Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. — A New Hampshire woman suffered severe burns to her leg after hiking off-trail in Yellowstone National Park and falling into boiling water at a thermal area near Old Faithful geyser, park officials said.
The 60-year-old woman from Windsor, New Hampshire, accompanied by her husband and their leashed dog, was walking on a designated trail near the Mallard Lake trailhead Monday afternoon when she broke through a thin scab above the water and suffered second- and third-degree burns to her lower leg, park officials said. Her husband and the dog were not injured.
The woman was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho, for treatment.
National Park Service / Jacob W. Frank
Park visitors are urged to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and use extreme caution. The soil in these areas is fragile and thin, and there is boiling water just below the surface, park officials said.
Pets are allowed in some developed areas of Yellowstone Park, but they are prohibited on parkways, 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 caused more injuries and deaths in Yellowstone National Park than any other natural feature, the National Park Service said. At least 22 people have died from hot spring-related injuries in and around the 3,400-square-mile national park since 1890, park officials said.
