Surprise Pool 🌋 Quick stop at a steaming hot spring in Yellowstone National Park! 🌋 Wyoming travel blog

Hi there!

 

As it goes in Yellowstone National Park, there are many thermal pools to see!

Some are smaller, and some are bigger.

The Surprise Pool in Yellowstone can be a quick stop to see a thermal pool with a small stream of water that runs from it.

 

Watch the Surprise Pool video on youtube!

 

 

Driving the Firehole Lake Drive

You will find the Surprise Pool along the Firehole Lake Drive.

This is an easy stop to make as you are driving along Firehole Lake Drive.

You’ll come across it as you’re driving.

You’ll see a short boardwalk to the Surprise Pool overlook along the side of the road.

 

 

And, when you see a boardwalk near thermal pools in Yellowstone… stay on the boardwalk! Thermal areas can be HOT and dangerous.

 

 

Surprise Pool in the 50s

 

Weather in Yellowstone can make a difference in how the Surprise Pool looks when you see it!

You notice a lot of steam coming off of the Surprise Pool in these pictures. The air temperature was on the cooler side.

For reference, my visit to the Surprise Pool was in early October 2021 around 12pm. The outside temperature was in the 50s F at that time.

 

 

 

More below about a quick stop to see the Surprise Pool!

 

 

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Now…

A quick stop to see Surprise Pool

There is a stretch of road along the western side of the Yellowstone Grand Loop Road that has a number of popular thermal basins.

And it’s at the northern end of this section of road that you’ll find the Surprise Pool.

So if you’re starting your day trip to Yellowstone from West Yellowstone MT and making your way to the Old Faithful geyser overlook or Grand Prismatic Spring overlook, then the Surprise Pool can be along the way.

 

Explore the map.

 

You’ll see a sign for the Firehole Lake Drive, and it will be a turn off of the main road.

 

 

You’ll then drive the one-way road to see the thermal areas along Firehole Lake Drive.

First, after about 1-2 minutes of driving along the road, you’ll see your first thermal pool.

As far as I can tell, this seems to be an unnamed thermal pool. But it had a vibrant color to it with the sun shining on it.

 

 

You can make a stop here… or admire it from your car as you keep on driving!

Then, after another 1-2 minutes, you will see a small parking area along the side of the road.

This where you will find the Firehole Spring. This is another colorful thermal pool.

 

 

Once again you can make a stop here… or you can keep driving.

Then you will drive further along for less than a minute and you will see another small parking area along the side of the road.

And this will be where you will find the Surprise Pool overlook!

So this is maybe 5 minutes from actually starting the drive onto Firehole Lake Drive.

 

 

And then you can take a walk to Surprise Pool for a closer look at this thermal pool along Firehole Lake Drive!

 

 

Continuing on the drive, next you can make a stop at the Great Fountain Geyser and White Dome Geyser!

 

And that’s a bit about a stop to see a thermal pool along Firehole Lake Drive!

 

Plan more of your trip to Yellowstone:

• How to spend one day in Yellowstone
• Grand Teton to Yellowstone
• One day in Grand Teton
• Driving through Grand Teton

 

HAPPY SEEING THE SURPRISE POOL!