Park officials said evidence points to a female grizzly with two or three cubs born this year.
MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. — Two male hikers were injured Monday afternoon on Yellowstone National Park’s Mystic Falls Trail near Old Faithful, prompting helicopter evacuations and temporary closures while park officials investigate a bear encounter.
The National Park Service said the injured hikers are 15 and 28, and emergency responders, including law enforcement, EMS personnel and partner agencies, treated them at the scene before they were flown from the area. Park staff now believe a female grizzly bear with two or three cubs born this year was involved, based on evidence collected so far.
The attack happened May 4 on a popular trail in the park’s western side, near a busy corridor of geyser basins, meadows and forest. Yellowstone first announced the incident May 5, saying two hikers had been hurt by one or more bears and that the case remained under investigation. Craig Lerman, a Maryland hiker, told a Wyoming news outlet that he saw bear tracks, then found a bloody hat and a damaged watch before hearing one injured man calling for help. “Help. Help me,” Lerman said the man called out. Lerman said he reached the hiker, called 911 from his own phone and stayed nearby until rangers arrived on foot.
Officials have not released the hikers’ names, hometowns or full medical conditions. Regional reports said the two are brothers and were taken to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, though the Park Service did not include a hospital destination in its public update. The agency said there were no known visitors inside the closed backcountry areas after the response. The closure covers the area west of Grand Loop Road from the north end of Fountain Flat Drive to Black Sand Basin. It also includes Fairy Falls Trail north of the Grand Prismatic Overlook, Sentinel Meadows Trail, Imperial Meadows Trail, Fairy Creek Trail, Summit Lake Trail, six backcountry campsites and fishing along the Firehole River and its tributaries within the closure zone.
Some nearby areas remain open, including Midway Geyser Basin, Black Sand Basin and the Grand Prismatic Overlook Trail from the Fairy Falls Trailhead to the overlook. The Fairy Falls Trail is closed beyond the overlook, and portions of the Firehole River outside the closure zone remain open to fishing. The Park Service described the closure as temporary and tied it to the investigation. The affected area is close to several of Yellowstone’s best-known thermal features, making the response visible during the spring travel season. Mystic Falls Trail is known for a route leading to a 70-foot waterfall about two miles northwest of Old Faithful.
The encounter drew new attention to the Firehole area, which had been managed for years as a seasonal bear management area. Until spring 2024, parts of the area, including access to Mystic Falls, Fairy Falls and the Midway Geyser Basin Overlook, were closed to recreational access from March 10 until the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. The Park Service decommissioned the 20,670-acre Firehole Bear Management Area in 2024 after officials cited fewer ungulate carcasses and wildlife conflicts there. At the same time, Yellowstone created a new Hayden Valley Bear Management Area in the central part of the park.
Yellowstone uses bear management areas to reduce conflicts in places where grizzly bears gather because of food sources such as elk and bison carcasses. The May 4 attack is the first reported bear injury incident in Yellowstone this year. The last visitor injury from a bear happened in September 2025, when a solo hiker was hurt on the Turbid Lake Trail northeast of Yellowstone Lake. The park’s most recent fatal bear attack occurred in 2015 in the Lake Village area, when a 63-year-old Montana man was killed while hiking alone. Yellowstone draws more than 4 million visits each year, and bear attacks inside the park remain rare.
No criminal process has been announced. The next steps rest with park investigators and wildlife managers, who are reviewing field evidence, witness accounts, bear activity and the exact location of the hikers when the encounter occurred. Officials have not said whether the bear or cubs have been located, whether the hikers surprised the animals or whether any carcass or other attractant was nearby. In past Yellowstone cases, managers have weighed whether a bear acted defensively or showed unusual behavior before deciding whether to monitor an area, keep closures in place or take action involving the animal.
Lerman said the injured hiker he found was cold and wet, so he placed a shirt over him while dispatchers gave instructions by phone. He said two rangers reached the area first, followed by a helicopter and additional emergency workers. He also said he did not see the second injured hiker. Park officials have not confirmed all details from witness accounts, and their public statement left several facts unresolved, including the exact sequence of the attack and how far apart the two hikers were when responders arrived. The scene described by witnesses placed the encounter on a wooded trail near mud, tracks and scattered personal items.
As of May 7, temporary closures remained in effect northwest of Old Faithful while Yellowstone staff continued the investigation. The next public milestone is expected to be a park update on the closed trails, campsites, fishing areas and any confirmed findings about the grizzly and cubs.
Author note: Last updated May 7, 2026.