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Bear Injures Two in Attack at Popular Yellowstone Hiking Trail

Two hikers were injured near the iconic Old Faithful geyser.

Two hikers have been injured in a bear attack at Yellowstone National Park. The pair was traveling along Mystic Falls Trail near the Old Faithful geyser on Monday afternoon when they were attacked. According to a press release from the National Park Service, one or more bears were involved in the attack, which remains under investigation. The area near the Midway Geyser basin was temporarily closed following the attack. A tourist who found one of the hikers told Cowboy State Daily that he discovered a bloody hat and heard a voice shouting, “Help me.” “I was hiking up Mystic Falls Trail when I saw bear prints in the mud,” Craig Lerman explained. “I kept walking a little further and saw a bloody hat with a watch torn off.” While helping the man, he called 911, and park rangers quickly responded, followed by a helicopter. The attack marks the first instance of a bear injuring a person in the park this year, with the last attack taking place in September 2025 when a 29-year-old hiker encountered a bear, sustaining serious but non-life-threatening injuries to his chest and left arm. The last fatality caused by a bear attack occurred in 2015.