Gas Vent
Drag the handle to compare the two views. The orange dot marks the spring, in a frame about three quarters of a mile wide.
Gas Vent, the third point on the record by that name, is a backcountry point in Yellowstone, more than six miles off the Norris-Canyon Road, Gallatin County, Wyoming. Labeled hot, no measured temperature. No water sample, no photo either. Something like nine miles lies between it and West Yellowstone, the nearest town on file. National Park Service land with open public access, though getting there means a backcountry trip.
Backcountry the whole way. The nearest road, Norris-Canyon, sits 6.5 miles off, and nothing anywhere says how a person would cover that distance. Elevation runs around 8,200 feet. Snowfall comes in near a hundred and forty five inches a year, with the yearly average temperature down in the low thirties. This is Park Service land.
There is no best-months entry on the record, and the snow total makes winter a poor bet. The park's backcountry rules apply. Indian Creek Campground is about twenty miles away, the closest on file. Temperature is unmeasured, so treat the vent as dangerous until proven otherwise, and do not plan a soak around it.
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 Gas Vent.
- Setting
- Open ground
- Flat, open ground all around.
- Highest ground nearby
- 56 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the west
A slice through the ground from southwest to northeast, about 0.6 miles end to end.
Elevation data: USGS 3D Elevation Program. Aerial imagery: USGS The National Map. Public domain.
Landsat's thermal camera passed over on a clear winter day, February 21, 2020. This spring's heat shows up from about 440 miles up. The brightest yellow marks the warmest ground, roughly 16°F warmer than the land around it.
Drag to compare. The view is about 2½ miles across, and each thermal pixel covers roughly 300 feet of ground, so individual pools blur into one warm patch.
Thermal: Landsat 8/9 surface temperature, USGS (public domain), via Microsoft Planetary Computer. Aerial: USGS The National Map. More springs seen from space.
That's about twice the US average of 65. It's higher than at 77% 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.
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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...
At 8,205 feet, Gas Vent is in high-altitude territory where the air is noticeably thinner. Soaking in hot water accelerates dehydration and can amplify altitude effects like headache and fatigue. UV radiation is roughly 33% stronger here. Wear sunscreen even on overcast days and take breaks from the water to rehydrate.
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Gas Vent requires a hike to reach, so pack light but prepared. Cold air temperatures make a changing robe or warm layers essential.
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