Yellowstone National Park is big – larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined. If you are going to see it, you need a plan. We are going to be in the area for a month so we don’t need to rush, but still need to pick what is essential to visit. So how do we begin? We begin at the top. Literally the top, as in, the north west corner of the park.
As you enter the park from Montana the Roosevelt Arch looms high above to greet visitors. Named for Theodore Roosevelt, the Roosevelt Arch was the first entrance to the park.
Mammoth Hot Springs is a large complex of hot springs on a hill of travertine in Yellowstone. It was created over thousands of years as hot water from the spring cooled and deposited calcium carbonate (over two tons flow into Mammoth each day in a solution). Because of the huge amount of geothermal vents, travertine flourishes. Algae living in the warm pools have tinted the travertine shades of brown, orange, red, and green.
The different shapes and colors makes you think you are on a different planet or somewhere in the Arctic with icicles on every surface. It is amazing to see this and know that hot water from the ground and algae have combined to create this wonderful and strange terrain.
One thought on “Yellowstone – Mammoth Hot Springs”
beautiful it is on our future visit list