Shortly after leaving Madison Junction, you’ll see the steaming thermal area come into view. Our first stop is a mud pot-dominated thermal feature named for its red, yellow, and brown mud. These colors come from varying oxidation states of iron in the mud. A highlight of the mud pots is their bubbling activity — the bubbles are formed by gases released from the Yellowstone volcano, and their activity changes with the seasons.

A 10-minute drive from Fountain Paint Pot brings us to the famous Grand Prismatic Spring, the largest hot spring in the U.S. and the third-largest in the world. It’s 75–91 meters wide, 49 meters deep, and discharges about 2,000 liters of 71°C groundwater per minute. The crown jewel of Yellowstone’s hot springs, Grand Prismatic Spring is over 100 meters in diameter, with a vivid color spectrum of blue, green, yellow, orange, and red radiating from its center — making it the park’s largest and most colorful thermal feature.

After a 15-minute drive, we arrive at Yellowstone’s largest visitor center and most iconic attraction: Old Faithful. Old Faithful was the first named geyser in Yellowstone National Park and remains its most famous landmark. It erupts approximately every 90 minutes, reaching heights of up to 40 meters — a truly spectacular sight. The visitor center here offers exhibits, educational films about the park, and a gift shop for souvenirs.

A 30-minute drive brings us to the mirror-like waters of Yellowstone Lake, where we’ll visit the West Thumb Geyser Basin on the lake’s shore. Formed by a volcanic collapse 150,000 years ago, this unique area blends hot springs and lake water to create a magical, misty landscape: the wispy steam of the hot springs rises above the green lake waters, framed by blue skies and white clouds — a scene unlike any other thermal area in the park. This is essentially a bay of Yellowstone Lake, where numerous geysers cluster together. The vents come in a variety of colors: some are translucent green, others a dark, cement-like black, creating a dreamlike, otherworldly scene.

After an hour’s drive, we reach the canyon area of Yellowstone. The Yellowstone River flows through the bottom of the canyon, which has been carved into its dramatic form over millions of years. Artist Point, located on the cliff edge of the south rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, directly west of Yellowstone Falls, is the best spot to view the canyon and the falls. It was here that painter Thomas Moran depicted Yellowstone Falls in 1872, giving the spot its name. The canyon stretches about 20 miles long and is roughly 1,000 feet deep. As you stand here, what captivates you most is not the canyon’s depth or shape, nor the rushing green river below — it’s the kaleidoscope of colors in the weathered volcanic rock. The canyon walls glow with brilliant hues: white, yellow, green, blue, crimson, and countless shades in between, as if painted in oils. These millions of tons of rock hold their vivid colors fast, never fading in the rain, wind, or sun.