Yellowstone Lake from West Thumb
— where the lake holds its own caldera.
Not only on a wall.
“West Thumb is a caldera inside a caldera. A second volcanic collapse, about 174,000 years ago, blew a circular bay into the western edge of Yellowstone Lake. Today its shoreline is one of the few places on Earth where hot springs and geysers rise straight out of the water. The boardwalk loops past Fishing Cone, Black Pool, and Abyss Pool, all of it reading clean against the cold lake.
Yellowstone Lake from West Thumb, 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.
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.
The place, in three passes.
West Thumb Geyser Basin sits on the western bay of Yellowstone Lake, formed by a separate volcanic collapse roughly 174,000 years ago, long after the main Yellowstone caldera. The bay measures about four miles across and reaches depths of 320 feet. The basin holds Abyss Pool, Black Pool, Fishing Cone, and Big Cone, each rimmed in mineral terraces. A half-mile boardwalk loop runs through the basin and along the shoreline, with the southern leg climbing slightly above the lake.
Abyss Pool is one of the deepest hot springs in Yellowstone at about 53 feet, with water that holds around 172 degrees Fahrenheit. Black Pool is no longer black; a 1991 thermal shift raised its temperature and killed the dark microbial mat, leaving deep blue. Fishing Cone sits in the lake itself, a small geyser-cone where 19th-century anglers claimed they could swing a hooked trout straight into boiling water. The contrast between thermal steam and cold lake holds the scene.
West Thumb Geyser Basin is open daily through summer and fall, with the parking area and boardwalk accessible from late April or May through early November depending on snow. It sits on the Grand Loop Road, 17 miles east of Old Faithful and 21 miles north of the South Entrance to Grand Teton. The half-mile loop is fully boardwalked and wheelchair-accessible on the inner section. A small ranger station and pit toilets are at the trailhead; the nearest gas and food are at Grant Village two miles south.