Day Hike to Sentinel Meadows and Queen’s Laundry
Day Hikes in Old Faithful Area
Sentinel Meadows & Queen’s Laundry Trail
Round trip: 3.8 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Sentinel Meadows & Queen’s Laundry Trail is a day hike located 10 miles from Old Faithful.
Details
Round trip: 3.8 miles (6.4 km) all the way to Queen’s Laundry
Difficulty: Moderate
Bear Management Area: Be “bear aware”
Trailhead: Travel 10 miles (16 km) north of Old Faithful, and turn left on Fountain Flat Drive. Park at the end of the road, cross the footbridge over the Firehole River to the trailhead.
The trail follows the Firehole River a short distance, then veers toward the meadows. Look for the large sinter mounds of hot springs and the remains of the old, incomplete bathhouse at Queen’s Laundry, 1.9 miles (3.2 km) from the trailhead. This trail is often very wet in spring and buggy in summer.
Begun in 1881, construction was abandoned as park administrations and priorities changed. Minerals from the hot springs preserved the structure, which was the first building constructed by the government for public use in any national park. Queen’s Laundry is a National Historic Site.
