Wyoming's Best Waterfalls and Hot Springs

Wyoming's waterfalls and geothermal springs are concentrated in Yellowstone, the Wind River Range, and the Big Horn Mountains.

Lower Yellowstone Falls (308 ft)
The most famous waterfall in Wyoming — a thundering 308-foot plunge into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The canyon walls below the falls are yellow, orange, and white rhyolite, stained by hydrothermal alteration — this coloring is the origin of the name "Yellowstone." The Artist Point and Lookout Point overlooks above the canyon give the definitive views. Uncle Tom's Trail descends 328 metal stairs to a platform near the base.

Upper Yellowstone Falls (109 ft)
Located a quarter-mile upstream from the Lower Falls, the Upper Falls is 109 feet and visible from the Brink of the Upper Falls trail — a short, steep descent to a platform at the canyon lip. The cascade above is framed by canyon walls of yellow rhyolite.

Mystic Falls (70 ft) and the Fairy Falls (197 ft)
Mystic Falls in Yellowstone's Biscuit Basin area is accessible via a 2.5-mile round trip — a cascade in a forested canyon away from the main geyser crowds. Fairy Falls in the Midway Geyser Basin area is 197 feet — the tallest waterfall in Yellowstone accessible by trail (4.5 miles round trip). Both are less crowded than the canyon waterfalls.

Grand Prismatic Spring
The world's third-largest hot spring (300 feet wide, 160 feet deep) and the most vivid — the spring's center is 189°F and deep blue; the rings of orange, yellow, and green are thermophilic bacteria and archaea living at different temperatures. Best viewed from the Grand Prismatic Spring Overlook on the Fairy Falls trail, which gives the aerial perspective.

Old Faithful Geyser
The world's most famous geyser — erupting approximately every 90 minutes to a height of 106–185 feet for 1.5–5 minutes. Old Faithful has erupted every 60–110 minutes without fail since records began in 1870. The surrounding Upper Geyser Basin contains 25% of the world's geysers within a 1-square-mile area.