Vermilion 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.
Vermilion Springs is a backcountry hot spring in Yellowstone National Park, Gallatin County, West Yellowstone being the nearest town some 23 miles off. The water comes out hot, right at the line where touching it stops being a good idea. No road runs close. You walk in a mile and a half from the nearest one, and the record does not name that road. Open to the public under the National Park Service. There is no photo of it on file.
Around 7,800 feet, high enough that the average year barely clears freezing. Twelve feet of snow falls in an ordinary winter, with a fair amount of rain on top of that. The approach is a hike from the closest road, and nothing on file says which road that is. All of it is National Park Service ground, designated national park.
On file, the best months run December through February, though the snow those months bring turns a mile-and-a-half walk into a different proposition than in summer, so plan for conditions. Threemile Campground, about 19 miles distant, is the nearest camping recorded. The reading is in scalding territory. Test nothing with bare skin. No water chemistry is on record and no fee is 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 Vermilion Springs.
- Setting
- Valley floor
- Gentle slopes rise on both sides.
- Highest ground nearby
- 149 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.
That's about 1½ times the US average of 65. It's higher than at 26% 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 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...
Vermilion Springs sits at 7,815 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 31% stronger than at sea level, so bring sunscreen and drink more water than you normally would.
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Vermilion Springs is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. The water runs hot, so extra hydration is key. Cold air temperatures make a changing robe or warm layers essential.
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