Mammoth Hot Springs: Walking Tour of historic Fort Yellowstone and the Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces.
Visited Friday, July 18, 2014; reviewed December 7, 2014. See this review on TripAdvisor or the hike details on EveryTrail.
My wife and I made an overnight stop in Mammoth as part of our July 2014 trip to Grand Teton and Yellowstone. We wanted to have a little more time to explore the area as we only had a couple hours in Mammoth during our 2011 trip and it was a bit cold that day. We checked into our cabin at Mammoth Lodge at 3:00 PM and were quickly out the door to look around.
We made a quick stop in the Visitor Center, which during our visit was in a temporary structure as the permanent building was undergoing major renovations then walked around the historic military post area. We saw two bull snakes along the road near the chapel; one was a 6-footer! There are plenty of Unita ground squirrels in the area as well, so no wonder the snake got so big! We looped around behind the houses that used to make up the officers quarters. Part of the area was roped-off due to all the Elk lounging in the area. Just scores of cows and calves hanging out.
We decided to take advantage of the long daylight hours and head up to the hot springs for a look around. Since we had only brought our cameras with us we made a quick stop at the General Store for something to drink as it was still pretty warm and the terraces are completely exposed (it was pleasant walking through Old Fort Yellowstone with all the shade trees, but the hot springs will be a completely different story).
We walked the boardwalks through the terraces this back in 2011, but it was rather chilly that day, so we rushed a bit. While there were not a lot of folks around the fort (well, except around the elk) the hot springs were very crowded, much more so than our previous visit (like I said, it was much cooler last time). We started at the lower end with Liberty Cap and Palette Spring but the boardwalk was jammed so we bypassed this area for the time being and headed up to the upper terrace. There were still plenty of other folks here as well, but there was more room to maneuver about.
Overall, it seemed that the hot springs were not as active as they were in 2011. A couple of them seemed rater dry compared to what I remember from the last trip. I think Jupiter Terrace in particular seemed to be almost dormant. But other areas were just spectacular. Mound Terrace and Canary Springs were probably the most colorful along the upper boardwalks. The colors and textures of Canary Spring remind me of a lemon meringue pie, the meringue part especially (and I don’t even like lemon meringue pie). The vantage point at the end of the boardwalk overlooking Canary Springs is a great place for trying to capture the colors and contours of the spring; I played around there for a while just enjoying the views and trying to capture some of the details of the springs.
But even the “dead” areas of the terrace have their interesting point and even beauty. Most of the Main Terrace is dry with a constant white surface that is a stark contrast to the orange and yellow of the active springs. The grey skeletons of the dead trees that punctuate the white plain of the upper terrace give it a bit of a macabre aspect. There are just so many angles and perspectives to consider when exploring just about anywhere in Yellowstone.
We worked our way back down the terraces, passing below Cleopatra Terrace and finally Minerva Terrace and finally back down to Palette Spring. The crowd had subsided a bit, but there were still a lot of folks in this area. It is one of the prettiest areas so we had to at least get a quick peek before moving on. I was glad we bought the water before we visited the terraces as it was pretty warm and the sun was shining brightly, so we dried out quickly!
We completed the loop and ended up back at our cabin, having had covered about 3.5 miles to and from the terraces and along the boardwalks, plus the distance through the old fort area in about 2 hours. But we had a pretty good tour of the area between the old fort area and the terraces. Mammoth is a very pretty area and provides an interesting contrast to the more dynamic thermal areas and large, colorful pools in the Upper and Midway Geyser Basins. Coupled with the historical aspects of the old fort, Mammoth makes for a nice stop and does not take that long to tour. It is a nice addition to a visit to Yellowstone.
My wife and I made an overnight stop in Mammoth as part of our July 2014 trip to Grand Teton and Yellowstone. We wanted to have a little more time to explore the area as we only had a couple hours in Mammoth during our 2011 trip and it was a bit cold that day. We checked into our cabin at Mammoth Lodge at 3:00 PM and were quickly out the door to look around.
We made a quick stop in the Visitor Center, which during our visit was in a temporary structure as the permanent building was undergoing major renovations then walked around the historic military post area. We saw two bull snakes along the road near the chapel; one was a 6-footer! There are plenty of Unita ground squirrels in the area as well, so no wonder the snake got so big! We looped around behind the houses that used to make up the officers quarters. Part of the area was roped-off due to all the Elk lounging in the area. Just scores of cows and calves hanging out.
We decided to take advantage of the long daylight hours and head up to the hot springs for a look around. Since we had only brought our cameras with us we made a quick stop at the General Store for something to drink as it was still pretty warm and the terraces are completely exposed (it was pleasant walking through Old Fort Yellowstone with all the shade trees, but the hot springs will be a completely different story).
We walked the boardwalks through the terraces this back in 2011, but it was rather chilly that day, so we rushed a bit. While there were not a lot of folks around the fort (well, except around the elk) the hot springs were very crowded, much more so than our previous visit (like I said, it was much cooler last time). We started at the lower end with Liberty Cap and Palette Spring but the boardwalk was jammed so we bypassed this area for the time being and headed up to the upper terrace. There were still plenty of other folks here as well, but there was more room to maneuver about.
Overall, it seemed that the hot springs were not as active as they were in 2011. A couple of them seemed rater dry compared to what I remember from the last trip. I think Jupiter Terrace in particular seemed to be almost dormant. But other areas were just spectacular. Mound Terrace and Canary Springs were probably the most colorful along the upper boardwalks. The colors and textures of Canary Spring remind me of a lemon meringue pie, the meringue part especially (and I don’t even like lemon meringue pie). The vantage point at the end of the boardwalk overlooking Canary Springs is a great place for trying to capture the colors and contours of the spring; I played around there for a while just enjoying the views and trying to capture some of the details of the springs.
But even the “dead” areas of the terrace have their interesting point and even beauty. Most of the Main Terrace is dry with a constant white surface that is a stark contrast to the orange and yellow of the active springs. The grey skeletons of the dead trees that punctuate the white plain of the upper terrace give it a bit of a macabre aspect. There are just so many angles and perspectives to consider when exploring just about anywhere in Yellowstone.
We worked our way back down the terraces, passing below Cleopatra Terrace and finally Minerva Terrace and finally back down to Palette Spring. The crowd had subsided a bit, but there were still a lot of folks in this area. It is one of the prettiest areas so we had to at least get a quick peek before moving on. I was glad we bought the water before we visited the terraces as it was pretty warm and the sun was shining brightly, so we dried out quickly!
We completed the loop and ended up back at our cabin, having had covered about 3.5 miles to and from the terraces and along the boardwalks, plus the distance through the old fort area in about 2 hours. But we had a pretty good tour of the area between the old fort area and the terraces. Mammoth is a very pretty area and provides an interesting contrast to the more dynamic thermal areas and large, colorful pools in the Upper and Midway Geyser Basins. Coupled with the historical aspects of the old fort, Mammoth makes for a nice stop and does not take that long to tour. It is a nice addition to a visit to Yellowstone.