Yellowstone lifted the remaining Old Faithful-area closures after a May grizzly incident

Yellowstone National Park lifted the remaining temporary trail, backcountry-campsite and fishing closures near Old Faithful on July 6, following a May 4 encounter in which two hikers were injured. The park said staff had surveyed the Mystic Falls Trail area and found no recent bear activity, including fresh tracks, scat or feeding sites. That assessment returned the area’s bear-related risk to the level Yellowstone expects on its other trails at this time of year.

The correction matters because the incident was not an open-ended shutdown. The park initially closed a defined area northwest of Old Faithful while investigators worked and emergency responders had handled the injuries. It then reopened portions in stages before ending the remaining bear-related restrictions. Visitors should still pay attention to any live closure posted by the park; a separate closure at Biscuit Basin is connected to hydrothermal activity, not the bear encounter.

What the park said happened near Mystic Falls

On the afternoon of May 4, two male hikers, ages 15 and 28, were injured on the Mystic Falls Trail near Old Faithful. National Park Service emergency workers, law-enforcement personnel, EMS staff and interagency partners responded, and the hikers were taken from the area by helicopter. In its subsequent update, Yellowstone said the evidence indicated that an adult female grizzly with two or three cubs of the year was involved. The park did not present a fuller account of the close encounter, and it said the matter remained under investigation.

That restraint is important. A bear incident is not automatically proof that a bear is aggressive, and a responsible account should not invent behavior that investigators have not established. Yellowstone’s public notice uses the less dramatic language of an incident in which visitors were injured. It does identify the likely bear family group, the location and the safety steps that followed. Those are the facts visitors can act on without turning a limited agency report into a broader claim about the animal.

The closures were temporary and changed as conditions changed

The first closure covered land west of Grand Loop Road between the north end of Fountain Flat Drive and Black Sand Basin. It included several trails, specified backcountry campsites and fishing on the Firehole River and its tributaries in the closed area. Geyser-basin boardwalks stayed open, along with Midway Geyser Basin, Black Sand Basin and a portion of the Grand Prismatic Overlook route. That distinction was easy to miss in a short headline, but it is the difference between a targeted management action and a closure of Old Faithful itself.

Yellowstone reopened several trails, campsites and fishing areas on May 23, while keeping some restrictions in place as its inquiry continued. By July 6, it said it had lifted the remaining closures tied to the incident. The park’s decision was based on surveys of the Mystic Falls area and surrounding terrain. It did not say that bears had vanished from the landscape. It said that the extra, incident-specific risk no longer appeared different from the risk that normally exists on Yellowstone trails.

Why a lifted closure is not a promise of a bear-free hike

Yellowstone is bear country well beyond remote backcountry trails. The National Park Service says visitors can encounter grizzly and black bears across the park, including around developed areas. Its advice is practical: stay at least 100 yards from bears, carry bear spray and know how to use it, stay alert, make noise, keep groups together, use maintained trails and avoid hiking at dawn, dusk or night. A group of three or more is recommended because groups are less likely to surprise a bear.

Bear spray is a last line of defense, not a substitute for awareness. The park says it is designed to create a cloud that can deter an aggressive bear at greater range than human pepper spray. Visitors should keep it accessible rather than buried in a pack. If a close encounter occurs, the guidance is to keep the group together, back away slowly, avoid sudden movements and do not run. Any conflict, even a minor one, should be reported to a ranger or to 911 when service is available.

Check current conditions before choosing a route

Conditions in Yellowstone can change for reasons that have nothing to do with wildlife: weather, trail damage, seasonal work, flooding, geothermal hazards and separate wildlife management actions can all affect access. The park’s backcountry-conditions page is the appropriate live record for trail and campsite status. A story about a May encounter and a July reopening cannot replace that page months later.

The durable takeaway is narrower and more useful than the original claim. Two hikers were injured near Old Faithful; Yellowstone temporarily closed selected nearby areas; and, after staff evaluated the area, it lifted the remaining bear-related closures on July 6. That sequence shows why visitors should treat notices as time-stamped safety directions, not as permanent descriptions of a place.

The National Park Service’s incident and reopening updates document the dates and closure changes. Yellowstone’s bear-safety guidance, bear-management information, and backcountry conditions page, along with NPS’s broader bear-safety advice, explain the continuing safety context and where to verify access.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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