Steamboat Geyser’s Slow Down: What Does It Mean?

Steamboat Geyser Has Slowed Down Significantly In 2025

Steamboat Geyser has always danced to the beat of it's own drum. The tallest active geyser in the world geysers when it wants to geyser. Sometimes it will go off numerous times in a year. Sometimes we won't hear of an eruption for decades. Literally.

As of writing, Steamboat Geyser has only erupted twice in 2025. The last major eruption of the geyser was on April 14, 2025 and it shot about 300 feet into the air. It's been more than 230 days.

Why Is Steamboat Geyser Loosing Steam?

Honestly, scientists aren't sure. Mike Poland, scientist-in-charge at Yellowstone told Cowboy State Daily:

Poland said it could be anything from mineral precipitation clogging some of the vents to whatever was heating the water could have migrated somewhere else. Poland says it's still an active system, but it's broken the old eruption pattern.

Since 2020, every year brings fewer eruptions:

• 2018-32 times
• 2019-48 times
• 2020-48 times
• 2021-20 times
• 2022-11 times
• 2023-9 times
• 2024-6 times

Steamboat Geyser Has A History Of Unpredictability

This dormant cycling of the geyser goes back as far as 1878. Before the first eruption in 2018, the geyser hadn't erupted in 3 years and 193 days. Between 1991 and 2000 Steamboat Geyser didn't erupt even one time. Even crazier, between 1911 and 1961 there wasn't a single recorded eruption.

Will It Be Another 50 Years Before Steamboat Geyser Blows Again?

It's hard to say for sure, but Poland doubts it will be that long. He said that even by the standards of Steamboat Geyser it would be quite unusual to have it go that long.

Sources: Cowboy State Daily, Outside Online, USGS