Old Faithful

One of the most famous geysers in all of North America, Old Faithful is found at Yellowstone National Park, in Wyoming. Old Faithful is a cone geyser and was the first geyser to receive a name.

Old Faithful was first written about by Nathaniel P. Langford when his expedition was exploring the area. The Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition traveled down the Firehole River and enter the Upper Geyser Basin on September 18, 1870. Langford later wrote: “Judge, then, what must have been our astonishment, as we entered the basin at mid-afternoon of our second day's travel, to see in the clear sunlight, at no great distance, an immense volume of clear, sparkling water projected into the air to the height of one hundred and twenty-five feet. "Geysers! geysers!" exclaimed one of our company, and, spurring our jaded horses, we soon gathered around this wonderful phenomenon. It was indeed a perfect geyser…We gave it the name of "Old Faithful."“ Langford, Nathaniel P. (May-June 1871). "The Wonders of the Yellowstone". Scribner's Monthly II (1-2): 123.

Interestingly Old Faithful was sometimes used as a laundry. Clothing was placed in the crater and then were ejected out meticulously clean when the eruption happened. While linen and cotton fabrics did very well with this method woolen clothes were torn apart. Henry J. (1883). The Yellowstone National Park-A Manual for Tourists. New York: G.P. Putnam Sons. p. 46.

Old Faithful is neither the biggest or most regular geyser Yellowstone has but it is the biggest regular geyser and it has been erupting in almost the same was since the park was established. As such, it has been one of the easiest geysers to see and study throughout the years.

Old Faithful's eruptions shoot as much as 8,400 gallons of boiling water, reaching heights of over 184 feet and lasting as long as five minutes. Old Faithful stays true to its name by erupting at about every 90 minutes. Records have document over 137,000 eruptions.

Old Faithful is not the highest shooting geyser in Yellowstone park, the record goes to a less active Steamboat geyser, reaching heights of 300 feet, lasting three to 40 minutes.

For ten years scientists studied Old Faithful, lowering probes as deep as 72 feet and measuring temperatures of over 244º.

• Steamboat Geyser
• Beehive Geyser
• Giantess Geyser
• Lion Geyser
• Plume Geyser
• Aurum Geyser
• Castle Geyser
• Sawmill Geyser
• Grand Geyser
• Oblong Geyser
• Giant Geyser
• Daisy Geyser
• Grotto Geyser
• Riverside Geyser
• Fan & Mortar Geysers