Yellowstone Net Forums

Hello all,

My sisters and I will be in the Park very soon, and I am looking for some information. None of us are great hikers (older, bad knees, bad hips, etc.), but we do like to get around a little if we can.

I was wondering if I could get some information about the new Grand Prismatic overlook. How long and how difficult is the hike? The best measure for "difficult" that I can think of is that two of us hiked to Trout Lake a couple of years ago -- it was logged as an "easy" hike (other than the first little bit out of the parking lot), but we certainly didn't find it easy! It seemed like all of it was like the "first little bit out of the parking lot." We both made it to the lake, but I was the only one who went down to the lake. The hike around the lake (I only went part way) was what I classed as easy.

So, is the trail really steep? Are there any places to rest? And how long is it.

And the other question is, what is the best time of day to go (in other words, if there IS sun, what's the best time to have a good sun angle? Don't want to be staring into the sun and be unable to see the springs.

We aren't really planning to do this, but would like to know a bit about it in case we decide we'd like to. We spend most of our time looking for wildlife, but there are times we want to do some of the thermal features!

Thanks in advance for any help.

Very,very crowded and disapointing. I will use the time for wildlife or something else
Just my opinion
Mark

As a person with creaky joints(knees & hip) I remember it as not too bad,it seemed gradual with no steep inclines,I thought it did not get up to a high enough angle to get a really good pic and do not bother if it's cold as all you will see is steam that can obscure your view coming off the spring.
I did it on a twenty eight degree morning and was only able to see about one third of the spring

Thanks to you both. We will skip it.

I disagree and think if you want a good view of grand prismatic it is worth doing. It is a pretty flat hike until you get to the point where you go up to the overlook. It isn't very high up and is still a moderate climb but worth it. If you get there before 10 or after 5 it isn't as busy. It is always on my to do list for friends who have never been to Yellowstone. Would rather do the overlook then the boardwalk around grand prismatic. I am not sure how to get an image to show up on here but if you copy this link you can see my shot from the overlook.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlqD6yKnNAb ... hare_sheet

Hi Dorothy, Hope you have a great trip. As for hiking to Grand Prismatic, I would encourage you to do it if you like the thermal features. I'm not usually big into the thermal features, but this is my favorite, one I enjoy seeing over and over. It is truly an iconic Yellowstone view, and something that is unique to Yellowstone. The colors are magnificent and you get a much better view than at the base in Midway Geyser Basin. The hike is 1.1 miles each way I believe. The first 3/4 of the hike is truly easy--broad gravel trail and flat. The last section is uphill, but not nearly as steep as Trout Lake. If you feel like you can make it, I don't think you'll be disappointed!

It's a great way to spend some time out of the car, especially midday when it's more difficult to see wildlife--as long as it's not too warm. The flat part of the hike is in the sun.

--Bill

Thanks for the additional responses. That photo was fanatastic @utdan123. That is what I'v) always wanted to get. While we didn't get the hike in this time (and the weather would have been good for it, as it was cool with some rain at times) we may try it some other time. It doesn't sound too tough, and if we prepared well, we could probably make it.

I appreciate all the responses. We did have a great trip last week and I'll report on it as soon as I can. We saw a bison (well, a couple of bison) tree a bear!