Among the country’s most-recognized and most-visited national parks, Yellowstone is home to over 10,000 hydrothermic features such as geysers, hot springs, and steam vents — some of the most famous ones are the psychedelic colors of Grand Prismatic Spring, the formations of Mammoth Hot Springs, and the streams of water periodically sent up in the air by Old Faithful geyser.
But while such natural phenomena are strikingly beautiful to look at, they are also thermal areas that periodically get more active and even explode.
In the summer of 2024, a geothermal pool inside the park area known as Biscuit Basin suddenly exploded and sent plumes of smoke and debris into the air around it. While no park visitors or staff workers were injured, the explosion destroyed a boardwalk leading up to the pools and turned the entire area into a mix of mud and dirt mixed with boiling water.
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‘Damage and potential future hazardous events’: Yellowstone’s Biscuit Basin to remain closed
Nearly a year later, the damage to the infrastructure has not been fully restored, while geologists are investigating the risk of another similar explosion happening unexpectedly when visitors are there. Several smaller explosions including one on Nov. 5 and another on Jan. 3. occurred when scientists were collecting earth samples to examine the risk of further explosions.
With the peak summer park-visiting season now underway, the National Park Service (NPS) confirmed that Biscuit Basin will remain closed for the rest of the 2025 warm season. This means that travelers will also not be able to access Black Diamond, Black Opal, or Sapphire pools or the entire area with the biscuit-shaped rock formations for which it was named.
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“Since the July 23, 2024, explosion, Biscuit Basin has been closed to public visitation as Yellowstone National Park assesses damage and the potential for future hazardous events,” the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory said in a statement.
Mike Poland, one of the scientists in charge of testing the area for safety, told a local Wyoming news outlet that a webcam has been put in place to constantly monitor to area, given the high risk of future explosions. It is public and can be watched by anyone who is interested in geothermal phenomena.
National Park Service officials examine the debris field after a hydrothermal explosion at Black Diamond Pool in Biscuit Basin on July 26, 2024, in Yellowstone National Park.
Image source: Jonathan Newton/Getty Images
‘Small bursts from Black Diamond Pool since the big explosion’
“We know from seismic data and eyewitnesses that there have been small bursts from Black Diamond Pool since the big explosion last July,” Poland said. “The problem is that we don’t have any really good observations or documentation of these events, so that’s why we installed this webcam.”
Poland further said that “all of the rocks [they] looked at that came out as part of that explosion showed evidence of being solidified,” suggesting that another explosion could lead to injuries.
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As the Biscuit Basin area is among the most-visited sections of Yellowstone, its extended closure has led to lower visitor numbers to the park and in turn, fewer hotel bookings in the area.
While Yellowstone still reported a near-record high of 4.74 million visitors in 2024, a number of families have reported putting off their planned visit to a time when the area they most wanted to see is open.
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