Woman sustains thermal burns in Yellowstone National Park, park says

Visitors to Yellowstone Park walk around Old Faithful after an eruption on the park's opening day in May 2020. (Photo by Jacob W. Frank, courtesy of National Park Service)

A 60-year-old woman from New Hampshire suffered second- and third-degree burns to her lower leg on Monday while walking in a thermal area in Yellowstone National Park, the park said Wednesday. The park said she was near Mallard Lake Trailhead at Old Faithful. “The woman was walking off-trail with her husband and leashed dog in a thermal area when she broke through a thin crust over scalding water and suffered burns to her leg,” the park said. “The husband and dog were not injured.” The woman and her husband went to a park medical clinic, and she was later transported via helicopter to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center for further treatment, the park said. The park reminded visitors to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and “exercise extreme caution ” because the ground is fragile and “there is scalding water just below the surface.” The park also said pets are prohibited on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry and in thermal areas. The park did not say whether the woman would be cited; it said the incident is under investigation and the park had no additional information to share. “This is the first known thermal injury inYellowstone in 2024,” the park said.