A teen severely burned himself while hiking near a Yellowstone geyser. The 17-year-old experienced "significant thermal burns" near the Lone Star Geyser in Yellowstone National Park. The incident happened on Monday.
According to Cowboy State Daily, the teen had been hiking n the Lone Star Geyser Basin 3 miles southeast of Old Faithful. That's when he journeyed through a thermal area. His foot broke through the thin crust in the area, plunging into scalding water below.
Water temperatures can reach around 160 to 200 degrees. The boiling water significantly burned both his foot and ankle as a result. After the teen experienced the emergency, first responders came to Yellowstone to treat him. They managed to transport him to a local hospital for treatment. But currently, his condition is unknown.
Teen Burned At Yellowstone
Authorities are investigating the incident at Yellowstone. The Lone Star Geyser Basin doesn't have a boardwalk to prevent accidental burns like what happened in this case. It's only accessible via an old service road. Sadly, incidents like this show why the thermal pools can be so horrifying. This marks the first thermal pool-related injury in Yellowstone in 2025. Here's hoping it is the last.
"Boardwalks and trails protect you and delicate thermal formations," the park reports. "Water in hot springs can cause severe or fatal burns, and scalding water underlies most of the thin, breakable crust around hot springs."
The teen may have experienced a costly injury. But at least he still has his life. More than 20 people have died in Yellowstone due to the hot springs in the park. Many of these deaths occured with people having accidentally fallen through the thin crust of the area. That's why they suggest for tourists not to hike off the trail.
Some people believe that the waters are acidic, but it's actually
"People think of the pools like alien blood or something like that," Mike Poland, scientist in charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, told Cowboy State Daily in June. "That's not the way the pools work. The big hot springs are almost all neutral, but they're boiling. That's what causes harm to people and animals."
