Many of the bright colors found in Yellowstone’s hydrothermal basins come from thermophiles—microorganisms that thrive in hot temperatures. So many individual microorganisms are grouped together—trillions! —that they appear as masses of color.

Many of the bright colors found in Yellowstone’s hydrothermal basins come from thermophiles—microorganisms that thrive in hot temperatures. So many individual microorganisms are grouped together—trillions! —that they appear as masses of color.
Linville Falls has two sections – Upper and Lower – and can be viewed from four vantage points. Linville Falls thunders through a towering cliff before pooling in a deep, wide basin below the waterfall and flowing downriver through the 12-mile gorge.