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Old Faithful Geyser of California
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50 reviews for Old Faithful Geyser of California
$10 entrance fee but flashing your AAA card will give you $1 off.
The geyser itself was pretty cool to look at and you can watch it go off very frequently (every 10 minutes) during your visit. One of the other reasons for going here was because they have those cute fainting goats in their petting zoo area but they didn't faint! We tried scaring them and making noise but they were all unfazed, just kept eating grass and hay!
We did see some goats get into a fight which probably was the highlight of the visit (until it turned into one huge goat gangbang)
PS: I tried to upload my video of the goatfight-gangbang but Youtube rejected it because it was 12 min long. Their limit is 10. BOO!
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This is not THE Old Faithful. That being said, it is a geyser which goes off regularly. Oh, and there are fainting goats which look ill-cared for.
That's it people. So if you want to drop the money for a bizarre curiousity then do it. Otherwise, save the money, get an extra wine tasting, and when you get home spray the garden hose in the air once (it looks the same).
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I don't understand the low rating review here because my family and I enjoyed our experience at the Geyser very much.
Upon arrival I were attracted by that souvenir penny machine. You put 2 quarters and a shiny penny to get a picture of your choice on the shiny penny. I always love to collect those! Then we proceed towards the cashier who was friendly and helpful. The one dollar off coupon from a local brochure works! He also enquired if we have anyone over 60 years of age in our party so he can make a deduction on senior discount. Within minutes of walking out of the gift shop we already saw the eruptions of hot spring water starting. People around us got excited, everyone was running towards it and getting their camera ready. It was fun. Guess what, we didn't have to wait another 45 minutes as advertised for the 2nd and a 3rd time of that display! There were plenty of opportunities to take pictures and movies.
The video room plays video that gives you all the facts and information you need to learn about the Geyser. This place is no frills, the geyser is here for everyone to see and that's what you get to see. There are benches with shades around the Geyser. You can stay as long as you want there. If you happen to expect to see a fountain of hot springs constantly coming out from the geyser (silly thoughts) you will definitely be disappointed and yes, take your own advise and go to a park where you can see a man-made fountain with recycle water, it might play music for you too...
The water in the pond is warm and there are little fishes swimming among the algae. It is full of live in this small pond, very interesting! Hummm... the farm animal smells... lol...not a big fan of those but I saw kids running around getting all excited about baby goats and pointing at the cute ones claiming ownership etc. This is a fun place for family. If you are happened to be in Calistoga then I would recommend a drop by for a visit.
I see there were confusion about the admission fees, here they are:
Adult: $10
Senior: $7
Children 6-12: $3
Children under 6: Free
You can visit the website and print a voucher for $1 off!!
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We were appalled to discover mourmoney was funding the cruel captivity of the llamas. They are kept in a tiny, little pen & look very dishevelled, extremely unhappy & were covered in flies in the heat. We were so concerned that we made enquiries & found out that they are NEVER allowed out of the pen & so don't ever get to stretch their poor legs that they kept beating the ground with. We were told it is because they are 'nasty'.
I am so upset that we spent money in the shop & $10 entrance fees on funding this abuse to these wonderful, innocent animals.
I wanted to believe this was a real, true-to life geyser...um, no. Definitely a roadside attraction but no truth in advertising at all.
Suspicious sign #1: hmm, no stinky sulfur smell that usually appears around natural geysers and volcanic features.
Suspicious sign #2: no algae or other stuff growing in the pond surrounding the "geyser" or on the "rocks" (faux?) that they put around the "geyser".
The day-glow sign: a veritable forest of bamboo enclosing the whole perimeter with "Keep out" signs posted and PVC pipes sticking out of the ground. Hmm, which of these is not like the others?
You kinda get the feeling that when enough people get close to the "geyser", the cashier can see it and pushes a button to make the "geyser" erupt impressively.
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I'm a fan of random little curiosities. Even those that are a little more anticlimactic than others, such as Old Faithful. I was so excited to actually go, I think I almost bounced into the store to buy my ticket.
