The newest attraction at Yellowstone National Park is ice-blue, steaming hot, and about the size of a Jacuzzi.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a new hot spring has appeared in Yellowstone. First discovered in April by a satellite, the pool is believed to have formed on Christmas Day, 2024, and steadily grown throughout 2025.
The new pool, which has yet to be named, is around 13 feet wide and a foot deep, with a water temperature of 109 degrees Fahrenheit. It is located in the park’s Porcelain Basin, a subregion of the larger Norris Geyser Basin—the hottest, oldest, and most active of Yellowstone’s thermal areas.
The scientists who discovered the new pool on April 10 noticed that it was “surrounded by numerous small rocks up to one foot across,” and that these rocks were “covered by light-gray, fine-grained, sandy mud.” Together, this is strong evidence that the pool formed as a result of a hydrothermal explosion.
But when did the event take place? According to satellite imagery, the pool was definitely not present before December 19, 2024, and it had appeared by January 6, 2025. With this date range, using an infrasound monitoring station—which can detect low frequency acoustic energy, essentially “hearing” explosions—scientists were able to determine that the pool was formed on December 25, Christmas Day.
Judging by the acoustic energy picked up by the monitoring station, they believe the thermal explosion that birthed the pool was relatively small, and that the pool grew to the size it is now over time. “It appears that the feature formed via multiple small events that initially threw rocks and later threw silica mud a short distance, creating a small pit that became filled with silica-rich water,” explained the USGS.
Yellowstone National Park is home to over 10,000 such hydrothermal features—including geysers, hot springs, steam vents, and mudpots—but although the park’s geysers erupt daily, hydrothermal explosions in hot springs are far less common, occurring only a few times per year. These explosions occur when water is superheated—above its natural boiling point—and then rapidly depressurized, converting from liquid to steam.
Although rare, such explosions can be dangerous. Last year, an explosion at another area, Biscuit Basin, sent debris hundreds of feet into the air, destroying a boardwalk and closing a significant section of the park. The same pool erupted again earlier this summer.
As is the case with all hot springs, boiling pools, and geysers in Yellowstone, you don’t ever want to touch the water. The park’s rules forbid touching the pools or runoff, and swimming or soaking yourself is absolutely forbidden.
Even when they aren’t exploding, hot springs are a threat to the unwary—humans and animals alike. The temperatures in these pools routinely approach boiling. Coming into contact with water at this temperature can result in severe burns in seconds.
FYI: driving your car into one is also ill-advised.
