Two hikers were injured Monday afternoon when they encountered one or more bears on the Mystic Falls Trail near Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park.
National Park Service emergency services personnel responded to the incident on May 4. The investigation remains ongoing, and officials have released no further details about the hikers’ identities, ages or the extent of their injuries.
This marks the first incident of a bear injuring a visitor in Yellowstone in 2026. The last such injury occurred in September 2025, and the last bear-caused fatality in the park was in 2015.
In response, park officials have temporarily closed several trails, backcountry campsites and fishing areas west of Grand Loop Road from the north end of Fountain Flat Drive to Black Sand Basin.
Closed features include the Fairy Falls Trail north of the Grand Prismatic Overlook, Sentinel Meadows Trail, Imperial Meadows Trail, Fairy Creek Trail, Summit Lake Trail, backcountry campsites OG1 through OD5, and sections of the Firehole River. Midway Geyser Basin and Black Sand Basin remain open, along with portions of the Firehole River outside the closure zone.
The Mystic Falls Trail is a popular loop hike featuring a 70-foot waterfall and sits in one of the park’s busiest visitor areas. Yellowstone attracts more than four million tourists each year, and bear attacks are rare.
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