Tickets issued for tourists walking on Old Faithful Geyser cone

An alert webcam viewer halfway across the country tipped off rangers in Yellowstone National Park this week when he saw members of a tour group walking on the Old Faithful geyser cone. When park rangers arrived they found about 30 people walking around the geyser cone and taking pictures.

"They're out there in the evening walking in this fragile area near a geyser that erupts every 90 minutes," a ranger said. "When you're putting out thousands of gallons of scalding hot water that can spew hundreds of feet into the air, people could have been seriously hurt."

Park rangers issued three citations for being off-trail in a thermal area. The $125 tickets were issued to the group leader, the bus driver, and one other person. Group members said they didn't see any signage indicating the dangers or the park's rules that visitors stay on the boardwalk, though signs are prominently posted throughout the area--and should be common sense to most people.

This wasn't the first time a webcam viewer had notified park rangers of visitors walking off the boardwalks and onto the cone of Old Faithful. In 2009, six visitors were spotted urinating in the geyser cone. They were convicted of various charges, fined up to $750, and banned from the park for two years.

Every year several visitors are burned by the park's thermal features because they didn't adhere to park rules. RVers should know better, but let this be a reminder that not only are such areas fragile and easily damaged, but thermal areas can be dangerous--even life-threatening--as well.