Yellowstone’s Geysers Are Waking Up In Surprising Ways

I've been thinking a lot about Yellowstone National Park lately. Maybe not like the tourists who are planning their trips, making wishlists of sites to see, and booking hotels or campsites. I've been thinking about how active things underground have become.

We know they're predicting that the supercano underneath Yellowstone will erupt sometime between now and 100 million years from now. So, there's that, but over the last few years, dormant geysers that had been dormant for years have erupted, there's been a new blue thermal feature, and last summer, there were over 150 earthquakes in just 30 days, and the world's largest acidic geyser, known as Echinus Geyser, which is in the Norris Geyser Basin, has been showing off pretty regularly for the first time since 2020.

Acid geysers are rare because acidic water can break down the rock that makes up a geyser’s plumbing system. At Echinus Geyser, however, the composition is due to mixing between acidic gases and neutral waters, and the acidity is not sufficient to eat away at the rock.

This excerpt is from a press release from the USGS:

In early February 2026, repeated surges of the geyser began—as before, with the surface becoming agitated and releasing more water down the runoff channel. The first eruption since 2020 occurred on February 7, followed by additional eruptions on February 9, 12, and 15. Starting on February 16, eruptions began occurring every 2 to 5 hours. These eruptions last 2–3 minutes and reach about 6–10 meters (20–30 feet) in height. After eruption, the water level decreases significantly and doesn’t return to normal for about an hour. Overall, this pattern resembles that of late 2017.

You can see from this graph that this geyser has been hosting all-night parties lately, but unfortunately, no one has been invited because the park is closed in this area.

The USGS predicts that by the time visitors are back in the park, the geyser will likely be back asleep, since it's known to wake up and be active for only a couple of months before snoozing again. Although, since things seem to be changing quite often, who knows, maybe it will still be rocking during the tourist season.