Things to See Near Old Faithful–Yellowstone with Kids

Yellowstone is so big, I’ve split the Things to See into 3 posts. This post covers the Upper Geyser Basin area which includes Old Faithful. This is a very dynamic area and things can change very quickly, so don’t be surprised if what you see isn’t quite as I’ve described it. Nonetheless this should give you an idea of what to expect at the many different walks in the upper Geyser Basin.
Be sure to look at my tips on Taking Your Kids to US National Parks, Gordie’s Favorite Things In Yellowstone, Accommodations, Things to See in Other Geothermal Areas,  Other Things to See In Yellowstone and Wildlife of Yellowstone.

Upper Geyser Basin (around Old Faithful Geyser)

1. Old Faithful Geyser

     
Worth the stop – Absolutely. If you have any desire at all to see a large geyser erupt, Old Faithful is a must see.
Approximate time – It erupts every 50-120 minutes for 1.5-5 minutes.
Difficulty of walk – Easy.
My thoughts– When you get to the Old Faithful area first look and see if there is a crowd around the geyser. If there is, go! It will be erupting soon. Old Faithful is such a hit because it is the most frequently erupting large geyser and because it’s eruptions can be generally predicted +/- 10 minutes. So most of the time you don’t even have to wait that long. If you don’t see a crowd, you can go into the Visitor Centre, stores, or hotels and check when the next predicted eruption is. If it’s not for a while, you can take a look at the Visitor Centre, do some shopping, or walk around Geyser Hill. If you are on Geyser Hill when Old Faithful erupts you’ll still get a great view of the eruption.

2. Other predictable geysers

 
Worth the stop – Maybe. It depends on when the geysers are predicted to erupt, how long your kids are willing to wait around and the accuracy interval of the geyser you want to see.
Approximate time – The predicted eruption time varies from +/- 30 minutes to +/- 2 hours for the different geysers. The eruptions range from a few minutes to 20 minutes long.
Difficulty of walk – the pathways to most of the predictable geysers are pretty easy. You should be able to take a stroller.
My thoughts – When you enter the Old Faithful Area, stop in at one of the hotels or the visitor centre to see the predicted eruption times. If your kids are not good at waiting, don’t bother. There are lots of other things to see. We saw Castle Geyser Erupt. It erupts for 20 minutes and is a quick trip to get there. I was really happy we waited but we ended up waiting around for about an hour. Thank goodness for Ipods otherwise Gordie wouldn’t have made it. We also went up to the walk towards morning glory pool at the beginning where we would still be able to see it if it went off earlier rather than later.
Predictions – Castle +/- 1 hr, Grand Geyers +/- 2 hrs, Daisy and Riverside +/- 30 minutes.

3. Geyser Hill

 

Worth the stop – Absolutely.
Approximate time – Fairly short (2.1 km for the loop)
Difficulty of walk – Primarily easy, although there is a steep section to get from Old Faithful to the hill.
My thoughts– There are a bunch of smaller active geysers on this loop. If you’re lucky you might even see one erupt. But it is still interesting to look at even if you don’t. When we went last year, we saw Beehive erupt and it was one of the highlights of the trip for me.

4. Upper Geyser basin Walk (towards Morning Glory Pool)

Worth the stop – Definitely. Most of the large, predictable Geysers in Yellowstone are along this walk.
Approximate time – If you go all the way to the Morning Glory pool it’s pretty long (4.4km round trip) But you could easily stop at many points along the way and turn around.
Difficulty of walk – Easy
My thoughts – This is one of the parts of the park that I wish we had spent more time at. Next time I want to go all the way up to the Morning Glory Pool. This trip we only went as far as Grand Geyser. We saw a bluebird, an otter and two marmots in addition to all the interesting pools and geysers.

5. Biscuit Basin

 
Worth the stop – Not a bad stop, but you’re not missing much if you pass it by
Approximate time – fairly short walk (1km)
Difficulty of walk – easy
My thoughts– This has some pretty pools and jewel geyser is entertaining as it erupts every 7-10 minutes.

6. Black Sand Basin
 

Worth the stop – Yes
Approximate time – fairly short walk (1km)
Difficulty of walk – easy
My thoughts – To the west of the Old Faithful area – the pools here are beautiful and Cliff Geyser erupts every 10 minutes – it seems different every time too. I was pleasantly surprised by this area.
Take a look at the next post in this series – Things to See in Other Geothermal Areas.