A fiery van crash in eastern Idaho, claiming the lives of six, and possibly seven, foreign nationals, serves as a stark reminder of the hidden dangers lurking beyond the scenic beauty of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.
While visitors flock from across the globe to witness the region’s iconic geysers and majestic wildlife, the roads they travel can pose threats as perilous as any grizzly bear or geothermal pool.
The fatal collision occurred Thursday on a highway just west of Yellowstone, involving the tourists’ van and a pickup truck. Both vehicles were engulfed in flames following the impact.
Survivors were transported to hospitals for treatment, while authorities confirmed the deceased tourists hailed from Italy and China.
Details surrounding the van’s origin and intended destination remain unclear.
The accident underscores the challenges posed by Yellowstone’s seasonal road closures, with some routes, including the one south of Old Faithful, still inaccessible after a heavy winter snowfall.
The highway where the tragedy unfolded, located south of West Yellowstone, Montana, provides a crucial link between Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks during this time of year. It serves as a vital artery for visitors before the traditional north-south route is cleared of snow and the park fully opens for the summer season.
This incident highlights the precarious nature of travel in the region, where even seemingly picturesque byways can harbor unforeseen dangers.
National parks draw visitors from worldwide
According to the most recent data from the International Trade Administration, 36 per cent of international visitors who arrived to the U.S. by air listed visits to national parks and national monuments as their top leisure activity while in the U.S.
Seventeen percent of Yellowstone’s visitors came from other countries in 2016, according to a park visitor use study with the most recent comprehensive data available.
Visitors from Europe and Asia accounted for the majority of travelers from outside the U.S., with 34 per cent from China, 11 per cent from Italy and 10 per cent from Canada.
The COVID-19 pandemic changed those numbers significantly, said Brian Riley whose Wyoming-based business, Old Hand Holdings, markets the Yellowstone region in China and runs tours.
“Every Chinese is taught how great Yellowstone is in their elementary school,” Riley said Friday.
The pandemic put a sharp brake on tourism of all kinds but especially from China, which has yet to recover, Riley observed. Now, visits by people already living in the U.S. account for most visits by Chinese, he said.
“Foreigners in general they don’t feel safe over here like they did before,” Riley said Friday. “The Chinese are kind of preaching that behind the scenes.”
The U.S. tourism industry expected 2025 to be another good year for foreign visitors. But several months in, international arrivals have been plummeting. Angered by President Donald Trump’s tariffs and rhetoric, and alarmed by reports of tourists being arrested at the border, some citizens of other countries are staying away from the U.S. and choosing to travel elsewhere.
Riley, who grew up in Jackson, Wyoming, just south of Grand Teton and lived in China for a time to learn Mandarin and why Chinese wanted to visit the U.S., is more focused of late on getting them to visit Hawaii, a state perceived as less dangerous.
Yellowstone’s crowds peak in the summer, but international tourism peaks in spring and fall, according to Riley and West Yellowstone Mayor Jeff McBirnie.
Many foreign visitors are parents of international students at U.S. colleges and universities.
“They’re like, ‘Hey let’s drop our kid off and go on vacation for a week.’ Or kid’s graduating, let’s get them through college and go on vacation,’” said McBirnie, who owns a pizza place in town. “They really bring a huge economic impact to this town.”
Yellowstone suffered a one-two punch between the pandemic and devastating floods in 2022 that cut off access to parts of the park for months.
Tourism rebounded with 4.7 million visitors last year, Yellowstone’s second-busiest on record.
A ‘legion’ of road deaths over the past century
Winding roads and natural distractions help fuel numerous accidents in and around the park.
The first death involving a passenger vehicle in Yellowstone came just a few years after the park was completely motorized and a fleet of buses replaced the stage coaches and horses used for transport in the park’s early years.
In 1921, a 10-passenger bus went off the road in the Fishing Bridge area of the park and down an embankment, killing a 38-year-old Texas woman when her neck was broken, according to park historian Lee Whittlesey.
Whittlesey in his book Deaths in Yellowstone chronicles deaths by all means – from drownings in hot springs, to bear maulings, airplane crashes and murders. Auto deaths, Whittlesey wrote, are “legion” in the park, to the point that he felt them too ordinary to include in his tally of fatalities.
Another accounting of deaths in Yellowstone says at least 17 people died inside the park in motor vehicle crashes since 2007, ranking it the second most common cause of deaths behind medical issues.
Whittlesey presaged the chapter of his book covering road deaths with a quote attributed to the 15th century soothsayer Mother Shipton: “Carriages without horses shall go, And Accidents fill the world with woe.”
