Riverside Geyser is a

geyser A geyser (, ) is a spring characterized by an intermittent discharge of water ejected turbulently and accompanied by steam. As a fairly rare phenomenon, the formation of geysers is due to particular hydrogeological conditions that exist only ...

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is border ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the sou ...

. The geyser is located on the Firehole River within the

Upper Geyser Basin The geothermal areas of Yellowstone include several geyser basins in Yellowstone National Park as well as other geothermal features such as hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles. The number of thermal features in Yellowstone is estimated at ...

. The geyser shoots steam and water to heights of 75 feet (23 m) in an arch over the river, sometimes causing rainbows. The eruptions occur every 5¹⁄₂ to 7 hours. As is

Old Faithful Old Faithful is a cone geyser in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, United States. It was named in 1870 during the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition and was the first geyser in the park to be named. It is a highly predictable geotherm ...

, Riverside is one of the most predictable geysers in the park, because it is not located near any other geysers that may disrupt the flow of underground water in the geyser's plumbing. Riverside is unique in its way that eruptions seldom occur at the average interval for any given time. Instead, Riverside is bimodal, meaning it usually erupts 20 minutes before or 25 minutes late for a duration of 20 minutes. For an hour or two before the eruption, water pours over the edge of the cone. The geyser was named by the

Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 The Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 explored the region of northwestern Wyoming that later became Yellowstone National Park in 1872. It was led by geologist Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden. The 1871 survey was not Hayden's first, but it was the first ...

. The geyser is one of the most reliable geysers in Yellowstone, despite the moniker and reputation of the better-known

References

{{Wyoming Geysers of Wyoming Geothermal features of Teton County, Wyoming Geothermal features of Yellowstone National Park Geysers of Teton County, Wyoming Articles containing video clips