As the first national park in the United States, Yellowstone National Park‘s 2.2 million acres provide an unparalleled nature experience for visitors and lovers of the outdoors. The park is home to a host of wildlife living in intact ecosystems, remarkable geological features like the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, and a lot of unique hydrothermal features.
Yellowstone contains five types of hydrothermal features, including fumaroles, travertine terraces, mudpots, geysers, and hot springs. All of these features can be quite delicate and dangerous, with water temperatures reaching extremely high heats. That’s why Yellowstone National Park requires that visitors stay on designated trails and boardwalks in hydrothermal areas and never do what this person did.
Yellowstone’s geothermal features are active all year, whether it’s cold around them or not. Snow on the ground doesn’t mean an area is safe to walk in. The water in these features can cause severe or fatal burns, and a thin, breakable crust may be all that’s between you and scalding water. Always stay on the boardwalks and designated trails in these areas. Read more on thermal area safety below.
Yellowstone National Park Thermal Area Safety Guidelines:
Boardwalks and trails protect you and delicate thermal formations. Water in hot springs can cause severe or fatal burns, and scalding water underlies most of the thin, breakable crust around hot springs.
- Always walk on boardwalks and designated trails. Keep children close and do not let them run on boardwalks.
- Do not touch thermal features or runoff.
- Swimming or soaking in hot springs is prohibited. More than 20 people have died from burns suffered after they entered or fell into Yellowstone’s hot springs.
- Pets are prohibited in thermal areas.
- Do not throw objects into hot springs or other hydrothermal features.
- Toxic gases may accumulate to dangerous levels in some hydrothermal areas. If you begin to feel sick while exploring one of our geyser basins, leave the area immediately.