Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces

@ the top of Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces

Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces trail is one of the best way to experience Mammoth Hot Springs. The trail is a series of walkway and boardwalk loops. The boardwalk climbs 300 ft along marginally steep grades and wooded staircases.

Liberty Cap @ the bottom of the terraces

The boardwalk trail starts South of the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel which is about 1.5 miles round trip. The travertine terraces are not only limited at the top but can also be found at the bottom of the trail close to Liberty Cap.

These travertine terraces are formed by mineral laden hot water, limestone and carbon dioxide. The colors are from living bacteria and algae. Colors can change depending on temperatures and time of the year. Climbing up the boardwalk, you will see more white terraces. 

If in spring, the picture above would probably be a lot prettier with some blue pools present, but at the time were there in July, the terraces was almost dry, but nevertheless, the contrast of white and its surrounding still looks beautiful.

Middle Terraces

On the way to the top, you will see more multi-colored travertine terraces. Despite the terraces were already almost too dry, it still felt like walking in wonderland for us. 

The creative force in shaping these terraces is hot water. Aside from hot water, several ingredients such as limestone and rock fracture system, work together to come out with these formations. The source of water flowing out of these geothermal features is rain and snow. 

These terraces are thick layers of sedimentary limestone deposited millions of years ago by vast seas. 

with some skeleton trees

The travertines are dotted by these skeleton trees which lost their life to calcium deposits.

For a virtual tour of Mammoth Hot Springs, you may want to visit Yellowstone National Park Page at http://mms.nps.gov/yell/features/mammothtour/index.htm.

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