Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. — A New Hampshire woman suffered severe burns to her leg after hiking off-trail in Yellowstone National Park and falling into scalding water in 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 over the water and suffered second- and third-degree burns on 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 Park Service / Jacob W. Frank
Park visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and use extreme caution. The ground in these areas is fragile and thin, and there is scalding 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, outdoors, and in thermal areas.
The incident is under investigation. The woman’s name was not released.
This is the first known thermal damage in Yellowstone in 2024, park officials say said in a statement. The park had registered 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 said. At least 22 people have died from hot springs-related injuries in and around the 3,471-square-mile national park since 1890, park officials have said.