Norris Geyser Basin is one of the areas in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming that offers numerous geysers. Yellowstone National Park has half of the geysers in the world, as it is. Visitors to the park can reach Norris Geyser Basin from any of the park entrances; however, it is closest to the west entrance in Idaho. Entry into the park is $25 per vehicle and $12 per person such as a biker.
Once in the park the visitor can remain camping in any of the campsites, hiking, and enjoying a variety of villages within the park. For tourists coming in the west entrance Norris Geyser Basin is one of the first stops after Madison. It is near the Museum of the National Park Ranger and the Museum of Norris Geyser Basin. From Norris tourists can choose to go towards the north which takes them by Indian Creek. The other option is to return towards the south going through Madison to reach other geyser basins including Upper Geyser Basin with Old Faithful.
Norris Geyser Basin and its location have been mentioned here to point visitors to Green Dragon Spring. Green Dragon Spring is one of the stops along the Norris Geyser Basin trail. The Norris Geyser Basin trail can be split into two trails: Porcelain Basin and Back Basin. Tourists wishing to see Green Dragon Spring will need to take Back Basin Trail. The entire walk is 2 and a quarter miles starting at the Norris Geyser Basin Museum. Back Basin is a loop which begins at Emerald Spring and ends at Minute Geyser. Green Dragon Spring is about half way around the loop.
The spring is a hot spring like many of them in the national park. Except in summer, steam will rise from the hot spring. In summer the spring and air temperature are closer in temperature, eliminating the sight of steam. The spring forms underneath the earth in a cave. This cavern will fill with hot temperatures in which the steam rolls out and across the water that is seen on the surface. One must wait for the steam to clear before seeing inside the cavern, which is lined with sulfur. This sulfur is one of the reasons the water is actually green and boiling.
Before Green Dragon Spring on the loop is Echinus Geyser. This was one of the more interesting geysers in the park in the last few years. It will erupt every 45 to 75 minutes. In 1998 it altered its eruptions to be only a few times per day. Still, when it erupts it will hit 40 to 60 feet high in the air. The eruptions generally last 118 minutes and the pool fills before it is about to erupt. Unfortunately in the last few years the geyser has not erupted at all.
After Green Dragon Spring is the Porkchop Geyser named for its appearance like a pork chop. This geyser had an eruption with such force that the earth exploded, ruining its shape and ending the 216 feet spray.
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