Sixteen-Years Ago Today. Crystal Geyser Outside of Green River, Utah.

One night while on a cross-country road trip I stopped at a motel in Green River, Utah. In the lobby, I saw a brochure for the Crystal Geyser. The desk attendant said it was easy to get to, just a few miles outside of the city accessible via a dirt road on Bureau of Land Management land. The cold geyser is near an abandoned Air Force missile testing facility and is right next to the Green River. I got there just in time for the sun to set but didn’t see the geyser erupt. The brochure did say the eruptions were irregular.

The next morning before driving to Cedar City, I made another stop at the Crystal Geyser. This time I was fortunate to arrive in time to see the geyser erupt. The geyser is unique in that the water is cold and powered by carbon dioxide — not heat. The geyser is the result of drilling for gas (petroleum) many years ago. When the location was under Air Force control as part of a missile test range, the geyser was off-limits for visits.  The eruptions are irregular, and you need to be lucky or very patient to see an eruption happen.

In this image there is someone meditating while the eruption occurred.  The water coming out of the geyser rises over 20 feet in the air — and unlike Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park, the water from Crystal Geyser is cold to the touch. The water is mineral rich, and deposits building the crystalline Travertine terrace as the water flows to the river. I’ve visited the site several times since 2009. The eruptions are not as regular and not as strong. The last time I visited, mineral rich water was still flowing out of the hole.