Mammoth Hot Springs

Both Carrie and Tim had visited Yellowstone National Park in their childhood along with their respective families, and we made a one-day stop over on our honeymoon in 1978, but had not returned since.

It was obviously time to return and neither of us had been to the Mammoth area before so that was a priority on our vacation agenda in 2024. Since the parks inception in 1872, Mammoth Hot Springs, which enjoys a milder climate than the higher elevations of the park, has usually been open year -round. The three main features here are the fort, which was originally established to help preserve the park, the Grand Hotel first built in 1883 for tourists, which has been rebuilt and renovated several times, and the hot spring terraces

With around 100 hot springs that feed the terraces, there is always some kind of thermal activity to be found. The Norris Geyser basin, over 20 miles way, supplies the thermal waters which flow underground to feed into the Mammoth area. Those heated waters, passing through limestone deposits acquire the necessary minerals to create the calcium carbonate that precipitates out to form the varied travertine terraces or “terrasettes.” These can be seen in several locations where they have built themselves upon each other in stair-like patterns.

Our contribution to this unusual area is this photo of “Narrow Gauge Spring.” We perhaps pushed the limits of what park personnel may have considered appropriate access to this spring, but the trouble was worth it. The calcium-carbonate rich waters flow generously from the top of the formation cascading down. As the hot waters cool various multi-colored algae grow adding the mix of beautiful colors.