Yes, the attraction isn't all that wow, but who wouldn't get excited about a stream of water shooting out of the ground surrounded by superheated steam? I could tell from even before we entered the grounds that this wouldn't be a giant geyser displaying the wildest aspects of Mother Nature (for a start, we are in the base of a valley people, and you can't see this baby even from the parking lot - not to mention if it was that wild and uncontrollable, you would be further, much further away from it than you actually are).
I don't know about Boola B.'s comments and whether they are true or not. But I liked spending some time with Old Faithful, the goats and the bamboo. It will take you less than an hour to go through the place (unless you have kids who like to feed the other kind of kids), and maybe $10 is steep to get in, but take a picnic and enjoy a leisurely lunch there and you will have a pleasant time there.
I'm not so faithful to Old Faithful.
We just had to see this infamous geyser in Calistoga, so we coughed up the $8 each to check it out. It was pretty cool to see the water just spout up out of the ground like that at insanely hot temperatures and letting off tons of steam. It would be a lot cooler though if it were free to experience it. Call me cheap, but I don't feel like you should have to pay to watch nature in action unless you're on a safari or something.
They do have some animals on the grounds, like llamas and goats. My favorite were the Fainting Goats. They were just one month old, and so adorable. Apparently their muscles freeze up and they fall to the ground when they're scared, so we spent a good deal of time trying to freak them out. They must have taken their xanax though, because we had no luck. Next time, little goat! Mwahahaha...
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I think this is going to be my shortest review ever!!!
This should be worth $5 not the $8 they charge now. We saw the geyser blow three times. It took about 10-20min in between blows. We also fed the goats and almost got spit by the llamas.
Its more of a must see once and only once.
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Don't forget to go on their website and print out the coupon for a discount. There's not very much to see here. They have some goats and llamas and, of course, the geyser. We saw the geyser go off quite a few times. It wasn't that impressive and we didn't have to wait very long between blasts. I think my sis and I had more fun listening to the horned goats bah-ing loudly at each other and the other ones getting into a ramming fight. That was pretty interesting. It is pretty cool to see the geyser go off, but it's probably something you only need to see once.
OH, and when we were leaving, there was an incident we had with a very unfriendly and nasty man in the parking lot. All I will say about that is GRRRRR!!!
I agree. You only need to see this (and pay the fee) once. And if you have very little children they will be pretty bored between Geyser blasts. At least there is a "pseudo" petting zoo - a place to feed goats & llamas.
Whatever.
I'll be at the Lincoln spa sipping a cranberry calistoga - or over at Domaine Chandon while hubby takes the tourists to see "old faithful".
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The geyser shoots fairly high (maybe 60 feet) and for a few minutes. There are goats and llamas on the grounds including one aggressive goat with very big horns that looked like it wanted to run over our dog.
I would put this attraction at the bottom of things to do but if you have an hour to kill and want to see a geyser, why not?
I've read some of the other reviews, and it makes me feel bad for the geyser.
Pobrecito.
People keep comparing it to Yellowstone's. It ain't no Yellowstone, and if you come here expecting that, you will be disappointed.
But this is still a fun stop, and I would recommend it to people in the area.
The geyser got up to over 20 feet when I was there. And you get to go up so much closer since it doesn't go so high.
The goats and llamas are also neat.
I mean, how much wine can you really drink and still drive in one day?
You need something else to do.
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Yes it's a natural wonder but hardly worth $8.
This place is a good resting point to grub on some food and enjoy a bit of scenery. The youngins would probably appreciate it more getting sprayed by the geyser mist and feeding the animals. It would of been worth the dough if you were allowed to enter the fence and attempt to make the goats faint. Actually, feeding the buck tooth llama was entertaining.
The geyser shot up every 15 minutes but had a foul smell due to the minerals in it. After watching it shoot up 3 times I was over it. Was able to snap some decent interesting shots though.
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Pffttt....much ado about nothing.
