Old Faithful

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.

Imagery

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 8 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA

Aug. 29, 2022, Landsat 9 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA

Aug. 16, 2023, Landsat 9 (path/row 38/29) — Location of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, USA

Old Faithful

Imagery

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Yellowstone National Park, USA

Fire and Recovery

Old Faithful

Yellowstone Lake

Frank Island

Infrared Views of Fire