While most people travel to Yellowstone just to see Old Faithful, it might have been the one “attraction” that we were somewhat dreading. There are SO MANY people in attendance for the geyser’s frequent and stunning eruptions.

You can watch the video for our time around Old Faithful HERE!

Don’t get me wrong, it’s completely worth it to stop by and watch Old Faithful erupt every 91-ish minutes, just be prepared to have a few hundred friends close by.

Here’s how we experienced it:

We left our hotel in Jackson, Wyoming right around 7am, and got the chance to see some beautiful wildlife on our way out and up to Yellowstone.

A mile or so after re-entering Yellowstone, we saw a truck parked off to the side and a small bear playing in the woods. We would have stopped, but we had a date with a geyser that we didn’t want to miss.

As we were driving, I was checking GeyserTimes.org to see the prior eruptions and forecast for the next one. This was a GREAT resource as we traveled around the park.

We arrived in the Yellowstone area just after 9am — directly in the window of the next show!! Even after we got our gear and walked over to the viewing area, it hadn’t gone off. What luck!!

The geyser was definitely spewing some steam so we knew it was close. We each found a spot that made sense and started waiting with the crowd.

Not too much longer and a MASSIVE stream of water was shooting up towards the sky. It ended up lasting 5-7ish minutes. Or at least that’s how long it felt.

Once the eruption ended we went up to Observation Point, a short hike with some elevation gain, to a spot where some folks can go to watch Old Faithful erupt. I was slightly disappointed with the view as there are a lot of trees in between you and the geyser, but I’m sure when it’s erupting it can be fun to watch!

We ended up hiking the loop through Observation Point and continued on to Solitary Geyser and then back to the multitude of boardwalks that you traverse in the Upper Geyser Basin.

With all of our walking around, we actually came up to the next WINDOW OF ERUPTION for Old Faithful!!! This time, we found a bench on the “back side” of the geyser, sat down, and waited (and snacked). The view was incredible and I would highly recommend trying to get outside of the main zone to experience this wonder! (And then go check out the Old Faithful Inn, because it’s incredible in there!!)

Happy Hiking!