YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — On June 26, another video was posted to the “Tourons of Yellowstone” Instagram page of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) visitors illegally leaving the boardwalk and disrupting thermal features.
The video showed one of two men walking across Grand Prismatic Spring. This comes after a video was posted earlier this week of two people leaving a boardwalk to touch to Silex Spring. Videos have also been posted of tourists approaching wildlife at prohibited proximities.
YNP does not allow visitors to leave boardwalks and touch thermal features, including Grand Prismatic Spring, as it can damage the fragile ecosystem and cause severe burns or even death if the thin crust of bacterial mat breaks. Temperatures at Grand Prismatic Spring are near boiling, ranging in different spots from 145.4 to 188.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
YNP told Buckrail the Park is aware of the videos and rangers are investigating.
If anyone has any information on visitors who violate Park rules, YNP asks it to be reported to the 24-hour anonymous tip line at 307-344-2132.
