Artists Paint Pots Hike – Yellowstone National Park

Artist’s Paint Pots hike in Yellowstone National Park is a short, easy fun 1-mile hike, that takes you through some spectacular scenery of colorful geysers, mud pots and hot springs. This geyser area is made up of over 50 thermal features, but most noticeably are the paint pots – a group of bubbling mud geysers located at the top of the hill.

Artists Paint Pots Trail – Location

The trail for the Artists Paint Pots is located right off of the Grand Loop Road, on the west side of the park, near the Madison campground junction and the Norris Geyser Basin junction. There is a parking lot with about spaces for 30 cars. I visited during the busy summer season on a weekend day, at around 11am and did not have trouble finding a space, however the parking lot was filling up by the time I returned from my hike. Being that this requires an actual hike to see the paintpots, this trail is much less crowded than any of the other geyser basins in the park, making it a more relaxing experience, than say, trying to find parking at the Grand Prismatic Spring or the Norris Geyser Basin area.

Artists Paint Pots – Details

Elevation gain: 160 feet

Trail surface: Boardwalks and dirt path

Time required: 40-60 minutes

Amenities: Pit toilet in the parking lot, but it is heavily used. I saw a huge line when I arrived and also when I came back from my hike.

Trail Length: 1.1 mile loop hike, round trip.

Hiking to Artists Paint Pots

The trail starts off very flat, going through a lodgepole pine tree forest. As you go through this area, you will see lots of burned trees – this area was hit hard by the devastating 1988 wildfires and to this day, is still recovering. You’ll be able to see tree regrowth as you hike.

You’ll reach a clearing at about 0.3 miles from the start of your hike, which is the base of Paintpot Hill. From here, you can chose to go clockwise or counter-clockwise around the geysers and paint pots. I did this hike going clockwise, but it really doesn’t matter – you’ll have a great experience either way.

The paint pots aren’t the only thermal feature of this trail – you’ll pass by geysers and fumaroles as you make your way up the hill. Two notable geothermal features are Flash Spring and Blood Geyser.

I did this hike clockwise, so the first thermal feature I saw was Blood Geyser, a very colorful thermal feature that was bubbling constantly and letting off a bunch of steam.

At that point, you’ll start heading up the hill, to where the stars of the show – the Artists Paint Pots — are located. You’ll pass by other thermal features, vents, and small pools, many of which are not named. The main paint pots are located at the top and are mostly all white/white-ish grey – not exactly colorful — but it’s fun to watch them fling mud everywhere. (There have been cases in the past where these paint pots were flinging mud so high that the trail was shut down!)

While you’re up on Paintpot Hill, don’t forget to take time to enjoy the view – it’s stunning! From here, you can look down upon the hill you just climbed to get a good look at other colorful paintpots below as well as a stunning view of the entire geyser area. This is one of my favorite viewpoints in the park.

From here, just continue following the trail down the hill to the junction, then back to your car – you’ll pass by more thermal features, including Flash Spring, another large thermal pool.

Artists Paintpots Trail – Yellowstone National Park – Final thoughts

All in all, I enjoyed my hike to the Artists Paint Pots, though I will say that I didn’t do this hike until my 6th visit to the park! That’s right – I visited Yellowstone on five seperate trips before this before I actually did this hike. If it’s your first time in the park and you have limited time, this is one of those places that you might want to consider skipping, and you won’t feel bad about not seeing. Because, at the end of the day, it’s just more thermal features – and if you’ve been to the other areas (Norris, Grand Prismatic, West Thumb, etc), it’s really just more of the same.

Pros:
Short, easy hike
Beautiful view from the top of the hill

Cons:
Because Yellowstone National Park is just so busy during the summer, you could have trouble finding a parking spot.
If you’ve been in Yellowstone for a few days, you might have ‘geyser fatigue’ after seeing so many, and not find this very compelling.
The main ‘paint pots’ themselves aren’t very colorful.