Yellowstone trail closed after bear attack on hiker; no immediate update on condition

A Yellowstone National Park trail remained closed Wednesday after a possible grizzly bear attacked a hiker, leaving him with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. The attack occurred Tuesday on the Turbid Lake Trail, about 2.5 miles into backcountry travel northeast of Yellowstone Lake. Park officials said the 29-year-old man encountered the bear and sprayed bear repellent as it began to attack. National Park Service medics walked out with the hiker, who was then taken to a park clinic and flown to a nearby hospital.

The park has not released additional information about the man, including his name or hometown, nor an updated condition. The incident marks the first bear attack in Yellowstone since a grizzly injured a hiker in the Mammoth Hot Springs area in 2021, an attack that allowed the victim to hike out on his own. A grizzly kill near the park occurred in 2023 just west of Yellowstone.

The bear will not be relocated or killed because the attack happened during a surprise encounter and did not exhibit unnatural behavior, park officials said. DNA analysis could determine the species involved. The hiker believed he was confronting a black bear, but the bear’s location, size and behavior suggested a grizzly, according to the park statement. Grizzlies and black bears can be difficult to distinguish, though grizzlies typically grow much larger—up to about twice the size of a black bear.

Grizzlies are federally protected as a threatened species in the lower 48 U.S. states, and their numbers have rebounded from roughly 700 individuals in the 1970s to around 2,000 today. The incident underscores ongoing tensions between backcountry recreation and wildlife management in an ecosystem where bear encounters remain possible, particularly on trail corridors that see steady use during the late summer season.