Directions to Trailhead: To get to the trailhead to hike at the Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park you are going to head to the Norris Junction within Yellowstone National Park. Norris Junction is located 21 miles south of Mammoth Hot Springs, or 12 miles west of Canyon Village, or 14 miles north of Madison. At Norris Junction there are signs directing you to the Norris Geyser Basin. There is ample parking available at the Norris Geyser Basin. This is a very popular hiking spot and you are likely to see other Yellowstone National Park visitors while hiking at the Norris Geyser Basin. Click Here for an interactive map of Yellowstone National Park to locate Norris Junction. There is an entrance fee for Yellowstone National Park, but no permit is required to hike in the Norris Geyser Basin. Make sure to stay on the boardwalk and designated hiking trails, and do not touch any hydrothermal features.

The Black Basin Trail (Blue Line Below) in Yellowstone National Park's Norris Geyser basin is located in a forest setting. The black basin trail contains numerous geysers and hot springs tucked among the trees. From the Norris Geyser Basin Museum and Bookstore, the first thermal feature reached heading down the northeast side of the loop is Emerald Spring. Emerald Spring is a 27 foot deep, green colored, pool of water which usually stays a few degrees below boiling. The bubbles you see are caused by carbon dioxide, steam, and other gasses. The water is about as acidic as tomato juice. The green color is due to the combination of the blue of the deep water and the yellow of sulfur that lines the pool’s walls. Emerald has been known to act as a geyser in the past sometimes reaching as much as 80 feet tall but this hasn't been seen since the early 1930s.

At Cistern Spring turn left and continue on the boardwalk. You will pass other hydrothermal features like Black Pit Spring, Echinus Geyser, Arch Steam Vent, Mystic Spring, Puff ‘n Stuff Geyser, Black Hermit Caldron, Green Dragon Spring, Blue Mud Steam Vent, Yellow Funnel Spring, Porkchop Geyser, Pearl Geyser, and Vixen Geyser. You can continue on the hiking trail and see Palpitaor Spring, Fearless Geyser, and Minute Geyser. The last labeled geyser on the loop is Minute Geyser. For the first half of the 20th century, Minute Geyser was an extremely popular geyser to visit because, it literally erupted every minute. This all changed when tourists threw rocks into the geyser’s main hole, clogging the artery and forever changing the geyser’s eruptions. The once-a-minute eruptions, sometimes as high as 50 feet, have now been replaced with unpredictable and less dramatic eruptions from a smaller vent. When hiking at the Norris Geyser basin remember that geysers are one of rarest features on earth, so please avoid creating another Minute Geyser and do not throw anything into any of Yellowstone’s geysers.
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The boardwalk passes Constant Geyser, Whirligig Geyser, and Pinwheel Geyser before looping back toward Ledge Geyser in a counter-clockwise direction. The last major hydrothermal feature is Crackling Lake, an emerald green pond of boiling water. Due to the ever-shifting makeup of Norris Geyser Basin, there are numerous unnamed but not unimpressive features along the boardwalk.

The Norris Geyser Basin offers great diversity in thermal features largely because it is at the junction of several disturbances in the earth's crust. A major fault (rock fracture) runs south from the Mammoth Hot Springs area toward Norris. This fault crosses another fault extending eastward from Hebgen Lake to Norris. Both of these breaks in the earth's surface intersect with fractures radiating from the great caldera that dominates central Yellowstone. Water from rain and snowfall percolates downward through cracks and fissures and becomes heated, rising to the surface again as a hot spring, geyser, mud pot, or steam vent. At Norris, a rare combination of ingredients creates a landscape unique on this planet.

Bottom-line is the Norris Geyser Basin hike is a great hiking location in Yellowstone National Park!
Rating: Black Basin Trail: Elevation Gain: < 100 ft. (Easy), Distance: 1.5 Miles Roundtrip (Easy); Porcelain Basin Trail: Elevation Gain: < 100 ft. (Easy), Distance: 1 Mile Roundtrip (Easy)
Time to Complete Hike: 1 - 2 hours.
MORE TRAIL WRITE-UPS ON YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
View Norris Geyser Basin in a larger map
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