Hot Spring
Drag the handle to compare the two views. The orange dot marks the spring, in a frame about three quarters of a mile wide.
The record gives this one nothing but the name Hot Spring. It is a backcountry thermal point in Gallatin County, Wyoming, roughly eight and a half miles out from Northeast Entrance Road inside Yellowstone National Park. Hot, says the label, with no measurement behind it. It has never been sampled, and there is no photo. Twenty-four miles away sits West Yellowstone, the nearest town listed. National Park Service ground with public access.
Eight and a half miles or so out from the Northeast Entrance Road, and nobody wrote down the route. High ground, about 8,300 feet. The winters run cold and bury the place under something like a hundred and thirty-six inches of snow. Ownership falls to the National Park Service, out in the Yellowstone backcountry.
No best months on the record. Snow this deep and a walk this long mean the park's backcountry season is the thing to check first. Tower Fall Campground is the nearest camping on file, a little under twelve miles. Temperature is unmeasured, so do not assume it is soakable, and keep your distance from the water.
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 Hot Spring.
- Setting
- Gentle slope
- The ground tilts gently up to the south.
- Highest ground nearby
- 73 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the south
A slice through the ground from west to east, 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, December 3, 2022. This spring's heat shows up from about 440 miles up. The brightest yellow marks the warmest ground, roughly 20°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 72% 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 Tower Fall Campground—elevation 6,600 feet (2012 m)—is on the north side of the steep, winding, road to Dunraven Pass. The campground is near the Tower General Store and Tower Fall. The Lamar Valley, with spectacular wildlife viewing opportunities, is nearby as are several Day Hikes in the Tower and Northeast Area. Roosevelt Lodge, a short drive from the campground, offers dining and horseback riding. For reservations at the campgrounds managed by Yellowstone National Park Lodges (F...
At 8,318 feet, Hot Spring 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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Hot Spring 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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