Yellowstone Removes Record 20,100 Pieces of Trash From Hydrothermal Areas, Including 54 Lens Caps

Yellowstone National Park's Geology team has removed more than 20,100 pieces of trash from the park's hydrothermal areas as of early September, a record amount, according to the latest weekly Caldera Chronicles post from Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, as reported by DPReview. The debris threatens features such as Old Faithful, the Midway Geyser Basin, and Morning Glory Pool, which famously changed color in the twentieth century after visitors threw trash and objects into it. Foreign material can clog a feature's water supply, block or divert its runoff channel, or pollute it with chemicals and sediment, the observatory writes. With 4.5 million annual visitors across the park's 2.2 million acres, litter accumulates both accidentally and intentionally; items dropped in sensitive areas often cannot be safely retrieved. Among this year's finds were more than 280 hats, including a World Cup hat and a Roblox bucket hat, which will be washed and donated to local organizations, plus $18 in coins collected over the summer. Lens caps are the most common plastic item recovered, with 54 collected, spanning Nikon and Canon brands and including a particularly large Nikkor cap, alongside camera body caps, binocular caps, and a lens hood. Seven instant prints were also lost in hydrothermal areas this year. The observatory advises visitors to stash wrappers and tissues deep in pockets or bags, secure hats in windy conditions, and stay on trails and boardwalks.