Chocolate Pots
Chocolate Pots is a group of hot springs in Yellowstone National Park, right along the Grand Loop Road. West Yellowstone is the nearest town on record. The water is hot, well past anything you would soak in. It is acidic as well, and iron turned up among the minerals when the USGS sampled it in 2007. Park Service land, open. There is a photo on file.
Roadside. Grand Loop Road passes within a couple hundred feet. High park country, cold, buried in snow through winter. Indian Creek Campground is about twelve miles away.
December through February rate best. The temperature on file will burn. Park rules apply, no fee listed. The sample date is July 2007.
Aircraft with laser scanners measured this ground to within inches. The scan strips out trees and buildings, leaving the bare shape of the land around Chocolate Pots.
Drag the handle to compare the two views. The orange dot marks the spring, in a frame about three quarters of a mile wide.
- Setting
- Hillside
- The spring sits on a steep slope that climbs to the north.
- Highest ground nearby
- 191 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the north
A slice through the ground from north to south, about 0.6 miles end to end.
Elevation data: USGS 3D Elevation Program. Aerial imagery: USGS The National Map. Public domain.
That's about twice the US average of 65. It's higher than at 88% of the springs on this site.
Heat flow measures the warmth working its way up through the ground from deep inside the earth. Where it runs high, rain and snowmelt that seep down through cracks in the rock come back up hot.
See every spring on the geothermal heat map →
Heat flow estimate: Stanford Thermal Earth Model (Aljubran & Horne, 2024), CC BY 4.0.
The water at Chocolate Pots is slightly acidic (pH 5.8). It is notably rich in iron (iron-rich springs may support circulation).
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Overview Located about eight miles (13 km) south of Mammoth Hot Springs on the road to Norris, Indian Creek Campground—elevation 7,300 feet (2225 m)—sits near the base of the Gallatin Mountains and offers breathtaking views of Electric Peak. The area offers easy access to fishing and hiking. The campground is away from the main road and provides a quieter, more primitive, experience than many other locations. For reservations at the campgrounds managed by Yellowstone National Park Lodges (Fi...
Chocolate Pots sits at 7,370 feet above sea level, way above the mile-high mark. You may not feel the altitude strongly, but hot water still dehydrates you faster at elevation. UV is about 29% stronger than at sea level, so bring sunscreen and drink more water than you normally would.
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Chocolate Pots is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. The water runs hot, so extra hydration is key. Cold air temperatures make a changing robe or warm layers essential.
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