Excelsior Geyser

Excelsior Geyser is located in the Midway Geyser Basin, the same thermal area that contains Grand Prismatic Spring. Its large crater discharges thousands of gallons of hot water per minute into the Firehole River.

Its violent 300-foot eruptions occurred in the 1880s, after which the geyser went largely dormant. Minor eruptive activity has occasionally returned, including brief episodes in the 1980s, but nothing comparable to its 19th-century eruptions.

The crater is the product of repeated violent hydrothermal explosions that fractured the surrounding rock over centuries. Its size is unusual even by Yellowstone standards and reflects the immense underground pressure that once powered its eruptions.

Yes, even though it rarely erupts, Excelsior continuously discharges large volumes of hot water as a runoff into the Firehole River. Visitors on the Midway Geyser Basin boardwalk can observe this outflow up close.