Old Faithful, Natural geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, United States.
Old Faithful is a geyser in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming that shoots superheated water and steam up to 180 feet (55 meters) into the air. The eruptions occur roughly every 90 minutes and last between one and a half and five minutes.
The Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition documented and named this geyser in 1870 as the first in the park. Its fame helped make Yellowstone the first national park in the world in 1872.
The name comes from 1870 and refers to the reliable eruptions that have drawn visitors for over 150 years. People gather on wooden benches around the geyser and wait together for the next natural show.
Predictions for the next eruption are available at the Education Center and on the national park mobile app. The wooden boardwalks around the geyser provide space for many viewers and allow safe viewing from different angles.
Over one million eruptions have been documented since records began, more than any other geyser worldwide. Researchers developed mathematical formulas to predict intervals between eruptions, which is not possible for most geysers.
Location: Teton County
GPS coordinates: 44.46045,-110.82818
Latest update: December 4, 2025 14:20
Geysers represent some of the most visible expressions of hydrothermal activity, occurring where underground water reservoirs are heated by magmatic sources. Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming holds more than half of the world's known geysers, including Old Faithful with its reliable eruptions every 90 minutes and Steamboat, the tallest active geyser on Earth. Iceland offers the Haukadalur Valley, home to the namesake Geysir and Strokkur, which erupts every few minutes. The high plateau of El Tatio in Chile sits at 14,100 feet (4,300 meters) and forms the highest elevation geyser field in the world. Other notable locations include the Whakarewarewa thermal area in Rotorua on New Zealand's North Island, where the Pohutu geyser performs regularly, and the Valley of Geysers in Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. These sites demonstrate the ongoing volcanic activity beneath the Earth's surface and attract visitors interested in observing natural thermal phenomena. Eruption patterns vary in frequency and intensity, with some geysers following predictable schedules while others remain irregular.
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