Mud Volcano Trail: A Bubbling Hillside Hike In Yellowstone

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Next up in my “I needed to do this hike in Yellowstone because I didn’t the first time” series is the mud Volcano Trail on the east side of the park!

For a while I thought this was a separate trail than the mud pot trail, but there are mud pots on this trail and it’s actually called the Mud Volcano Trail.

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There may also be some mud pots at the Fountain Paint Pots and Artist Paint Pots trails. And coincidentally (or not) I really loved all three of these trails. This and the Artist Paint Pots may even be my favorite trails in the park. They’re very artistically inspiring.

This parking lot was pretty full but we managed to find a spot on our first lap through, thankfully. It is a good sized parking lot, but it’s a popular trail so you may need to loop back around after doing something else if it is full.

This is a mostly boardwalk-part paved loop trail taking you up and then back down an almost entirely bubbling hillside. It’s so cool. Some of the features you’ll see along this trail include Mud Cauldron, Mud Geyser, Sizzling Basin, Churning Cauldron, Sour Lake, and Dragon’s Mouth Spring.

The first stop on the trail, heading counterclockwise, after a great view of a fully bubbling flat, is Dragons Mouth Spring. This spring is a boiling, gushing, steaming spring unlike most others in the park.

It looks like a small cavern and the water isn’t just still in there, but it’s moving and splashing all over, almost like a thunderhole.

You can either turn back from here if you want a really short hike, or continue the loop upwards. We continued on. This next portion isn’t super eventful, and it’s much less bubbly, more grassy and tree lined.

You do pass the Mud Volcano and Grizzly Fumarole over here though. The point where you start to head back toward the parking area is by Sour Lake, which I have no recollection of but we must have seen it?

Apparently there was a bison up here on the left side of the boardwalk, but he was hiding in the trees and we didn’t see him.

After this, as you head down the hill you’ll come across Churning Cauldron and Sizzling Basin. The basin was one of the most texturally interesting parts of the park!

As you head down the hill, you get a fantastic view of the river across the road. We probably spent five minutes just admiring the view before continuing the rest of the way down.

Once you get to the bottom of the hill, you cross back toward where you started and see more bubbling mud at the base of the hill to your left.

This trail wasn’t packed despite how full the parking lot was, but we did run into quite a few other people along the way, it just wasn’t people constantly the whole time.

Overall, I think this is a fantastic trail with wonderful scenery and a chance of seeing some wildlife. It’s a nice short hike that just slightly more challenging than some others (with the hill) but also not difficult.

If parking is full the first time you pass, I would definitely try to circle back after something else nearby like the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone near Canyon Junction. It may not be my top hike in the park but it’s top 5 for sure.

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National Park Goodies

If you’re planning to visit three or more national parks within a year from your trip, definitely get the America the Beautiful pass. It will save you money in the long run if you’re going to more than three parks in a year. Buy the pass here.
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Where is the Mud Volcano Trail?

The Mud Volcano Trail is between Canyon Junction and the West Thumb Geyser Basin on the east side of the park. It’s right along the main road.

It’s about 50 minutes from west Thumb Geyser Basin, 2.5 hours from Jackson, one hour fifteen minutes from Old Faithful, and almost two hours from Gardiner, Montana.

How long is the Mud Volcano Trail?

This is a 0.8 mile trail, and AllTrails clocked us at 0.88 miles, so pretty accurate. I love that Yellowstone has a lot of short trails. It lets you see so many different things on one visit! If you just go to the Dragons Mouth Spring, it’s a 0.2 mile loop.

Is the Mud Volcano Trail hard?

Not really! This is pretty much all boardwalk which is nice but there are stairs and a bit of elevation gain beyond the Dragons Mouth area. It’s only 112 feet so not anything too bad, but if you want really flat, this isn’t quite it.

Is the Mud Volcano Trail worth it?

Absolutely, 100% yes!! I think this and Artist Paint Pots are my favorite hikes in Yellowstone so far. The colors and textures are both are out of this world good and you know (and if you don’t, now you do) that I’m a sucker for a good texture in nature.