridays-Sunday. Lots just aren't big enough to handle the volume of traffic in the park during this...

In May-June 2022, my wife and I toured 7 western National Parks in 3 weeks. It was glorious. I concluded all the parks and their features exceeded the hype, with one exception – Grand Prismatic Spring. Not that it was a dud, but the descriptions and the postcards play it up so awesomely – and I found it was not more special than the other many springs and such. First off, even though we were there on a mid-week day, parking is a major challenge. Hundreds and hundreds of cars descend on a parking lot that holds maybe 60 cars. We had to go back later in the day to (luckily) find a spot. The trail is mostly a boardwalk trail around several thermal springs and pools, with the Grand Prismatic Spring being the centerpiece. At ground level, it was difficult to see features of Grand Prismatic Spring because of the low angle of view and the steam rising from the pool. So I hiked up to the overlook (which requires a drive to a different over-demanded parking lot). Even from the overlook, the view fell short of what you see in the postcards. Maybe on the right day with the right lighting with the right filter in your camera, you can get a shot like you see in the postcards. Otherwise, it was just an interesting thermal pool, not worth the hype I had heard. On the way up the trail to the overlook, I got to see a mama bear and 3 cubs – that was a better treat than the overlook of Grand...