Summertime is in full swing, and that means families and friends are loading up their cars and heading out towards the national parks for the ultimate summer road trip. Along the way, they may stop at Yellowstone National Park and witness the newest thermal feature at the park.
In 2024, one of the park’s scientists spotted the new hydrothermal feature. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the new feature “popped up right in front of our eyes — literally!”
The new feature can be seen from the road, and although it appears to have gone nearly dormant over the winter, it’s possible the feature could reappear this summer! As of May 2025, the feature remains dormant, but there is still plenty of summer left.
Spotting the Steam
In August of 2024, a park scientist was driving near Mammoth Hot Springs, one of the park’s most notable attractions, when they spotted steam rising from a patch of trees in a rather marshy area. Upon seeing it, the scientists reported the discovery to the park’s geology staff to confirm whether the feature was indeed new.
A geological research team made their way through the marshy area and found the feature, noting that grey siliceous clay lightly covered the opening, which indicated that this was rather new.. According to the USGS, the new hydrothermal feature is about 171 degrees Fahrenheit and is located in the Roadside Springs thermal area, where a similar feature emerged about 20 years earlier.
Read More: Yellowstone Bison Meets Tragic End at Hot Spring, Showing the Danger of Hydrothermal Features
A Hydrothermal Hotbed
Yellowstone National Park is a hotbed of volcanic history. Situated within the Yellowstone Caldera, the park is home to thousands of thermal features, ranging from steam vents to hot springs to geysers, mud pots, and more.
The park is rich in these thermal features due to the presence of a magma reservoir located beneath it, and magma continues to flow to this day.
According to the USGS, the new feature is situated at the foot of a rhyolite lava flow, approximately 10 feet above the marsh, within a hydrothermally altered area that is about 200 feet long. Although this feature is new to park geologists, it’s possible that it could come from a different hydrothermal feature that emerged decades ago.
In 2003, a similar hydrothermal feature sprang up on the other side of the rhyolite flow near Nymph Lake. Researchers believe it's likely that the 2003 hydrothermal feature and the new one that emerged in 2024 are connected.
“One could run a line along the axis of the older active area, and it would intersect the new feature. This line also follows the trend of faults that run from Norris Geyser Basin northward to Mammoth Hot Springs and beyond,” said Yellowstone National Park geologists Jefferson Hungerford and Kiernan Folz-Donahue, in the latest edition of Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles, which is part of the USGS.
Out of Steam
The 2003 hydrothermal feature remains active; however, the new 2024 feature has since lost steam. It remained active well into the autumn of 2024 but nearly went cold during the winter
Per the USGS, the hydrothermal feature remains active, but the water in the vent appears to be keeping a damper on the steam — for now.
According to the USGS, this new feature hasn't started letting off steam again. But it’s possible that some time this summer, park visitors will be able to see the steam rising through the trees once more.
Read More: Magma Beneath Yellowstone Appears to be on the Move
This article is a republished version of this previously published article here.
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A graduate of UW-Whitewater, Monica Cull wrote for several organizations, including one that focused on bees and the natural world, before coming to Discover Magazine. Her current work also appears on her travel blog and Common State Magazine. Her love of science came from watching PBS shows as a kid with her mom and spending too much time binging Doctor Who.
