A 60-year-old hiker was taken to a hospital by helicopter after being scalded by hot springs in Yellowstone National Park on Monday when he strayed from a trail, the National Park Service (NPS) said.
Authorities said the New Hampshire woman was walking with her husband and her leashed dog near the Mallard Lake trailhead in Old Faithful in the afternoon when thin pieces of ice came into contact with boiling water, causing second- and third-degree burns to her lower extremities.
The woman and her husband went to a clinic in the park where they were examined, and the woman was then transported by helicopter to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Wyoming, about 90 miles away from the park, for further treatment.
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A woman stands guard in Yellowstone National Park. The hiker was taken to a hospital by helicopter after suffering “scalding water” burns after wandering off the trail in Yellowstone National Park's hot springs area on Monday, according to the National Park Service. (Daniel Slim/AFP)
Authorities said her husband and the dog were not injured.
The National Park Service says that because the ground in these areas is thin and fragile, and there is hot water just below the surface, visitors should stay on boardwalks and trails in the hydrothermal areas and use extreme caution.
Pets are not permitted on walking trails, hiking trails, backcountry or hot spring areas.
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A tourist photographs Old Faithful as it erupts as scheduled in Yellowstone National Park. A 60-year-old woman was burned by “boiling water” after walking off the trail in a hot spring area of Yellowstone National Park on Monday, according to the National Park Service. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Deep in the plumbing system of Old Faithful, the park's most famous geyser, water temperatures can exceed 400° F. The geysers and other hot springs are evidence of ongoing volcanic activity beneath the park.
The National Park Service said this is the first burn injury reported at the park this year. Monday's incident remains under investigation and no further information was provided.
The most recent heatstroke death occurred in July 2022, when a 70-year-old Los Angeles man died in an unwitnessed accident in a hot spring in the West Thumb Geyser Basin. The man's shoes were found floating in the hot springs several weeks after his disappearance.
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The sinter cone of Old Faithful Geyser spews steam between eruptions in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. (John G. Fuller/VW PICS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
In June 2016, an Oregon man died after slipping and falling into a hot spring while searching for a place to “hot pot” in a park, a forbidden practice of soaking in hot springs.
Yellowstone is famous for its wildlife, scenery, geysers and hot springs, and is expected to attract more than 4.5 million visitors in 2023.
