Walking the Biscuit Basin Interpretive Trail, Yellowstone, WY

Biscuit Basin is a beautiful area right off the main road to Old Faithful. It features some of the best thermal areas in the whole park and seems to be overlooked and overshadowed due to its proximity to Old Faithful. Stop by if you’ve got a bit of time to kill in your day, and maybe tack on the hike to Mystic Falls! This is a short walking trail good for all ages and is wheelchair accessible, thanks to boardwalks in the thermal area. Beta time!

Quick Beta

• Mileage: 0.7 miles
• Elevation gain: 25 ft.
• Highest Point: ~7,300 ft.
• Best time to visit: Late May through mid-October
• Total hiking time: 15-20 minutes.
• Kid-friendly: Yes.
• Dog-friendly: Yes, must be on a leash.
• Gear I brought: Since I was doing Mystic Falls right after, I brought my full hiking pack. For this, you may just want a camera, a water bottle, and sun protection!

The hike

You’ll start your little hike by crossing a big bridge over the Firehole River. The river is huge and runs through a lot of the park! It’s way too gorgeous. From here, decide if you want to head left or right. There’s no right way – you’ll get to see it all in a petty short amount of time!

Need to Know

Thermal areas are fragile.

Never, for any reason, step off of the boardwalk and onto the fragile thermal area.

You could fall through the thin crust above the pools and suffer serious burns or death. These areas have boardwalks on them for a reason. Stay on them and enjoy the pools from a distance!

Since these thermal areas are barren, winds can suddenly pick up in any direction. Keep a good hold of your hat! In other areas, we saw hats blown off and fall into thermal pools and geysers or onto thermal areas. Never retrieve them. Rangers have special tools that allow them to retrieve hats or other foreign objects from the pools.

Justin’s Suggestion

Add this to your bucket list! The best way to do this is to add-on Mystic Falls to your itinerary and knock it all out in one trip. It’s a great way to see the diversity of Yellowstone in a few hours. Going from fragile thermal areas to a roaring waterfall and an incredible overlook is a sight to be seen – and it’s best sean in person!

Take A Hike!

Do it! As stated before, this area is overshadowed by the draw of Old Faithful – hit it while you can, it’s worth it! Since a lot of people opt for the small walk on Biscuit Basin, there’s a decent amount of turnover in the parking lot. Sooner or later, something will appear!

Make sure you check out my hikes in the Canyons region – the Brink of Upper Falls and Brink of Lower Falls are two beautiful trails! And, for all of my Yellowstone blogs, click here!

See you on the next one!

Parting shot:

Next blog: Another geyser basin? Why not!?