Yellowstone's Greatest Threat To Visitors

Above, visitors gather the watch an eruption of Yellowstone's Old Faithful Geyser. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

When one is out in the "Great Outdoors", anything can happen and at any time.

Such is the case with Yellowstone National Park, perhaps even more so.

The Casper Star-Tribune has an article on what is the greatest threat to park visitors, and it is not what one might think.

They begin with:

Summer is upon us! And for many, that means vacation time. What better place to take a holiday than Yellowstone? But while enjoying the spectacle of America’s first National Park, please keep safety in mind.

In fact, there are many ways to get injured or even die while visiting Yellowstone National Park. As reported in the book “Death in Yellowstone,” there have been numerous causes of death throughout the region’s history, including violent confrontations between people, wagon accidents, falling trees, poisonous gases, drownings, falling into hot springs, and, of course, encounters with wildlife. Even in the past few years, news stories have reported bison gorings/tossings, bear attacks, and fatal falls from selfie moments gone awry.

However, contrary to common belief, one of Yellowstone’s biggest dangers to the public is not the abundant and diverse wildlife that millions gather to see, nor even human error, such as falls or traffic accidents.

 To see what the "greatest threat" to visitors is, go here.