Mammoth Hot Springs

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Meandering Ridge. Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. September 2024.
Nikon Z8ย withย Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4 Sย at 64 mm, 1/60 sec, f/9.5, ISO 64.

After spending most of the day photographing in the Paradise Valley, Montana, I found myself at the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park. It was late in the afternoon and Yellowstone is a massive park, but I knew that Mammoth Hot Springs was only a few miles from this entrance. It was going to be a short visit, but I went for it.

Yellowstone is a wonderful place. It would be worth visiting for the landscapes alone, or the wildlife alone, or the geothermal features alone. But, since it has all three, what’s not to like?

Oh, yeah. The tourists.

Well, since I clearly was one, I can’t complain about that. There were plenty of people about, but since it was not the weekend, I am sure it was better than it could have been. I also doubt that the northern edge of the park is as busy as the other areas, either. Regardless, I didn’t feel that my photography was hindered in any way.

There is a nice network of wooden boardwalks at Mammoth Hot Springs, which makes getting tighter views pretty easy. Something I find remarkable is just how much variety there is in such a constrained area. I selected the pictures for this post with that in mind.

Escarpment. Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. September 2024.
Nikon Z8ย withย Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4 Sย at 66 mm, 1/30 sec, f/9.5, ISO 64.

Looking at these features reminds me of the terraces you find when visiting a living cave, like Kartchner Caverns in Arizona.

Wrong Pond. Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. September 2024.
Nikon Z8ย withย Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4 Sย at 37 mm, 1/90 sec, f/9.5, ISO 64.

In general, the wet features tended to be more attractive than those that had gone dry, but this almost-dry area was still very interesting:

Microterraces. Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. September 2024.
Nikon Z8ย withย Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4 Sย at 51 mm, 1/750 sec, f/9.5, ISO 500.

This next image really looks like something you would find underground, with mineral deposits pouring over the terraces:

Mammoth Sundae. Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. September 2024.
Nikon Z8ย withย Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4 Sย at 115 mm, 1/125 sec, f/9.5, ISO 500.

This next image shows the contrast between areas that are still active (by which I mean wet) and those where the water no longer runs over them:

Calcified. Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. September 2024.
Nikon Z8ย withย Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4 Sย at 120 mm, 1/180 sec, f/9.5, ISO 500.

Trees die long before they get covered by the accumulating mineral depositsโ€”they pull all those minerals up into their trunks and slowly solidifyโ€”which doesn’t sound like a good way to go:

Petrified. Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. September 2024.
Nikon Z8ย withย Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4 Sย at 95 mm, 1/180 sec, f/9.5, ISO 500.

There are so many little scenes here that it would easily be worth spending an entire day where I only spent an hour. That would also give the opportunity to have light from different directions, too.

This was a bit of a whirlwind post about a whirlwind visit, but I’m a little short on time today (as I write this). I will tell you why in a couple weeks!

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9 responses to “Mammoth Hot Springs”

  1. All so intriguing Jim and so good to be unable to know of all the dimensions. Huge achievement in just an hour!

    • Thank you, Charlie! It definitely deserves a lot more time that I had to give it. For you it would be a long, but worthwhile, trip.

    • Thank you, Lucy! It is definitely interesting and unlike anything I expect you will find up in New England. (Of course, there are a lot of things you will find in New England that you are definitely NOT going to find in Yellowstone, too!)

  2. Really like Mammoth Sundae: a great richness of texture and shape.

    Recently watched an online presentation by someone who visits Yellowstone in winter. He, too, emphasised the landscapes, animal life, and geothermal aspects. You would love it, I suspect, incl. the mode of transport in the snow: a minibus with skis (front) and tracks (rear)!

    • Thank you, Rob!

      A winter trip to Yellowstone has been a long-time bucket-list item. I know that the wildlife tend to congregate around the geothermal sites because they are warm, so you sort of get a two-for-one bonus! It can be brutally cold there in the winter, though, so a nice warm vehicle it appealing! I think the thing that I want to see more than anything, though, is wolves. A close second would be hearing them!

      If you would like to go to Yellowstone sometime (in less severe weather than the dead of winter) just let me know! There are non-stop flights from London to Denver and I can pick you up and have you there in 8 or 9 hours. It’s an open invitation.

      • That is so very kind of you. I have only been to the US once and that was about 30 years ago, and natural wonders were far from being any kind of focus. Idea safely logged.

        • It’s an open invitation. Just give me a little warning when the time comes and we’ll make it happen! I know how nice it is to have a local on hand to deal with unfamiliar details in a foreign country.