December 26, 2017

Hiking to Mystic Falls | Yellowstone National Park

Mystic Falls | Written by Brian Callender | Photography by Julie Boyd

Julie and I have a well documented affinity for waterfalls of all shapes and sizes. It is perhaps one of our favorite finds on any outdoor trip or vacation. There is just something that soothes the spirit and captivates us as we watch the crashing water. Having already spent a good deal of time on the road in Yellowstone, we welcomed an opportunity to get out and stretch our legs with a hike. Albeit, a shorter one that wouldn’t take over our entire day. After some consideration, we decided on Mystic Falls, which is located a short drive from Old Faithful in the Biscuit Basin region.

The trail to Mystic Falls begins from the far side of the Biscuit Basin area, just 3 miles from Old Faithful. We arrived a bit later in the morning, but were able to secure a parking spot in the lot that was filling up quickly. A boardwalk will take you around the basin and its variety of hydrothermal features.

At the end of the boardwalk, the trailhead is easy to spot and clearly marked. There are two ways to approach the hike to Mystic Falls as either a standard out (easier) and back or slightly longer loop. We opted to make the full loop once we reached the falls which made the return journey a bit more strenuous, but also more scenic.

Mystic Falls is a 70 foot, cascading waterfall that feeds from the Little Firehole River. For the best vantage point of the falls, be sure to climb up the switchbacks where you will have a clearest views.

After a brief rest and plenty of photos, we continued up the switchbacks to complete the loop. We were definitely happy with our decision thanks to some pretty sweet views of the basin from above.

By the time we neared the end of our hike, we started to encounter more crowds and more mosquitoes. Back at the car we dropped off our gear and left our highly coveted parking spot in search of our next adventure.

Have you been to Mystic Falls? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!