Came here several years ago with my wife, kids, parents and my brother's family. They lived in Hercules so the drive wasn't that long from their place. In the process of driving here, some idiot crashed into my brother's SUV and hit the driver's side front quarter panel as he was pulling into the parking lot.
Bad omen.
The idiot driver did stop and exchanged information. He admitted fault as he stated that he didn't see the car. (Um...yeah, you are too in a hurry to die or what?) So we had to call a towing truck and the day started out just dandy.
To make matters worse, it was a hot day and we were in the middle of nowhere, it seemed. Trying to salvage the situation, we put on a brave face and continue inside. Wow...not much happening here. I see a petting zoo and hear some chirping crickets. The staff looked ever so thrilled that they get visitors. The least they can do is smile.
So after waiting and waiting, she finally erupts. Oh look...a water fountain thingy? I was thinking that maybe people in China all flushed their toilets at the same time.
Eh...I'm not that impressed. Besides, I've seen better. Like the one when the guys on Mythbusters experimented with Mentos and Coke. Now, that was impressive.
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Definitely not Old Faithful, but easier to get to and a nice break for the kids. Geyser is 3 stars, and the animals (try to faint the fainting goats) and another star.
If you have kids who are tired of the wine tours, then it is a must.
Print the coupon from the website.
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Nice to see for a first time visitor. The geyser itself is kinda cool, shoots up high. There were even tiny fish in the water below, and for some reason flocks of bees. Yes, flocks.
The real interesting part were the fainting goats, baby goats,and llama. They were sooooo cute. you can buy pellets to feed them, and they baaaaa funny.
$8 is way too expensive though, and we had $1 off coupons from one of the wine magazines.
YAY i got AAA discount...but still its is not worth 7 dollars. but i HOPE the money goes to preserving the geyser and the animals then i guess i dont mind. played with the animals a little bit...watched the geyser like 5 times and watched the tadpoles. it was interesting to see. THAT MONEY BETTER BE GOING TOWARDS PRESERVATION OR SOMETHING.
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I couldn't get to sleep last night, I kept thinking about the plight of the Tennessee Fainting Goats. According to the story posted near their pen these goats have a condition where their muscles freeze when they are under stress. Farmers used to put them in with their flocks of sheep so that when a predator came up the sheep could escape while the fainting goat froze and was eaten. The ultimate in sacrifice for the greater good. Does this disprove Darwin's theory? Why would genetic defect such as this persist in the make-up of these animals? The baby goats are so cute. A guy who happened to be wearing a Tennessee hat came by and told us that when they come up to the fence to clap our hands really loud so we could see them fall over and have what sounds like a mini seizure. We didn't attempt but I assume these goats in particular have become immune to loud noises.
This time of the year, when the moon is in just the right place and the Earth's core is doing it's April routine the geyser goes off every 10-20 minutes though it seemed closer to 10. Other times of the year it may go off once every 40-45 minutes. We saw the geyser spew 4 times. We were lucky. Apparently the water bursting from the geyser is 350 degrees. The remaining pool around the geyser is full of algae and pollywogs.
I can't get the fainting goats aka nervous ninnies off of my mind. I wonder if in nature there are any other animals that respond this way to stress.
In Tennessee there is a festival in honor of the famous fainting goat.
I've come to the conclusion that nature is crazy.
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Ummm....yes, it's a bit hokey, and on a hot day, waiting for the damn thing to spew can be a bit like waiting for a donkey to fart.
But when it happens, it's actually kinda neat. Shoots up to 2-3 stories high for about 3-4 minutes. Not bad.
The petting zoo is a little thin, but that's okay. I can do with a little less stench.
Worth a trip....once.
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old faithful my ass. i can piss a more impressive stream than this. plus the place smells like horse ass. and u gota pay $8 to see that. they boarded up the place with wooden planks so people in the parking lot don't get a free show. too bad for them that i saw the whole thing from a nearby hill before i went and gave them a chance to rip me off.
