Mystic Falls Trail

Mystic Falls is one of Yellowstone National Park's most rewarding short hikes, leading through a forested section of the Biscuit Basin area to an 85-foot waterfall on the Little Firehole River with notably less foot traffic than comparable attractions in the park. The trailhead at Biscuit Basin, named for geyserite deposits that resembled biscuits before a 1959 earthquake collapsed them, passes boardwalks near Sapphire Pool and Avocet Spring before entering lodgepole pine forest. The forest here is second-growth that regenerated following the great fires of 1988, which burned approximately one-third of Yellowstone's total area. The trail follows the Little Firehole River upstream through increasingly lush vegetation—wildflowers carpet the understory in July, including monkshood, fireweed, and arrowleaf balsamroot. Mystic Falls drops over a series of rhyolite ledges in an amphitheater of hanging moss and spray-nourished vegetation. A trail spur from the falls climbs the ridge above to an overlook with excellent views over the Lower Geyser Basin, offering a perspective rarely seen by park visitors who stick to the boardwalk circuits. Bison frequently graze the meadows surrounding Biscuit Basin, and the area is rarely as crowded as Old Faithful or the Grand Prismatic Spring, making morning visits here a genuinely peaceful Yellowstone experience.