Josephs Coat Springs
Drag the handle to compare the two views. The orange dot marks the spring, in a frame about three quarters of a mile wide.
Josephs Coat Springs lie close to seven miles deep in Yellowstone's backcountry, Gallatin County, and what comes up is close to boiling. They sit on Park Service ground; access is open. The nearest town on the record is West Yellowstone, about twenty miles away. A destination for anyone wanting a look at a remote thermal area, and no place to bathe.
Nearest road on file: the Grand Loop Road, with the springs roughly seven miles past it. The elevation is a touch over eight thousand feet. The yearly mean temperature is a degree above freezing and snowfall is over eleven feet. Moderate precipitation. The name on file is plural. No facilities appear on the record.
Winter months show as best on the record. Backcountry winter travel in the park has its own rules, so confirm with the park ahead of time. Tower Fall Campground, close to eleven miles away, is what the record gives for camping. The water will scald. The record carries no fee.
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 Josephs Coat Springs.
- Setting
- Canyon floor
- Steep ground climbs away on both sides of the spring.
- Highest ground nearby
- 371 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.
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 27°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 81% 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 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 8,031 feet, Josephs Coat Springs 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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