YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — A 29-year-old man was injured by a bear in a surprise encounter this afternoon while hiking alone on Turbid Lake Trail in Yellowstone National Park (YNP), the park announced Tuesday.
The incident occurred about 2.5 miles from the Pelican Valley Trailhead in the Pelican Valley Bear Management Area, YNP stated. The man was hiking alone when he came upon the bear near the lake. As the man began to deploy bear spray, the bear made contact, causing “significant but non-life-threatening injuries to his chest and left arm,” YNP said.
National Park Service medics responded, and the hiker was able to walk back to the trailhead, where he was transported via park ambulance to the Lake Medical Clinic before being flown to a nearby hospital for treatment, YNP said.
Turbid Lake Trail, located northeast of Mary Bay in Yellowstone Lake, is now closed until further notice. YNP said its bear management staff is sweeping the trail to ensure no other hikers are on the trail.
“The hiker thought the bear was a black bear; however, the location, size and behavior of the described bear suggest it might have been a grizzly bear,” YNP’s statement reads. “Bear management staff will attempt to confirm the species through DNA analysis, if possible.”
YNP stated that no management action would be taken against the bear, which acted in self-defense during a surprise encounter. The incident remains under investigation.
The last YNP visitor to be injured by a bear was also a solo hiker, traversing the Beaver Ponds Trail in Mammoth Hot Springs in May 2021. In 2023, a woman was found dead from an apparent grizzly bear encounter outside of park boundaries near West Yellowstone, Montana.
Park visitors are encouraged to remember these tips to avoid surprise bear encounters:
- Carry bear spray and know how to use it.
- Be alert. See the bear before surprising it. Watch for fresh tracks, scat and feeding sites (signs of digging, rolled rocks, torn up logs, ripped open ant hills).
- Make noise.
- Hike in groups of three or more people.
- Stay 100 yards away from bears at all times.
- Stay on trail and don’t hike at dawn, dusk or at night, when grizzlies are most active.
- Don’t run from a bear.
