Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Midway Geyser Basin Loop Walk**
NOTE: This route is wheelchair accessible but has a steep ramp.
The first feature you encounter on the walkway is
Excelsior Geyser.
he tremendous crater
and prodigious overflow give you some idea what a stupendous geyser this must have been
when active. The crater (sometimes called The Caldron in the park's early days) measures over
250 by 300 feet (75 by 90 m). The constant steaming overflow has been measured at about
4,000 gallons (15,000 L) per minute. For comparison, Old Faithful Geyser takes nearly two
months to throw out as much water as Excelsior's crater discharges in one day. The mustard
yellow, orange, and brown runoff over the side of Excelsior's crater into the Firehole is a per-
ennial favorite of photographers.
Excelsior Geyser
(F. J. Haynes photo, 1888)
Some early visitors called this geyser Hell's Half Acre, but Park Superintendent Norris ap-
plied that name to the whole geyser basin in 1881 and changed the geyser's name to Excelsi-
or, meaning “ever higher” in Latin. When Excelsior erupted, enormous volumes of rock were
thrown everywhere, and after an eruption, the Firehole River would have three times its nor-
mal volume. But these 300-foot (90 m) eruptions themselves may have destroyed the geyser.
Whatever the reason, there's been only rare, minor activity during the last century.
Notice the layers and layers of laminated sinter on the crater's walls. Nearby Grand Pris-
matic Spring may have been overflowing and depositing sinter downslope for many centuries
before Excelsior blew out its crater.
