Pierce Brosnan pleads not guilty to illegally hiking at Yellowstone

Pierce Brosnan pleads not guilty to illegal hiking at Yellowstone

Brosnan was accused on illegally entering protected thermal areas
Deleted photos posted by the actor showed him in the restricted area
Brosnan was reportedly in Wyoming filming a movie

Updated: Jan 17, 2024 / 06:05 PM CST

FILE – Pierce Brosnan appears at the premiere of “Black Adam” in London on Oct. 18, 2022. Brosnan’s first solo art exhibition, titled, “So Many Dreams,” runs through May 21 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP, File)

(NewsNation) — Pierce Brosnan has pleaded not guilty to illegally entering protected thermal areas of Yellowstone National Park after receiving citations in November, according to new court filings.

The “James Bond” actor, 70, was issued citations for walking “in all thermal areas and w/in Yellowstone Canyon confined to trails” and “violating closures and use limits” on Nov. 1. He was originally ordered to appear at the Yellowstone Justice Center on Jan. 23.

Brosnan entered his plea Jan. 4, according to court records, and a judge granted his request to cancel his scheduled Jan. 23 court appearance. Instead, a virtual hearing was scheduled for Feb. 20.

Last month, TMZ published photos posted and then deleted by the actor that appear to show him in the restricted areas.

According to Yellowstone National Park’s website, the park is home to a variety of hydrothermal features, including geysers, hot springs, mud pots (acidic hot springs that dissolve the surrounding rock), fumaroles, or steam vents and travertine terraces, which are hot springs that rise through limestone, depositing calcite into terraces.

In its guidelines for safely exploring the hydrothermal features, the park warns that “more than 20 people have died from burns suffered after they entered or fell into Yellowstone’s hot springs.”

“Boardwalks and trails protect you and delicate thermal formations,” the park warns. “Water in hot springs can cause severe or fatal burns, and scalding water underlies most of the thin, breakable crust around hot springs.”

Brosnan walked in an off-limits area at Mammoth Terraces in northern Yellowstone near the Wyoming-Montana line on Nov. 1.

Brosnan was reportedly in Wyoming filming the upcoming Western “Unholy Trinity” alongside Samuel L. Jackson at the Yellowstone Film Ranch in Paradise Valley. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Wyoming said that Brosnan was in the park on a personal visit and not for film work.

Getting caught can bring legal peril too, with jail time, hefty fines and bans from the park handed down to trespassers regularly.

TMX contributed to this report.