Woman Has Third-Degree Burns After Stepping Through 'Thin Crust' into Scalding Water at Old Faithful

Mar. 15, 2025

A sign in Yellowstone National Park pointing towards Old Faithful.Photo:NPS / Jacob W. Frank

NPS / Jacob W. Frank

A woman who visited Yellowstone National Park is now in recovery after she sustained burns from scalding water near the Old Faithful geyser.

The National Park Service (NPS) announced in apress releasethat a 60-year-old New Hampshire woman who was visiting the park with her husband and leashed dog is reportedly suffering from second and third-degree burns to her lower leg, marking the first thermal injury in Yellowstone in 2024.

According to the NPS, the woman, from Windsor, N.H., was walking off-trail in a thermal area near Mallard Lake Trailhead at Old Faithful on Monday, Sept. 16, when she “broke through a thin crust” and slipped below the surface of the land, causing her to come into contact with scalding water.

The woman and her husband went to a Yellowstone park clinic for medical assistance after she was burned, and rangers later transported her to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center via helicopter for treatment, the NPS said. The incident is still under investigation.

TheNPSalso reported that the scalding water in Yellowstone’s thermal areas can result in “severe or fatal burns,” and many hot springs and geysers such as Old Faithful have extremely hot water —as hot as 199°F, more than the boiling point of water — just under their “thin, breakable crusts.”

Old Faithful erupting.Getty

Getty

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In its news release on Monday, the National Park Service warned Yellowstone visitors to take precautions when visiting thermal areas such as geysers and hot springs. Pets are not allowed in thermal areas on boardwalks, hiking trails or in the backcountry in the park, and visitors are asked to stay on trail at all times.

“Visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and exercise extreme caution,” the NPS wrote. “The ground in these areas is fragile and thin, and there is scalding water just below the surface.”

source: people.com