Artist Paint Pots

Artist Paint Pots is a small but lovely thermal area just south of Norris Junction. A one-mile round trip trail takes visitors to colorful hot springs, two large mudpots, and through a section of forest burned in 1988. Adjacent to this area are three other off-trail, backcountry thermal areas: Sylvan Springs, Gibbon Hill Geyser Basin, and Geyser Creek Thermal area. These areas are fragile, dangerous, and difficult to get to; travel without knowledgeable personnel is discouraged.

Gibbon Falls

This 84-foot (26-meter) waterfall tumbles over remnants of the Yellowstone Caldera rim. The rock wall on the opposite side of the road from the waterfall is the inner rim of the caldera.

Monument Geyser Basin

This small, nearly dormant basin lies at the top of a very steep one-mile trail. Thermos-bottle shaped geyser cones are remnants of a much more active time.

Madison River

The Madison River is formed at the junction of the Gibbon and Firehole rivers, hence Madison Junction. The Madison joins the Jefferson and the Gallatin rivers at Three Forks, Montana, to form the Missouri River. The Madison is a blue-ribbon fly fishing stream with healthy stocks of brown and rainbow trout and mountain whitefish.

Terrace Springs

The small thermal area just north of Madison Junction. This area provides the visitor with a short boardwalk tour of hot springs.

Firehole River

The Firehole River starts south of Old Faithful, runs through the thermal areas northward to join the Gibbon and form the Madison River. The Firehole is world famous among anglers for its pristine beauty and healthy brown, brook, and rainbow trout.

Firehole Canyon Drive and Firehole Falls

Firehole Canyon Drive, a side road, follows the Firehole River upstream from Madison Junction to just above Firehole Falls. The drive takes sightseers past 800-foot thick lava flows. Firehole Falls is a 40-foot waterfall. An unstaffed swimming area here is very popular in the warmest of the summer season. Cliff diving is illegal.

National Park Mountain

The mountain is actually part of the lava flows that encircle the Madison Junction area. Near this site, in 1870, the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition is said to have camped and discussed the future of the region they were exploring. Legend has it that this was where the idea of the national park was discussed. It should be noted that there is no evidence of the campfire conversation ever taking place, and there is certainly no evidence to show that the idea of a national park was discussed.