One Singularly Sensational Geothermal Feature

Lone Star Geyser Trail

Yellowstone National Park
5-miles round trip, easy

Lone Star is a great big cone-shaped geyser situated a few miles southeast of wildly popular Old Faithful and the consequently wildly populated Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park.  The geyser's reliable eruption pattern and its secluded-yet-accessible location make it one of our favorite Yellowstone day-hike destinations.

The Firehole River.

The trail to hard-working Lone Star follows an old service road, passing through sun-dappled meadow and shady stands of lodgepole pine, meandering along the Firehole River, one of the park’s wonderfully-monikered water features.  It’s a remarkably flat two-and-a-half-mile walk from the trailhead near Kepler Cascades to Lone Star Basin: that makes it a remarkably flat five-mile round trip, does it not?

We’ve walked the trail several times, and when we’ve packed sufficient patience—along with tasty and diverting snacks—Lone Star has unfailingly delivered an impressive and photogenic geothermal show for all in attendance.  Happily, there are no benches, no boardwalks, no cordoned-off viewing areas at Lone Star Basin.  Upon arrival, we find a comfortable log or rock-with-a-view, kick back, pass the apples, crack open the Peanut Butter M and M’s, and wait for the show to begin.  While we wait, it also makes sense to check the trail register for information regarding recent eruptions.  We, in turn, will dutifully record activity that we observe. Before two of our Lone Star trips, we checked in at Old Faithful Visitors Center to glean estimated eruption times for the geyser: sometimes there is information available, sometimes not.

Lone Star Doing Its Geyser Thing.

With or without documentation from headquarters, Our Favorite Geyser erupts at three hour intervals, give or take, and serves up approximately thirty minutes of geothermal glory when it gets going.  After considerable huffing and puffing and spitting and spewing and bubbling and boiling, Lone Star reaches heights of thirty-five to forty feet during its primary eruption.  It passes through several stages of discharge, but when the Big One happens, we know it. 
  

At Lone Star Geyser Basin.

On the return journey, we inevitably encounter a procession of inquisitive outbound hikers.  They pepper us with questions, with variable intensity and persistence: How much further to the geyser?  What did you see?  What will we see?  When did you see it?  When will we see it?  Did you see any bears?  (This final interrogation is, in our experience, the most recurrent question on Yellowstone trails, including the culinary trail through the Canyon Lodge Cafeteria).  Polishing off the remaining Peanut Butter M and M’s and savoring the shimmering loveliness of the Firehole, we respond according to mood and whim, with varying degrees of helpfulness, complacency, or agitation-- but always with appreciation for a worthwhile walk in Wonderland.