Wender·Vista
Morning Glory Pool
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileWyoming
at the far end of the Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone

Morning Glory Pool

— — the colour of a flower that got cooler the longer you looked.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“Morning Glory Pool sits at the quiet end of the boardwalk that begins at Old Faithful and runs north along the Firehole River. It is named for the flower it once resembled in colour: a deep cobalt centre fading to indigo at the rim. Decades of coins, rocks, and trash thrown into the vent partly clogged the plumbing, the temperature dropped, and orange and yellow bacterial mats moved in from the edges. The blue is still there, smaller now, ringed in heat-loving colour. It is a slow walk from the geyser, and most crowds turn back before they reach it. from the studio

from the studio
Morning Glory Pool
— bring it home

Morning Glory Pool, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Morning Glory Pool

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Morning Glory Pool is a hot spring at the far north end of the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, about 1.5 miles from the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center along the paved Upper Geyser Basin Trail. The pool sits at roughly 7,349 feet of elevation in the Firehole River drainage. It was named in the 1880s by the wife of an assistant park superintendent for its resemblance to the morning glory flower. The Upper Geyser Basin holds the densest concentration of geysers on Earth, with more than 150 hydrothermal features in a square mile, including Old Faithful, Castle, Grand, and Riverside Geyser.

— the colour

Hot-spring colour in Yellowstone is biology and physics together. In a clear, very hot pool, the deep blue comes from water itself: water absorbs red and orange wavelengths and scatters blue. As temperature drops, different thermophilic microbes can survive at the surface — orange and yellow Synechococcus and chloroflexi at the rim, with cooler edges trending green. Morning Glory's blue centre has shrunk and its orange-yellow rim has grown since the 1950s because vandalism partly choked the vent, lowering the water temperature. Park Service crews have induced eruptions to clear debris; some has been recovered, much remains.

— the visit

Reaching Morning Glory is a flat 2.8-mile round trip from Old Faithful along the paved Upper Geyser Basin Trail, mostly on boardwalk. Bicycles are allowed on the paved portion as far as the pool and turn around there. Stepping off the boardwalk is prohibited; the crust between features is thin and the pools are scalding. The basin is open year-round, but most lodging at Old Faithful closes between late October and early May. Best light at Morning Glory is mid-morning, when the sun is high enough to reach the pool and the steam thins.

— where
United States · Teton County, Wyoming
— within
Yellowstone National Park
— elevation
2,240 m · 7,349 ft
— position
44.4585° N · 110.8453° W
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
2 km S
Old Faithful
predictable geyser
1 km S
Riverside Geyser
geyser on Firehole River
12 km N
Grand Prismatic Spring
largest hot spring in the US
N
Morning Glory Pool
Old Faithful
Riverside Geyser
Grand Prismatic Spring
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Morning Glory Pool — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

At the north end of the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, about 1.5 miles from the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center along a paved boardwalk that follows the Firehole River.

Coins, rocks, and trash thrown into the vent partly clogged its plumbing over many decades. Water temperature dropped, which let orange and yellow thermophilic bacteria grow inward from the edges and shrink the blue centre.

The pool was named in the 1880s for its resemblance to the morning glory flower, whose deep blue throat and flaring rim it once mirrored almost exactly. The name has stuck even as the colour pattern changed.

No. Stepping off the boardwalk is prohibited throughout the geyser basins. The crust is thin in places, and Morning Glory's water sits well above the boiling point at this elevation.

Mid-morning, when the sun is high enough to light the pool from above and the steam thins. Very early and very late visits often show only steam, especially on cold mornings.

The Upper Geyser Basin Trail to Morning Glory is paved and largely flat, with a few gentle grades. The round trip from Old Faithful is about 2.8 miles. Bicycles are allowed on the paved section as far as the pool.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Morning Glory is one of the most recognized hot springs in the park after Grand Prismatic, and the colour story gives the gift a thread of conversation. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note carries well.

The cobalt centre and warm thermal rim sit comfortably in Jewel-tone Maximalist rooms, in Mountain-modern interiors that want a colour anchor, and in Mid-century rooms that lean on teal and ochre.

Park-themed interiors have been gaining ground in cabin and lake-house design for several years. Morning Glory is a colour-led piece, which lets it work in homes that would never display a literal park-poster style.

Above a standard sofa, a single Large reads from across the room and a 4-tile Mural fills the wall above it. Above a console, a Medium or a 9-tile Mural in a tight grid both work depending on ceiling height.

Yes. For a bathroom or backsplash, the Dura Satin finish is the right pick for its soft sheen and scratch resistance, or Matte for no sheen. The Glossy finish is best kept to framed wall pieces in dry rooms.

A microfibre cloth and plain water is enough for the surface. For kitchen splatter on a Dura Satin tile, a drop of mild dish soap on the cloth is fine. Avoid abrasive pads and bleach-based cleaners.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.