Why Straying From Yellowstone's Boardwalks Can Land You In The Hospital (Or Just Jail, If You're Lucky)

The Yellowstone Caldera, a massive dent in the ground left over from the last eruption of the Yellowstone Supervolcano, is a lidded cauldron almost one-and-a-half times the size of the state of Rhode Island. And where it bubbles to the surface, it does so in beautiful and impressive displays of color, water, and force. These spectacles may draw you in for a closer look, but remember — these are volcanic forces coming to the surface. The colors of Grand Prismatic Spring are formed by many elements coming together in a delicate dance of geology, thermal heat, and microorganisms,  and this dance can be disrupted by a footstep in the wrong place. On the other hand, a fall down the hot steps of Mammoth Hot Springs, or into the ground around Old Faithful, where the thermal pressure is powerful enough to shoot a spout of water 10 to 20 stories high, could seriously damage your delicate human body. Straying off the established paths and boardwalks that surround Yellowstone's geothermal marvels is not only illegal, it can be downright deadly.

Millions of tourists flock to Yellowstone National Park every year to gaze at these marvels. If you schedule your trip during the best times of the year to visit Yellowstone, you will be able to reduce the number of people jockeying for position at the various thermal attractions. One thing that never goes away, though, is the fact that walking beyond the railing and onto the thermals can land you in jail, the hospital, or the morgue.

In November 2022, the foot of a California man was found floating in the Abyss Pool of the West Thumb Geyser Basin. Nobody knows what led him to fall in, but regardless, it's a pretty grisly outcome. In summer 2024, the Abyss Pool was measured at 181 degrees Fahrenheit. For perspective, water temperatures of just 140 degrees Fahrenheit can cause severe burns in just a few seconds. Other pools can be even hotter. In 2016, one week saw a 23-year-old man die after he walked off the boardwalk in Norris Geyser Basin and fell into a hot spring, and in a separate incident, a 13-year-old boy being carried by his father fell into a hot spring after his father slipped. The boy had to be hospitalized. Another group merely landed on the wrong side of the law over a trespassing incident, though more on that later.

More recently, in July 2025, a 17-year-old boy suffered significant burns when his foot broke through a crust on a thermal feature. Despite the fact that all of these incidents and many more have made national news, people still decide to walk off the boardwalks and paths set up around and above these features for the sole purpose of keeping you safe. If controlled pathways don't fit your idea of the proper way to experience nature, perhaps you'd have more fun visiting the uncrowded, pristine Custer Gallatin National Forest that surrounds Yellowstone. Not only will it save you the possibility of getting scalded, but it might also save you a federal court case that could land you with fines or jail time.

In 2016, a group of influencers was caught walking off the boardwalk on the bacteria mats surrounding one of Yellowstone's most iconic thermal features, Grand Prismatic Hot Spring. Warrants were issued for their arrests, especially after it was discovered they were the same people who had violated regulations in several other federally protected sites in the U.S. One of the men ended up being charged $8,000 in penalties and got a 5-year ban from any U.S. lands protected by the U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In 2020, two men were sentenced to jail time for thermal trespassing at Old Faithful. Yet the scofflaws keep coming. On August 4th, 2025, a man walked on the sensitive bacteria mats at Grand Prismatic, in flip flops no less, to grab some hats that had blown off the boardwalk. 

Sadly, the list could go on and on. Maybe self-focused people might say the penalties are excessive at spots where people didn't get hurt. Yet the restrictions on straying from established boardwalks and paths aren't just for personal safety. The magic of many of these features relies on a delicate ecosystem that can get disrupted by going where you're not supposed to. America's National Parks system is considered by many to be one of the nation's greatest gifts to its citizens and the world. All of the parks are worth a visit, and just perusing a complete list of every National Park in America could fuel a lifetime of adventure. Yellowstone's protections and regulations are in place to ensure its natural wonders can continue to inspire people from all over the world for time immemorial. For that reason alone, it's vital that you follow the rules and just stay on the boardwalk.