Andrews Geyser Is North Carolina’s Only Geyser, And It’s Worth A Stop

If you want to see natural geysers in America, you can’t beat the more than 10,000 hydrothermal features found at Yellowstone Park, typically one of the top five national parks in the country.  But if you don’t have quite enough time to get all the way out to Wyoming this weekend, then a visit to this man-made geyser in North Carolina is also very impressive.

Google/Tim Stipe

It also was originally located somewhere else nearby, right below the Round Knob Hotel. But in 1903, the Round Knob Hotel burned to the ground. The railroad owned the hotel and when locals wanted to rebuild the 'geyser' the railroad refused to grant rights to the property. So the locals moved the geyser to where it sits now in a park managed by the town of Old Fort and located five miles northwest of town.

Google/Mary Wilcox

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Google/Inn on Mill Creek

The dam you see here is found at the Inn on Mill Creek. From here, a cast iron pipe allows water to flow for two miles to Andrews Geyser, and the dramatic drop in elevation (of 500 feet) creates the pressure that fuels the spray of the geyser. Who needs an electric pump when you have gravity as your source of power?

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Google/Bobby Hughes

However, that's not always the case.

Google Maps/david wyatt

Of course it's more fascinating to arrive when there's an enormous spray shooting high into the sky.

Google/Michael Miller

This tiny town of just under 1,000 residents has a lot of attractions you can add to your agenda. The Mountain Gateway Museum focuses on the cultural history of western North Carolina. And the historic site of Davidson's Fort preserves the site of an 18th century fort designed to protect early settlers from the Cherokee. You can also include an easy hike to the 100-foot Catawba Falls.

Have you made the trek over to Old Fort to see the only geyser in North Carolina (actually a fountain that was named geyser)? It’s totally worth the effort to get there!