Sylvan 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.
Sylvan Springs is a group of hot springs in Yellowstone, a hike of about a mile off the Grand Loop Road. Near-boiling on record, and the 2007 water sample shows iron in the mix along with the usual sulfate and chloride. Gallatin County. West Yellowstone is the nearest town listed. Park Service land, open.
Off the Grand Loop Road it is 1.1 miles on foot. Elevation around 7,400 feet. Snow on record is lighter here than at many park features, a bit over ten feet, and precipitation is moderate. Annual average temperature mid thirties. Yellowstone National Park land, nothing further on the designation line.
Near-boiling. Do not get close to the water. Winter is listed as the best stretch, December through February, so plan on skis or wait for the road. Indian Creek Campground is the nearest camp on record, thirteen miles away. No fee on file. No photo on record either, so go in without expectations.
The USGS holds a site record for Sylvan Springs, with chemistry sampled in July 2007 that picked up iron alongside calcium, magnesium, sodium, sulfate and chloride.
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 Sylvan Springs.
- Setting
- Gentle slope
- The ground tilts gently up to the southwest.
- Highest ground nearby
- 82 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the southwest
A slice through the ground from northwest to southeast, 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 89% 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 Sylvan Springs 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...
Sylvan Springs 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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Sylvan Springs is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. The water is dangerously hot, so bring water shoes and test pools carefully. Cold air temperatures make a changing robe or warm layers essential.
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