Midway Geyser Basin is near Lower Geyser Basin on the main park road of Yellowstone National Park. It is one of many geyser basins within the park. It is located north of Old Faithful and Old Faithful Lodge. The entire Lower and Midway Geyser Basin covers 12 square miles including such geothermal points as Fountain Paint Pots. A driving tour can commence on Firehole Lake Drive which is a three mile road to Great Fountain Geyser and the Travertine Terrace. In Midway Geyser Basin visitors can see Excelsior Geyser. It is the largest feature of the basin and allows gallons of water to flow into Firehole River per minute.
What characterizes Midway is the mammoth sized hot springs. When the area was first discovered there was only Lower and Upper Geyser Basins, but Midway's features are separated and remote from these two areas, so it was renamed to include Midway.
Rudyard Kipling visited Yellowstone in 1889. During this time he called Midway Geyser Basin "Hells Half Acre.'' Since then it has been nick named this. Part of the reason for this name comes from the two major hot springs found within the basin. One is Grand Prismatic Spring. This hot spring has a stair like terrace appearance with 370 feet in diameter from one edge of the pool to the other. Excelsior Geyser is the other major feature of the basin. It used to erupt about 300 feet into the air during the early 1900's. Now it is a dormant geyser and more like a hot springs. In its heyday it used to have 4050 gallons of water per minute discharge from it.
Other springs like Turquoise and Indigo are also along the path for Midway Geyser Basin. Firehole River runs from Upper Geyser Basin to the Lower Geyser Basin along the walkway as well. Rabbit Creek has also been known to drain into the area, but much of the mud pots from the creek are unnamed. Caution is also required since the trails along Rabbit Creek are mostly unstable and not maintained.
Excelsior Geyser has a temperature of 199 degrees Fahrenheit. Its dimensions are 276 by 378 feet. It was one of the largest Geysers in the world at one time. Since the last major eruption was during the 1880's it has since lost this distinction. Since 1985, even the little eruptions have stopped.
Grand Prismatic Spring is known for its microorganisms which can turn the edge of the pool orange or green depending on the temperatures of the water. There is nothing like the rainbow of colors it displays anywhere else in Yellowstone.
Turquoise Pool will vary from 142 to 160 degrees F. It is 100 by 110 feet. This pool was named by Hayden Expedition in 1878 due to its milky white bottom that creates a gem like blue on the top of the water. You can also see minerals floating in the water that are opalescent and iridescent in appearance. Microorganisms can be found in this pool also.
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