Roaring Mountain (Yellowstone Monthly Update - May 2026)

Did you hear that???  Well, Roaring Mountain isn’t quite as loud as it used to be, but it’s still one of the hottest thermal areas in all of Yellowstone National Park!

Roaring Mountain is located along the highway between Mammoth Hot Springs and Norris Geyser Basin.  In the late 1800s, the sounds of gas escaping could be heard for miles, but that diminished by the beginning of the 1900s.  Then, in 1902, there was a thermal event that brought the sound back once again!  Heat emissions increased, and trees died off over a broad part of the thermal region. 

Now, Roaring Mountain sort of hisses away, but that sound can be clearly heard when traffic and winds are light.

In addition to being the site of present-day thermal activity, the area near Roaring Mountain hosts a few hydrothermal explosion craters, including Semi-Centennial—a feature that erupted explosively, sending hot water and debris up to 300 feet (91 meters) high multiple times on August 14, 1922, but that has been quiet ever since  On the high plateau just east of Roaring Mountain are a few more craters, the largest of which is about 850 feet (260 meters) across and spread ashy debris to a distance of up to 0.5 mile (800 meters).

During April 2026, the University of Utah Seismograph Stations, which monitors and operates the Yellowstone seismic network, located 97 earthquakes. The largest was a Magnitude 2.5. Deformation measurements indicate a pause in uplift along the north caldera rim and no net deformation of the caldera. Steamboat Geyser did not erupt in April, but nearby Echinus Geyser, which began erupting again in February after several years of quiet, erupted 4 times.  Acoustic, seismic, camera, and temperature measurements detected eruptions at Black Diamond Pool in Biscuit Basin on April 28 and 29, the latter of which is the largest recorded since instrumental monitoring began in the basin in summer 2025.

For questions, email yvowebteam@usgs.gov

Read Caldera Chronicles https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/yellowstone/caldera-chronicles

Visit the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory website https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/yellowstone