Actor Pierce Brosnan fined for Yellowstone off-path hike

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MAMMOTH, Wyoming – Actor Pierce Brosnan received a much more lenient sentence than that requested by the U.S. Attorney's Office for straying off a path at Yellowstone National Park in 2023.

The 70-year-old Malibu, California, resident was fined $1,540. Of that, $500 was the fine and $1,000 was destined for the Yellowstone Forever Geological Fund. The rest of the money wasfor administrative fees.

An assistant U.S. Attorney had requested a sentence of two years probation and a maximum fine of $5,000.

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Pierce Brosnan attends the UK Premiere of "Black Adam" at Cineworld Leicester Square on October 18, 2022 in London, England.

(Dave J Hogan / Getty Images)

"Mr. Brosnan pleaded guilty to foot travel in a thermal area," officials sated in a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice in Wyoming. "According to court documents, on or about Nov. 1, 2023, Brosnan uploaded pictures to his Instagram page of himself standing on a Yellowstone National Park thermal feature at Mammoth Hot Springs."

He also posted a photo of a new hat with the caption: "A new hat from Aspen Hatter, Austin Texas… making memories in Montana."

Signs posted in the area prohibit visitors from leaving the designated boardwalk and trails. The National Park Service said that the thermal features are fragile and dangerously hot at times. The ground in thermal areas is very thin, and scalding water with acid sits just below the surface.

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Cleopatra Terrace sign at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. (Photo by: Jerry Lee Whaley/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

(Jerry Lee Whaley/Education Images/Universal Images Group  / Getty Images)

"Trespassing on thermal features is dangerous and can harm delicate natural resources within the park," officials said in the release. "Additionally, the park was established primarily to protect these hydrothermal areas."

The official charge was "foot travel in all thermal areas and within Yellowstone Canyon" and "violating closures and use limits," according to the U.S. District Court of Wyoming docket.

The Mammoth Hot Springs feature "natural plumbing," a series of fractures and fissures through the limestone deposited millions of years ago when the area was a sea. Mountain snow and rain seep into the ground and are heated by either a large magma chamber under the Yellowstone Caldera or a smaller heat source, according to the NPS.

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Palette Spring at Mammoth Hot Springs;Jim Peaco;June 2015;Catalog #20197d;Original #IMG_7079

(NPS/Jim Peaco / FOX Weather)

The steam and hot water bubble up to the surface. A bit of carbon dioxide dissolved in the water creates a weak carbonic acid which dissolves the calcium carbonate in the limestone. The calcium carbonate is deposited as travertine at the surface, creating the stunning terraces, according to the NPS.