8 dollars to see some water OMG WOW. no thanks. plus the gift shop was full of crap and the whole area smells like barn animal feces because of the sideshow of goats and shit they have to lure people in.
what a joke.
I wouldn't suggest this place to anybody. You would rather go visit some fountain. The water that comes out of the geyser is not hot. Wastage of $8 or whatever money even after discount. The animals kept here would entertain kids for 5 mins. But the place stinks.
I'm not sure what people were expecting when they came here, because the reviews here on Yelp aren't very good. I mean, its a natural phenomenon, of course, its not going to be as spectacular or as well-"landscaped" as man-made spurting waterworks. Maybe its just the fact that I'm a Discovery-Channel-watching-National-Geographic-rea ding kinda person, but, I had a good time here. It helps if you actually took the time to read the information sheet they give you when you pay admission or some of the signs posted around the pond.
In any case, the geyser was neat to watch. Just try not to stand downwind from it, since you'll get the smell of sulfur. Make sure to spend time exploring the rest of the park as well, as they have some llamas, Tennessee fainting goats, and four-horned sheep that you can feed. There were some young kids (baby goats) among the herd that were just so cute, as well as young lambs that looked just a few days old. It took me back to my childhood to be able to put quarters into a vending machine and get a handful of treats to feed the animals.
All in all, something that you should experience at least once, especially if you're not planning on visiting Yellowstone anytime soon. This is a nice place for the family, since the children can amuse themselves with the animals or with an old-fashioned fun-house mirror and you can bring a picnic lunch. Its a little cheesy that they force you to exit through the gift store, but it actually helped in my case because I was able to pick up a Napa Valley visitor's brochure that featured discounts for wines and tastings.
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What you see at California's "Old Faithful" is a big puddle with rocks in the middle and occasional blasts of hot water and steam shooting in the air. I just so happen to know you can get a similar water effect if you run over a sprinkler head with the lawn mower, but that's not the point.
It's what you don't see that's crucial: an underground river being heated by magma way down in the earth's core creating those water-based eruptions. The geyser predicts earthquakes too.
Yes, this roadside attraction will cost you $8 adults/$3 kids 6-12 (minus $1 each if you have AAA), but how cool is a faithful geyser and the opportunity to use words like magma and eruption?
I recommend taking a picnic lunch so you have something to do while you sit through several eruptions of the geyser...in addition to talking about magma and underground rivers that is. February to April is a nice time to go because more recent rain means more water in the geyser, plus the goats/sheep on display have their babies in the early part of the year. Bring some quarters if you are going to want to feed the animals.
We were there last week and the magma was causing eruptions about every 10-15 minutes. Plus there were several one-day old baby animals.
Life is short. Take time to stop and smell the roadside attractions. Drive-thru redwood tree anyone?
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It's worth checking out if you've never seen a natural geyser, and don't have any plans to go to Yellowstone. It was my second time here, as I wanted the rest of my family to be able to witness it. It's also a nice break from all the wine tasting.
Don't expect to see the fountains of Bellagio here - Old Faithful is a natural phenomenon so the exact timing and intensity of the water is unpredicable. I personally think it adds the excitement of being here. The geyser was erupting (approximately) every 10-15 mins so we were able to take lots of good pictures!
There are picnic tables so you're allowed to bring your own food and enjoy it there. They also have some lawn chairs around the geyser to lounge in. Shaded seating is also available, which is great for super hot summer days!
The Tennessee fainting goats, llamas, and sheep are fun to watch and feed. A quarter gets you a handful of treats to give to them. We saw a little baby goat and sheep which were super cute!
Overall, this is an interesting place to visit - it's more something you wanna do at least once in your life. The grounds aren't that beautiful, but keep in the mind that main attraction is the geyser. As others have said, admission is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors (60+), and children are cheaper but I can't rememeber how much. $1 off for printing out a coupon or showing your AAA card.
