1. Earthshots
  2. Yellowstone National Park, USA
  3. Old Faithful
Description

This series shows the area around the famous Old Faithful geyser. Geysers and hot pools are the bright or blue spots within the dark green forest.

The vertical line on the left side of the images is the western park boundary. The patchy spots to the left of the line are logging areas outside the boundary. The 2011 image reveals another smaller burn scar just to the northwest of the airport at West Yellowstone, Montana, and the 2016 image shows another new burn scar at the top edge.

The fires scorched a lot of the park, but they did not destroy forests in one large swath. The severity of the burn varies. Unburned land is interspersed with the burned area. Dark red areas are severe burns, and lighter red areas are less severe.

Over time, the pink bare ground begins to give way to light green as vegetation returns.

View Related Imagery & Stories

Location

Sep. 22, 1987, Landsat 5 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA

Sep. 22, 1987, Landsat 5 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA

Aug. 23, 1988, Landsat 5 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA

Aug. 23, 1988, Landsat 5 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA

Oct. 10, 1988, Landsat 5 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA

Oct. 10, 1988, Landsat 5 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA

Oct. 4, 2003, Landsat 5 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA

Oct. 4, 2003, Landsat 5 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA

Sep. 24, 2011, Landsat 5 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA

Sep. 24, 2011, Landsat 5 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA

Aug. 20, 2016, Landsat 8 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA

Aug. 20, 2016, Landsat 8 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA

Aug. 10, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA

Aug. 10, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA

Aug. 15, 2020, Landsat 5 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA

Aug. 15, 2020, Landsat 5 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA

Sep. 22, 1987, Landsat 5 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA
Aug. 23, 1988, Landsat 5 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA
Oct. 10, 1988, Landsat 5 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA
Oct. 4, 2003, Landsat 5 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA
Sep. 24, 2011, Landsat 5 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA
Aug. 20, 2016, Landsat 8 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA
Aug. 10, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA
Aug. 15, 2020, Landsat 5 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA

Yellowstone National Park, USA Additional Imagery & Stories

Fire and Recovery
Fire and Recovery

In these Landsat images, the old forest is dark green. In the 1987 image, this forest is occasionally broken up by lighter green grassy meadows or gra...

Frank Island
Frank Island

Besides some recovery from the 1988 fires on the west side of Yellowstone Lake, this series of images shows the effects of another fire. Frank Island ...

Infrared Views of Fire
Infrared Views of Fire

In natural color satellite images of wildfires, smoke often obscures the view of the ground. In the natural color image at the left, Yellowstone Lake ...

Yellowstone Lake
Yellowstone Lake

As you look through this time series, see if you can identify new fires that occurred after the big 1988 fires. Even the latest image is a patchwork o...