Reckless visitors are destroying Yellowstones iconic thermal pools with trash

A team at Yellowstone National Park has collected over 23,000 pieces of trash as of early October, plus an array of unique items like international coins, golf tees and an inhaler, from geysers, hot springs, boardwalks and surrounding areas.Aside from paper and plastic debris, the Yellowstone Geology Program retrieved roughly 10,700 rocks and sticks, more than 360 hats and plenty of camera lens caps, hair ties and pacifiers, National Geographic reported.Other quirky finds included five AirPods, three Delta flight pins and a singular Uno card, as well as dental retainers and rubber ducks.It has been a record-setting year for trash collection, which is managed by the park’s geology team.The team is trained in safe hydrothermal navigation practices, according to the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.In 2025, Yellowstone welcomed over 4.7 million visitors, according to the National Park Service.With such a large volume of people coming into the park, debris builds up, especially in high-traffic areas like Old Faithful and the Midway Geyser Basin.Some of the garbage that’s collected, such as food wrappers and maps, is possibly deposited unintentionally, swept away by the park’s strong winds.“We believe that most of those are accidental,” Margery Price, a physical science technician with the Yellowstone National Park Geology Program, told National Geographic.Any type of foreign material can harm a hydrothermal feature, either by clogging the water supply, polluting the water or blocking its runoff channel, according to the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.Even natural materials like rocks and sticks still need to be removed, as they can cause clogging.Trash can also change the chemistry of the springs.Chemicals from microplastics can enter the water and affect the microbes that live in the pools and provide them with their distinctive hues.Morning Glory Pool, named after the blue flower, changed color in the 20th century due to trash and various foreign items bein...