Willow Creek Park, or Willow Park, as it is sometimes called, lies due south.  It takes its name from the immense growth of willow bushes which hide the ground from view, and monopolize the scenery and groundwork entirely.  None of these bushes can claim the right to be called trees, as the average height is inconsiderable.  But they make up in density what they lack in altitude.  The peculiar green of the willow is the predominating color, without any variation of any kind.  The idea conveyed to the mind is of a huge green carpet or rug, and when the wind blows freely across the valley, it divides up the bushes into little ridges or furrows, which add to the uniqueness of the scene.  Springs of remarkably pure water, many of them possessed of medicinal power, abound in this neighborhood, and tourists slake an imaginary thirst with much interest at different ones of these.

The Obsidian Creek runs slowly through this valley.  Obsidian Cliff is the next object of special interest which is witnessed.  It is half a mile long and from 150 to 200 feet high.  The southern end is formed of volcanic glass, or obsidian, as true a glass as any artificially produced.  The roadway at its base is constructed across the talus, and is emphatically a glass road.  Huge fragments of obsidian, black and shining, some of it streaked with white seams, line the road.  Small pieces are also plentiful.  This flow of glass came from a high plateau to the east-northeast.  Numerous vent pits, or apparent craters, have been discovered on this plateau.  Mr. J. P. Iddings, of the Unites States Geological Survey, who has made a special study of Obsidian Cliff, contributes to the survey report for 1885-86 a paper that has in it much that is of interest to the unscientific mind.

The Lower Geyser Basin is in some respects more pleasing than the Norris, although the desolation is perhaps even more apparent.  People who have seen districts in which salt is made out of brine extracted from wells, state that the appearance in the Lower Geyser Basin is very similar to what is seen around manufacturing districts of that character.  This basin is in the valley of the Firehole River, a strangely named stream, of a very beautiful character.  In the basin itself the branches of the Firehole unite, and with the Gibbon River form one of the three sources of the Missouri, called the Madison, after the President of that name.  The Fountain Geyser is the largest in the neighborhood, and is one of the best in the park.  It is very regular in its eruptions, and seldom fails to perform on time for the benefit of the onlooker.  It sends an immense volume of water into the air, and resembles a fountain very closely.  Its basin is very interesting, and gives a good example of the singular deposits left by a geyser.