Hiking the Fountain Paint Pot Trail in Yellowstone National Park
Distance: 0.75 miles / 1.2 km
The Fountain Paint Pot Trail in Yellowstone National Park is a beautiful boardwalk trail in the Lower Geyser Basin that features a number of unique geysers, mudpots, hot springs, and more along a very short and easy 0.5-mile (0.8 km) loop!
That said, the Fountain Paint Pot Trail is one of the easiest boardwalk trails in Yellowstone National Park, which inevitably means it is also one of the most popular, much like the Midway Geyser Basin and Grand Prismatic Spring down the road.
This is why I highly recommend visiting the Fountain Paint Pot Trail first thing in the morning or just before sunset, as there is one exceptionally beautiful west-facing overlook across the Lower Geyser Basin about halfway around the loop—one of the best places to enjoy golden hour without having to worry about a long hike back in the dark!
Fountain Paint Pot Trailhead Parking
Parking for the Fountain Paint Pot Trail is located in a small parking lot directly off Grand Loop Road, about 8.1 miles (13.0 km) south of Madison Junction.
That said, "small" is the key word, as the Fountain Paint Pot Trail is one of the busiest trailheads between Madison and Old Faithful, similar to how busy the Fairy Falls Trail and Midway Geyser Basin Trail get about an hour after sunrise during the summer.
This is why I recommend visiting first thing in the morning or in the late afternoon/ early evening, when the crowds have subsided from their midday peak.
Google Maps Directions: Fountain Paint Pot Trailhead
Hiking Checklist - Yellowstone–Tetons
Here is a complete list of must-have things that you will want for any hike in the Yellowstone–Teton area.
Hiking the Fountain Paint Pot Trail
The Fountain Paint Pot Trail follows a very well-maintained boardwalk throughout the entirety of the hike.
This, along with the relatively short roundtrip distance, is why the Fountain Paint Pots is one of the best adventures for people of all ages, much like the Artists’ Paintpots Trail just a few miles to the north.
Where Does the Name Fountain Paint Pot Come From?
The name Fountain Paint Pot is a revised name that originates from "Mud Puff," the name given to the feature by the 1871 Hayden Survey.
However, around the turn of the 20th century, the thermal area later became known as the "Mammoth Paint Pots," but guidebooks often referred to the area in terms of Fountain Geyser and the paint pots separately.
Over time, those names eventually became associated with one another, and by 1927, the name "Fountain Paint Pots" became the most widely recognized way people referred to the area.
Fountain Paint Pot Loop Trail
After just 0.1 miles (0.2 km), the Fountain Paint Pot Trail reaches the start of the roughly 0.5-mile (0.8 km) loop.
That said, visitors most go straight at the start of the loop, which is the direction shown in this article.
Silex Spring
Just a few steps after beginning the loop, the Fountain Paint Pot Trail passes Silex Spring on the right-hand side, a beautiful turquoise-blue hot spring that has erupted in years past, though eruptions are exceptionally rare!
Fountain Paint Pots
Shortly after Silex Spring, the boardwalk reaches the Fountain Paint Pot, a bubbling mudpot of thick, mineral-rich clay that looks much like a pot of simmering paint.
Once here, hikers can go either right or left around the short paint pot loop, but I personally like to go left in order to walk a figure-eight pattern around both the Fountain Paint Pots and the Fumaroles/ Red Spouter just ahead.
This is the Fountain Paint Pot!
This is where both the short loop around the Fountain Paint Pot and the Fumaroles–Red Spouter Loop meet on the other side.
Once again, I recommend going straight at both splits to continue around the longer loop toward Leather Pool.
This is where the Fountain Paint Pot Trail completes the figure-eight pattern around both loops following Silex Spring.
That said, go right at this split to continue west around the 0.5-mile (0.8 km) loop toward Fountain Geyser, the most famous and arguably most beautiful geyser on the trail!
Volcanic Tableland
The term "Volcanic Tableland" on the Fountain Paint Pot Trail refers to the broad landscape that can be seen from this elevated section of the boardwalk, not to one specific thermal feature in the Lower Geyser Basin.
Just before the Fountain Paint Pot Trail reaches Fountain Geyser, the loop splits, with a beautiful viewpoint on the left that overlooks much of the Lower Geyser Basin.
This west-facing overlook above Jet Geyser is one of the best and easiest places to watch the sunset in Yellowstone National Park because it’s such a quick return hike and drive out of the park to West Yellowstone—at least by Yellowstone standards—making it a bit easier to get to places to eat before they close compared to other sunset adventures!
Fountain & Morning Geysers
The Fountain Geyser is by far the most well-known geyser on the Fountain Paint Trail, as it is the largest regularly erupting geyser on the loop and can put on a long and powerful display!
According to the National Park Service, the Fountain Geyser erupts anywhere between 3 and a half to 11 hours apart, reaching heights of 10–50 ft. (3–15.2 m)!
So, while there’s certainly no telling when it will erupt during that interval, it’s not impossible to see and is fairly easy to make your way over to if you’re elsewhere on the trail, much like the Lion Geyser off the Upper Geyser Hill Trail down the road.
Jelly, Clepsydra, & Spasm Geysers
Besides Fountain Geyser, Clepsydra Geyser is easily the next most notable because it has erupted almost constantly following the 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake.
However, of the three geysers in the photo below, it is the hardest to see because it is the farthest of the three from the west side of the Fountain Paint Pot Loop.
This is where the Fountain Paint Pot Trail leaves the Fountain Group behind to begin making its way back to the start of the loop.
Fountain Paint Pot Loop Junction
This is where the Fountain Paint Pot Trail returns to Celestine Pool and completes the 0.5-mile (0.8 km) loop.
Once here, go right to return to the trailhead off Grand Loop Road, just 0.1 miles (0.2 km) away.
Old Faithful (Upper–Lower Geyser Basins)
Canyon Village
Maddison–Norris
Yellowstone Lake & East Entrance
Mammoth, Lamar Valley & Tower
