March 1, 2022, will mark the 150th anniversary of the world's first national park, and its four million yearly visitors illustrate its continuing popularity. Centered on a massive volcanic caldera, measuring 35 by 45 miles, Yellowstone National Park's famous hot springs, boiling mud pots, travertine terraces and geysers provide much of the park's entertainment.
   Taking up a huge section of Wyoming's northwest corner, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the bill which created Yellowstone Park in 1872. Five park entrances offer easy access to the many sections of this two million acre park, but the Upper Geyser Basin is seldom omitted from a visitor's must see list. Among the park's 200 geysers, Steam Boat Geyser puts on the grandest show, shooting its scalding plume as high as 400 feet. Although it’s the biggest, Steamboat Geyser's eruption patterns vary greatly. What attracts the most attention is the park's Old Faithful, erupting approximately every 90 minutes for the last 80 years. Like clockwork, the crowds slowly gather around the Old Faithful boardwalk, with last minute arrivals filling every seat and inch of the boardwalk across from Old Faithful Inn. Sending 7000 gallons of water airborne from two to five minutes, old reliable performs on cue, nearly a million times since first discovered in 1807.

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