Norris Geyser Basin Loop

The Norris Geyser Basin Loop is a less traveled scenic hike in Yellowstone National Park. It shares the same trailhead start as Porcelain Geyser Basin so if you’re up for it, you can do 2 for 1!

We almost didn’t hike Norris Geyser Basin. After all we were exhausted after a full day of site seeing. But so I’m glad we did because this loop is different from everything else we did that day. There is such a variety of geysers and pools to see.

And the best part was it was way less crowded than the more popular attractions like Old Faithful! If you’re trying to see a number of attractions all in the same day, I would suggest doing this one smack in the middle of the day when everyone else is down in the Old Faithful area.

We came across a tip before we went to Yellowstone to start with Old Faithful and work your way up north through the sights. This proved to be absolutely invaluable because the crowds get pretty thick later in the day in the southern attractions!

The Norris Geyser Basin is a loop that takes you through so many sights, that I lost count. It’s a total of 4 miles long and you can combine it with the Porcelain Geyser Basin, (and additional 2.4 miles) which shares the same trailhead as Norris.

This trail is by no means the most scenic in Yellowstone. But like I mentioned it was super quiet. This makes the extra mileage in between sites worth it during peak tourist season!

One thing I loved about this Norris Geyser Basin area, was the different colors in the pools, ranging from aqua to deepest reds!

This geyser is called Green Dragon’s Spring. It has bright, pretty colors that reminded me of a Disney movie with a dragon’s cave – but for real!

I hope you enjoyed this ‘off the beaten path’ geyser tour. And we’ll see you soon for another one in Yellowstone! We do have several more adventures coming from the Yellowstone area.

But I might just take you to Glacier National Park next. We did 3 hikes there the past weekend, and it was more than spectacular!

Update: You can find each of our Yellowstone posts in my 10 Tips for Visiting Yellowstone National Park. I put together everything we learned into that post. All the places we visited in the park are linked so you can read about them individually!