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its a pretty cool natural phenomenon... but is not THAT exciting, even with the llamas and sheep and goats. i expected it to be bigger.
but it's cheap (though i agree free is better, but there are costs to upkeep - nothing is free anymore) there is a $1 coupon online
probably spent about 30 min there in between locations but you can have a nice picnic there watching the water spew
The sign at the front says it all:
Many notable people, have come to
see, hear and learn
the mysteries of this
"wonder of nature"
which captivates the imagination.
it's amazing
this geyser is featured in
the national geographic & sunset magazine
(unfortunately, I can't get the true spirit with all the capital letters, as Yelp seems to think I'm yelling or something)
Another attraction not worth the admission fee. Fortunately, the geyser erupted shortly after our arrival, and again a few minutes later, but it was hardly an impressive sight; not sure what I expected, but this wasn't it. While I did enjoy feeding the goats (none of them fainted), there was a bully goat who would push the other goats out of the way when we tried to feed them. We spent a couple quarters, one of us trying to feed and distract the bully while the others fed the less dominant ones. That was an amusing 10 minutes, but not necessarily worth the trip.
Ya know I've been here a few times and most of the times I've gotten lucky to where the goats faint, but not this time. This place is cool for kids that have never seen a geyser and the goats and other animals are some kids and adults may find interesting. I tried to make the Tennesee goat faint, but the worse I could do it make her shake without falling over. I actually tried to make a 4 horn sheep faint, thinking it was goat. I felt pretty silly about that. One thing I saw this time was that the rams were actually fighting in another stable. They would slam their horns into each other trying to be the alpha ram. I was thinking how bad that would hurt if a person got smacked by those horns.
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Um, so after a bit of wine tasting in Napa, I thought it might be a good idea to take a 40 minute road trip to the Geyser that I found on my rent-a-car GPS.. at 10pm.
Holy smokes, imagine that, a tourist attraction not open 24 hours a day! Well, I did a little peeksy anyhow with the headlights shining in and didn't see much but the signs and entrance were pretty :) Also, I met a really nice cat!
It's out in the middle of nowhere (from what I could tell) but there were lovely crickets and frogs chirping and the drive by all the bazillion wineries in Napa is nice.
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I haven't been to Yellowstone National Park yet, so I'll take this place since it's in Calif. It's not a very tall geyser and you have to wait 30-40 minutes (or whatever they tell you) if you miss it when you're there to see it shoot up. Pretty neat.
Check out the "fainting" goats and other animals there and bring a book.
Go only on a nice sunny day. Take the whole family.
Check out their website for $1 off coupon, print it out and bring it with you. http://www.oldfaithful.../
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We will were able to get in before the late afternoon storm. Old Faithful Geyser is not as predictable as her name, between 5 to 20 minutes to spout ,and yell "There She Blows" (oh yeah we are not whale watching). The mini zoo with llamas, fainting goats,etc is not bad for the young children. The children can now inform their respective teachers the key elements of a geyser from the earth's magma to the spring water. In hindsight if it were a nicer afternoon a picnic basket would of been ideal. Definitely check out the coupons on-line or local ads to get the discounts.
Wow, thinking of this place makes me laugh.....
Well, first of all, my husband HAD to see it. So after paying our $7 we proceeded through the tacky and I mean TACKY gift shop offering every Old Faithful tcotchke known to man. We passed the fainting goats (that would be the cheapest entertainment known to man) and THERE IT WAS. A pile of rocks in a pond that appeared to be full of some sort of nuclear waste.
Luckily, we had brought our lunch along so we had something to do while staring at the pond for 30 minutes in 100 degree temps. Others weren't so lucky and were stuck with the goats. It was almost eerie--15 or so silent people just standing around this nasty pond, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting....
And then there it went, a little bubbling following by a couple minutes of geyser activity. Definitely the most touristy moment of our vacation but glad we saw it. Don't EVER need to go back.
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Well, if you have to see a geyser in CA, this is the closest one to Bay Area. Not much else to do and see. You pay, you wait, you see the gush, and that's all folks.
Recommend better time and money spent tasting all the wine at nearby wineries.
