Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. — A New Hampshire woman suffered severe burns to her leg after hiking off the beaten path in Yellowstone National Park and falling into scalding water at a thermal area near Old Faithful geyser, park officials said.
The 60-year-old Windsor, New Hampshire, woman was walking with her husband and their leashed dog off a designated trail near the Mallard Lake Trailhead Monday afternoon when she broke through a thin crust above the water and suffered second- and third-degree burns to her lower leg, park officials said. Her husband and dog were not injured.
The woman was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho for treatment.
National Parks Service / Jacob W. Frank
Park visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and to use extreme caution. The ground in those areas is fragile and thin, and there is boiling water just below the surface, park officials said.
Pets are allowed in limited, developed areas of Yellowstone Park, but are prohibited on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry, and in thermal areas.
The incident is under investigation. The woman’s name has not been released.
This is the first known thermal injury in Yellowstone in 2024, park officials said in a statement. The park had recorded 3.5 million visitors through August of this year.
Hot springs have injured and killed more people in Yellowstone National Park than any other natural feature, the National Park Service says. At least 22 people have died from injuries related to hot springs in and around the 3,471-square-mile national park since 1890, park officials said.
