Two hikers were injured Monday afternoon in a bear attack on the Mystic Falls Trail near Yellowstone National Park, a heavily traveled route that loops to a 70-foot waterfall near the Midway Geyser Basin. Emergency crews with the National Park Service responded quickly after the encounter.
Officials said the attack was a single incident involving one or more bears, but they have not yet identified the species. Park officials temporarily shut down the surrounding area, including multiple trails and backcountry campsites.
The injuries were the first from a bear attack in Yellowstone in 2026, and the last similar incident came in September 2025, when a hiker was hurt on a trail northeast of Yellowstone Lake. Bear attacks are rare in the park even as it draws more than 4 million visitors each year, and the last fatal attack inside Yellowstone was in 2015.
Yellowstone is home to both grizzly and black bears, and park officials are again urging visitors to keep at least 100 yards away, carry bear spray, make noise and hike in groups. The closures show how quickly one encounter can ripple across the park, and the immediate question now is which bear was involved and whether the shutdowns will remain in place through the week.