Breaking key national park rule gets one woman jail time

Another park visitor captured 44-year-old Angela Flaherty on video.

Apr 7, 2025 - 12:59

Breaking key national park rule gets one woman jail time

While all national parks have rules around staying on designated trails, the laws are even more strictly enforced in areas where wandering off can lead to particularly dangerous situations.

As one of the country's most beloved and most frequently-visited national parks, Yellowstone is known not just for its array of rare wildlife like the bison but also the over 10,000 geothermal features spread across its 2,221,766 acres. Famous ones like Grand Prismatic Spring and Old Faithful can reach surface temperatures of as much as 198°F (92°C).

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Another visitor comes too close to Old Faithful, gets jail time

Going off-trail near geysers and hot springs in particular can lead to a steep fine in a good scenario and serious injury in a bad one — in September 2024, a 60-year-old New Hampshire resident sustained second- and third-degree burns to her leg after accidentally walking into a thermal area near the park's Mallard Lake Trailhead.

While avoiding physical injury, a Seattle woman was metaphorically burned when another park visitor captured video of her coming within 10 feet of Old Faithful (the geyser known for shooting streams of hot water into the air sees particularly high numbers of tourists breaking through the allowed safe distance for photographs).

44-year-old Angela Flaherty pled guilty to violating a federal law requiring visitors to stay on marked trails and was sentenced to seven days of incarceration in a local Wyoming jail on March 19, according to a press release that just came out from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Wyoming,

The Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone looks particularly beautiful at night.

'Some of the conduct was captured on video by another park visitor'

"Ms. Flaherty left the boardwalk and viewing area surrounding Old Faithful geyser and walked approximately 10 feet onto the cone of Old Faithful," the press release announcing the sentence reads. "Some of her conduct was captured on video by another park visitor."

Flaherty was also ordered to recoup the $40 in court costs; it is not immediately clear whether she has already served her sentence or whether, as has happened before in some such cases, it was suspended.

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While visitors caught off the marked trail away from geothermal areas usually get away with a fine, Flaherty is not the first Yellowstone visitor to get slapped with jail

In November 2024, 64-year-old Colorado Springs resident Joseph Aita was also sentenced to seven days in jail after entering the protected area of the park's Mammoth Hot Springs with his wife and two children. Aita's sentence included a $3,000 fine, five years of probation and a lifetime ban from Yellowstone's bounds.

In April 2025, 25-year-old Georgia resident Yiyang Shen was similarly sentenced to seven days and a fine after parking his car in a thermal part of Yellowstone Canyon in October 2024; he was caught after rangers discovered the tire tracks and footprints.

"Mr. Shen was charged with operating a motor vehicle in a prohibited area in a manner that caused damage to park resources and foot travel in a thermal area not confined to any designated and marked trail or boardwalk," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in the release.