Unnamed Thermal Spring
Somewhere around five hundred feet off the Grand Loop Road, in the Gallatin County corner of Yellowstone, sits an unnamed thermal point. Near boiling. A USGS number is attached to the spot and a photo exists, but nobody wrote down what the feature looks like or gave it a name. West Yellowstone is the town listed as nearest. Park Service land, open.
Five hundred and sixteen feet from the Grand Loop Road by the record, a short walk. Elevation around 7,200 feet. Snowfall on record near twelve feet, annual average in the mid thirties, moderate precipitation. National park land. The nearest campground on record is across the state line in Idaho. Nothing is on file about a path.
Near-boiling, so keep a wide margin. Winter is what the record lists as best, which at the Grand Loop Road means confirming it is open to wheeled traffic. Big Springs group area in Island Park is the camp on record, twenty-two miles out. No fee listed.
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 this 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.
- Setting
- Open ground
- Flat, open ground all around.
- Highest ground nearby
- 15 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the east
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.
That's about twice the US average of 65. It's higher than at 91% 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 Big Springs Group Area is located 22 miles south of West Yellowstone, Montana in beautiful Island Park, Idaho at an approximate elevation of 6,300 feet. Visitors love Island Park for its world-class fishing and outstanding scenery and wildlife viewing opportunities.Recreation Big Springs is the headwaters of Henry's Fork and is one of the largest springs in the country. Henry's Fork is considered one of the best fly-fishing streams in the nation. Fishermen cast for rainbow and brook...
this spring sits at 7,214 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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this spring 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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