Yellowstone bear attack: what's closed near Old Faithful right now
Fairy Falls and Mystic Falls are closed after a grizzly attack near Old Faithful. Here's what's still open and where to hike instead
A grizzly bear attacked a hiker on the Fairy Falls Trail near Old Faithful last week, prompting immediate closures across some of Yellowstone's most popular thermal features. The incident happened at dawn on May 17, about two miles from the trailhead, when a solo hiker surprised a sow with cubs near a thermal runoff creek. The hiker survived with injuries to his arm and shoulder after deploying bear spray, but the Park Service has closed multiple trails in the area indefinitely while rangers monitor bear activity.
If you're planning a visit to Yellowstone this month, you need to know what's accessible and what's off limits. The closures affect several key trails and thermal areas within a few miles of Old Faithful, and the park isn't saying when they'll reopen.
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The Fairy Falls Trail remains closed from the trailhead at Fountain Flat Drive all the way to the Imperial Geyser junction, cutting off access to one of the park's most reliable waterfall hikes and the elevated view of Grand Prismatic Spring that everyone wants for Instagram. The Mystic Falls Trail near Biscuit Basin is also closed, along with the backcountry thermal areas around Sentinel Meadows. Rangers have posted signs at every access point, and they're serious about enforcement: violating a trail closure in Yellowstone comes with a mandatory court appearance and fines starting at five hundred dollars.
A grizzly with cubs doesn't care about your vacation schedule, and the Park Service won't reopen trails until she moves her family out of the area.
The good news is that Old Faithful itself remains open, along with the boardwalk to Morning Glory Pool, the Upper Geyser Basin loop, and the overlook trails at Grand Prismatic Spring that approach from the south. You can still see the park's most famous thermal features without running into closure signs. The attack happened in a narrow corridor of forest between thermal basins where bears move between feeding areas in spring, not on the developed boardwalks where most visitors spend their time.
The timing matters. May is peak grizzly season in Yellowstone because bears emerge from hibernation hungry and aggressive, especially females with cubs born over the winter. They're looking for elk calves in the meadows and carcasses left over from winter kills, and they don't tolerate surprises. The park records more bear encounters in May and June than any other months, and most happen on trails that wind through forest between thermal areas where visibility drops to twenty feet.
If you're committed to hiking rather than sticking to boardwalks, head to the south rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone or the Mount Washburn Trail. Both remain open and both offer expansive views where you can see bears long before you're close enough to threaten them. Mount Washburn in particular puts you above treeline for most of the climb, which means you'll spot wildlife from a distance rather than stumbling onto it around a blind corner. The trail gains over fourteen hundred feet in three miles, but you're rewarded with sight lines that stretch across half the park.
Lamar Valley in the park's northeast corner is another solid alternative right now. The valley floor stays open and visible for miles, and you'll see more wolves and bison than you will around Old Faithful anyway. Rangers haven't closed any trails in Lamar, and the wildlife viewing in May rivals anything you'll find in the thermal basins. You'll need binoculars or a spotting scope, but that's the point: distance keeps both you and the animals safer.
The park updates trail closures daily on its website and at visitor centers, but don't expect a firm reopening date for Fairy Falls or Mystic Falls. Rangers wait until the bear and her cubs move to a different drainage, which could take days or weeks depending on food availability and human pressure. The sow involved in last week's attack has been spotted three times since then, all within a mile of the original incident site, which means she's settled into the area for now.
The incident hasn't changed park operations outside the closure zones. Roads remain open, including the loop past Old Faithful and the route through Hayden Valley to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. You can still drive the full circuit of the park without hitting a closure, and the vast majority of thermal features stay accessible via boardwalks that keep you separated from bear habitat. Yellowstone swallows its visitors across terrain bigger than several East Coast states combined, which means a localized closure near one landmark doesn't shut down the rest of the park.
The hiker involved was experienced and doing most things right: he carried bear spray, he knew how to use it, and he deployed it successfully when the bear charged. What he didn't do was make noise on a forested trail at dawn, which is exactly when bears are most active and least expecting human presence. The park requires noise on all backcountry trails during bear season, whether that's talking loudly, clapping, or wearing a bell. It feels silly until you remember that surprising a grizzly is the fastest way to turn a hike into a medical emergency.
Check the park's closure page before you drive to any trailhead, and have backup plans ready. The thermal features around Old Faithful will keep you busy for hours even if half the trails are closed, and the boardwalks let you see geysers and hot springs without worrying about bear encounters. If you're set on hiking, stick to open terrain where you can see what's ahead of you. May in Yellowstone means bears are everywhere, and the smartest visitors adjust their plans accordingly.