Fountain Paint Pot Tours

Fountain Paint Pot is one of several mud pots found within Yellowstone National Park that bursts and pops as the mud thickens throughout summer. The surrounding Fountain Paint Pot area is known for its pools of thermophiles (heat-loving bacteria) that gather to form multihued puddles in the earth, as well as mini-geysers and fumaroles.

The Basics

The Fountain Paint Pot area is one of the most accessible part of Yellowstone National Park, and one where you can see all four types of thermal features found in Yellowstone—hot springs, mud pots, geysers, and fumaroles. Most tours of the Yellowstone Lower Loop include a walk along the Fountain Paint Pot boardwalk, as do winter tours to Old Faithful by snowmobile or snowcoach.

Things to Know Before You Go

The Fountain Paint Pot area is a must-visit for all first-time visitors to the national park.
Don’t forget to bring sun protection, as there’s not much shade in the Fountain Paint Pot area.
Plan to spend about 30 minutes touring the volcanic features of the area.

How to Get There

Fountain Paint Pot is accessed via a half-mile (0.80-kilometer) loop boardwalk known as the Fountain Paint Pot Nature Trail. The easy trail is right next to Grand Loop Road in the Lower Geyser Basin area of the park. Plan to visit early in the morning to enjoy the scenery before the crowds pick up.

When to Get There

Fountain Paint Pot changes with the seasons. It’s at its most fluid and bubbly in the spring as snowmelt provides plenty of water to the pools. By the end of summer and into early autumn, the mud starts to thicken and dry.

Clepsydra Geyser

Not all geysers are as reliable as this one, situated in the Fountain Paint Pot area. In Ancient Greece, a clepsydra was a type of water clock, and Clepsydra Geyser erupts like clockwork every three minutes. After an earthquake in 1959, the geyser now erupts almost continuously, making it a star in Yellowstone’s Lower Geyser Basin.

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA

1 Tours and Activities to Experience Fountain Paint Pot

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Day Trips

Private Yellowstone Geology Tour with Wildlife, Hiking, and Geysers and Lunch

This 1/2 day tour focuses on the unique geysers, wildlife, mud pots, hot springs, and other hydrothermal features of Yellowstone National Park. All of our tours are led by an experienced, knowledgeable, and local guide that has an education in biology, ecology, or natural science. We will explore the most thermally active areas of Yellowstone to see erupting geysers, colorful hot springs, bubbling mud pots, search for rare wildlife along the way! We will cap the day with a mild hike to a secluded alpine lake. On this tour we are guaranteed to check off big items and more off of your Yellowstone bucket list such as: The Grand Prismatic Hot Spring which is the largest and most beautiful hot spring in North America, Old Faithful, Fountain Paint Pots, Bison Herds, and rare wildlife. Along the way your guide will be with you to tell your group about the parks biology, geology, history, and answer all of your questions! We will stop for a picnic lunch at a scenic location along the way!

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