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Castle Geyser is located in the Old Faithful area in the Southwestern quadrant of the park. Castle is north of the Old Faithful Geyser in the Upper Geyser Basin.
Here is a description by some of the first explores of Yellowstone.
Washburn Expedition -
"Four hundred yards northwesterly from the camp, and in full view across the little pond, was a massive cone that Trumbull did not think was doing its best on the day of their arrival. It only splashed and slopped over in a patronizing way, but its form was so like the keep of some moldered, medieval fortress that there seemed no better name for it than the Castle."
Information from Aubrey L. Haines' book, "The Yellowstone Story - A History Of Our First National Park",
Volume One, page 128.
In recent decades, Castle has two types of eruptions, major eruptions and minor eruptions. Fortunately, most are major eruptions but just to keep everyone honest, Castle occasionally throws in a minor eruption. Major eruptions are quite predictable. Over the years, they've ranged from 9 to 12 hours apart but in the short term they are often much more predictable. The only problem with predictability occurs when Castle has one of its rare minor eruptions, then it becomes unpredictable until its next major eruption.
Castle erupt 60 to 90 feet above its massive 12 feet tall cone. Major eruptions start with water that lasts about 20 minutes. The water then gives over to forced steam. This noisy steam phase lasts for about 40 minutes. At the start, minor eruptions look exactly the same as major eruptions but then, disappointingly, they abruptly stop after a few minutes.
Check at the Old Faithful Visitor Center for predicted eruption times.
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