Riverside Geyser is located in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. The Upper Geyser Basin has the distinction of being the largest concentration of geysers in the world. Many of those are located on Geyser Hill, while others are found further down the Firehole River. Riverside Geyser is one of these, it is quite a distance down the Firehole River where the trees close inward from both sides near the edge of the Upper Geyser Basin before the landscape becomes rugged and drops down to Biscuit Basin. Furthermore, Riverside Geyser is the largest geyser that erupts directly over the Firehole River, so no runoff channels exist in its vicinity. Instead, it sits as a solitary siliceous sinter formation towering several feet above the level of the river, with a gorgeous backdrop comprised of a grassy hillside topped with trees. In later summer, the grasses dry out to become deep shades of orange and yellow, while the background pines continue to add a dark green. All of this surrounds the reddish orange geyserite rock along the river. Add a blue sky with white clouds coupled with the black color of the Firehole River here, and the picturesque view is almost maximized with color. But yet more can be added. The sinter complex of Riverside Geyser is composed of two vents: an upper vent and a lower vent. It is the lower vent that will slowly fill up with water after a previous eruption. Somewhere around 90 minutes before the next eruption, the water in the lower vent will have filled up enough to cause overflow to initiate. Since the overflow is carried over the rim and rolls down the sides of the sinter complex, they are constantly receiving warm water and therefore are conducive to the growth of the colorful thermophile bacteria. This creates the colorful bands streaked down the front of the complex. And then there are the rainbows. No geyser in the world is more efficient at creating rainbows than Riverside Geyser. This is due to the way the geyser erupts. It is a fairly frequent erupting gesyer and very predictable. Almost on the dot every 6 hours and 10 minutes another eruption will occur. However, it has what is known as a bimodal interval as sometimes it will instead erupt after only 5 hours and 10 minutes. This shortened interval is infrequent though, occurs less than ten percent of the time, and never in succession. The eruption window is only about 20 minutes in length, so anywhere between ten minutes before and ten minutes after is when it will erupt, with a predictability on par with Daisy Geyser and Old Faithful Geyser. It begins with water rising out of the pool from the lower vent up to heights of about 80 feet, angled out and over the Firehole River. The Upper Vent mainly creates a steam column, but will periodically throw out a giant glob of water into the river. The curtain of fine mist dropping down from the eruption together with the background steam column creates one or more rainbows pretty much any time of the day depending on observation point. In the morning, it is best viewed from the south or more up the Firehole River, and in the afternoon and evening it is best viewed from the west or directly across the Firehole River. And that is where The Wild Images Team positioned themselves this evening to capture the photo above. Close inspection will reveal that is has a second rainbow directly above the first and just below the tops of the trees. However, if a north wind is blowing, sometimes in the evening it may be best to once again view it from the south up the Firehole River such as in this breathtaking image for sale in our store. Close inspection of that image will also reveal a second rainbow, also emanating from the river but right next to the Riverside Geyser sinter formation. It is no wonder that many consider Riverside Geyser the most beautiful in the world. The Wild Images Team has captured many other photos in Yellowstone National Park including a Beehive Geyser eruption with a massive rainbow, the world famous Old Faithful Geyser with water textures, a towering Grand Geyser pause burst eruption, a sunset Castle Geyser eruption with a bright rainbow, an afternoon Riverside Geyser eruption with a rainbow, an early morning Lion Geyser eruption with a rainbow, a very difficult to catch Oblong Geyser blue burst eruption, the extremely powerful Artemisia Geyser eruption with deep bursts, the very moment of waves from a Great Fountain Geyser initial eruption, an iconic White Dome Geyser eruption at sunset, the large bursts of a Fountain Geyser eruption in steam, the delicate red light on a Grotto Fountain Geyser eruption at sunset, the defining moment of a Rocket Geyser eruption at sunset, the extremely brief Aurum Geyser eruption with colors, a view through a Cliff Geyser eruption of Black Sand Basin, the colorful patterns of bacterial mats in Midway Geyser Basin, the changing conditions that cause a rainbow to parallel the Snow Lodge, the Biscuit Basin duo of Black Diamond Pool and Opal Pool, the colorfully pock marked waterways of the erupting Blood Geyser, the active steppes of the Mineral Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs, the distant double rainbow over the Lewis River Canyon, the before eruption reflections of sunset over the terraces of Great Fountain Geyser, the deep colors of sky reflections over Beauty Pool, the thermally induced sunset light filters through the steamy trees, the intense moment of mammatus clouds over the Firehole River, the very early morning fog surrounding Lower Yellowstone Falls, the runoff created reflections over the colorful runoff pan of Constant Geyser, the unworldly terrain of the extensive Porcelain Geyser Basin in Norris, the deeply hued steam over colorful bacterial mat reflections of Grand Prismatic Spring, the contrast of runoff channels surrounding the blue superheated water of Sapphire Pool, differing wave patterns created by the colorful submerged Fishing Cone Geyser, the strong green created by the record depths of mysterious Abyss Pool, the moment the full moon rises over the Grant Village Lakehouse, the cloud symmetry of a sunset reflection over a calm Yellowstone Lake, and moments earlier with a cloud shelf reflection over a calm Yellowstone Lake, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from Yellowstone National Park have documented the Old Faithful Geyser eruptions, the steamy Oblong Geyser eruptions, the deep drain Uncertain Geyser eruptions, the steep crater Depression Geyser eruptions, the amphitheater Grand Geyser eruptions, the impressive Fan and Mortar Geyser eruptions, the very quick Aurum Geyser eruptions, the rooster tail Whirligig Geyser eruptions, the series type Lion Geyser eruptions, the tall grotto White Dome Geyser eruptions, the frequent Sawmill Geyser eruptions, the double cone Atomizer Geyser eruptions, the nozzled Beehive Geyser eruptions, the cratered Fountain Geyser eruptions, the deep pool Artemisia Geyser eruptions, the playful Vixen Geyser eruptions, the scenic Riverside Geyser eruptions, the very rare Ledge Geyser eruptions from above, the very rare Ledge Geyser eruptions from below, the gurgling Tilt’s Baby Geyser eruptions, the bursts of Great Fountain Geyser eruptions, the hidden Dome Geyser eruptions, the tilted Daisy Geyser eruptions, the remote Pink Cone Geyser eruptions, the long Castle Geyser eruption water phases, the loud Castle Geyser eruption steam phases, the stark Constant Geyser eruptions, the rim wall Cliff Geyser eruptions, the initiation from Grotto Fountain Geyser eruptions, the continuation of Grotto Geyser eruptions, the defining moment of Rocket Geyser eruptions, the marathon Spa Geyser eruptions, the blue waters of a Spouter Geyser eruption, the isolated Artist Paint Pots throwing mud, the little seen intricate burst of a mud volcano, a view of a dozen visitors under a Beehive Geyser rainbow, the eruption through numerous vents of Fan and Mortar Geysers, the enormous amount of water through the runoff channels of Excelsior Geyser, the otherworldly view of cloudy blue runoff pools in the Porcelain Basin, the moment that a large bison bull rolled in his claimed dirt pile, the rule for the right of way wildlife, the high altitudes where a large raven that perches over the Dunraven Pass, the the day that a phoenix streaked across the backcountry sky, the trail from Grant Village that crosses over this suspended bridge, The Wild Images Team in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, our Photographer Jeremy Robinson shadowed in Morning Glory Pool, and The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome at the Yellowstone National Park entrance sign.
To see more photos, please visit our store