Hold on to your hats: Yellowstone team finds bizarre items while tidying up
Hundreds of hats have been blown off people’s heads while visiting Yellowstone National Park, and there’s a team of experts picking them up.
Yellowstone National Park sees over four million visitors each year. It’s the first national park in the world to be established but is most famous for its amazing geysers, such as Old Faithful. Yellowstone’s Geology Program team has been working to keep the national park’s geysers and hot springs clean while they carry out their research. Some of their findings have been quite bizarre, to say the least.
High winds in the park’s hydrothermal area, where the geysers and hot springs are, have resulted in plenty of garbage being whisked away from visitors.
SEE ALSO: When to pack it in: Here's how much wind speeds can affect your hike
However, the area is delicate, and even natural debris, such as twigs and rocks, can irreversibly upset the geologic marvel. The Morning Glory pool lost its famous deep blue colour after decades of visitors treating the hot spring as a garbage can. The pool was even nicknamed the “garbage can” in the 1950s, according to the United States Geological Service.
Members of the Yellowstone Geology Program work to clean up litter and debris from the park and its boiling waters. This helps to preserve the natural beauty of the geysers and springs, keeping the waters hot and flowing.
As of the beginning of September, the team has cleaned up over 13,000 pieces of trash. In addition to the trash, the team has picked up over 300 hats!
A portion of the hats found by members of the Yellowstone Geology Program in 2025. (National Park Service photo by Margery Price)
Among the team’s favourite finds are a fake Louis Vuitton bucket hat and a baseball cap that says “I PEE IN THE LAKE.”
The huge hat collection is estimated to be worth up to $6,000 USD.
Other, non-hat-related, favourite finds by the team are a single Birkenstock sandal, a pizza box with pizza still inside of it, and a Polaroid photo of Excelsior Geyser, ironically found within that very geyser’s crater.
The team does more than just picking up trash, though. They are also responsible for putting up signage, removing graffiti, and educating visitors.
If you ever visit Yellowstone, make sure to hold on to your hat and put your trash in a proper garbage can!
Thumbnail credit to the National Park Service, with photos by Samantha Hilburn and Margery Price.