Hot Springs At Sulphur Hills
Drag the handle to compare the two views. The orange dot marks the spring, in a frame about three quarters of a mile wide.
Out in the Yellowstone backcountry of Gallatin County, the Sulphur Hills hot springs are a cluster of vents that run far hotter than anything a person could sit in. The nearest town is West Yellowstone, more than twenty miles away. National Park Service land, and public access is listed as open.
A two-mile hike separates these springs from the nearest road, and the record does not say which road that is. Elevation is over eight thousand feet, so this is high, cold country. The average yearly temperature sits in the mid thirties. Snow piles up to around twelve feet over a typical year. The climate is moderately wet.
Threemile Campground is the closest camping the record names, about nineteen miles off. Winter shows as the best season on file, though that much snow means skis or snowshoes and a careful look at park winter rules. Water this hot will scald. Keep your distance from the vents and stay on firm ground. No fee shows on the record.
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 Springs At Sulphur Hills.
- Setting
- Hillside
- The spring sits on a steep slope that climbs to the northeast.
- Highest ground nearby
- 283 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the northeast
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, December 3, 2022. This spring's heat shows up from about 440 miles up. The brightest yellow marks the warmest ground, roughly 46°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 1½ times the US average of 65. It's higher than at 28% 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.
Overview Threemile Campground is located just three miles from the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park, and 50 miles from the full service gateway community of Cody, in northwestern Wyoming. The area is an ideal destination for a family getaway, with many opportunities for outdoor recreation. Hard-sided camp trailers and RVs are required.Recreation Great opportunities for hiking, fishing, scenic driving and wildlife viewing are available around the campground. The North Fork of the Sho...
At 8,078 feet, Hot Springs At Sulphur Hills 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 32% stronger here. Wear sunscreen even on overcast days and take breaks from the water to rehydrate.
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