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the claim of 1 of the 3 "old faithful" lured me in. After 10 minutes of wandering around and shying away from the horrendous public bathroom, we pay respect to the bored looking llamas, and made peace with the hungry goats pestering us for food in the petting zoo.
We sit in the shaded area and stared at the pond for another 10 minutes, until... the ground start spouting water.
At this point my friend commented the Bellagio fountain in Las Vegas shoot much higher, and has musical accompaniment, I nodded and we agreed natural wonder is no match for hollywood.
We also agreed that it might have been interesting to discover a natural geyser accidentally in a wild forest and seeing herds of small animal gathering around to shower themselves, sight of human crowding under the blessed stream is somehow less amusing.
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It was okay, it was something to do. Watching hot water shoot out of the ground of its own accord is always cool in my book.
However, the actual location isn't as nice-looking as you'd guess from the website. There are a few llamas, sheep, and "fainting" goats to stare at while you wait, which can be long. Sure, it goes off maybe 30 minutes *on average*. When we pulled up, it was going off and it went off again maybe 20 minutes later. The next eruption wasn't for another hour, though. So, you play the game, you takes yer chances. It's like MUNI -- after you wait a certain amount of time, you have to stick it out because you already invested so much time in waiting.
Anyway, it is what it is. It's fine. If you've never seen a geyser, it's not a bad start with the aforementioned caveats. There's a coupon at their website which helps a bit - http://www.oldfaithful... When we went, adult admission was $8 and $7 with the coupon.
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Sure, it's a little cheesy, but it's interesting scientifically.
Dogs are allowed to come into he attraction, which is nice. My dog was pretty well behaved until some kids started throwing rocks into the geyser and she wanted to fetch...
There are also llamas, 4 horned goats and fainting goats on the property.
Three solid starts. I would even say 3.5
We went here expecting nothing. The locals said they hadn't been, and we were told by other tourists that they had been advised at wineries to skip it (probably so they would stay and drink more wine).
The downside is that you have to pay $8. You get a postcard and a neat fact sheet about geysers and geology, which was kind of a fun read. For those of you who know what the USGS is, or are mildly interested in earthquakes, I think you'll really like this place.
There's a small pond with pile of rocks, and the geyser shoots out. If you are lucky, the geyser will be going off frequently. We saw it go off at least 5 times and I don't think we were there a full hour. Sometimes, when an earthquake might be impending, they can be 4 hours apart, and then I wouldn't feel like I got my $8 worth. However, they tell you before you pay how often its going off, so you can decide.
While you wait, there are picnic tables, fainting goats and llamas. If you like petting zoos, this will be fun for you. If you don't like petting zoos, go back to the day spa you just left.
When the geyser goes off, it goes at least 20-30 feet, sometimes higher, and it looks like a wider version of one of the water jets at the Bellagio. Its pretty, and I think its neat that it "just happens", as my friend noted.
This was a very chill, fun activity and since we had low-to-no expectations, we really enjoyed ourselves.
And yes, there is a AAA discount. Hooray!
We went here last summer, and the most memorable part of this place was the goat pen. It's pretty crazy, faiting goats - and they even have this little machine where you put in a quarter and get a handful of goat feed you can give to the goats. Of course that's what we ended up spending the most time doing - paid our damn entrance fee to go in and buy goat feed to feed their goats. I swear to god there were more people around the goats than there was around the geyser. There are two animal areas, one right by the gift shop, and a second one to the north of the geyser that has some llamas.
The geyser itself is kinda neat -- steam and water shoots pretty high up - but the experience/location was nothing to write home about. I think it was probably worth going to - we got some pretty hilarious pictures of the animals up close and of the geyser.
Ok, from my experience, it was a big flop, it went a few times, nothing more than 10-15 ft high. but then I left, and I think someone turned on the pump, I could see it from the parking lot and it went for about a full minute. I guess a bit disappointed that I didn't wait long enough, but you can't predict nature.
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Kinda nice break from wine tasting, good area for a picnic, the goats are great
