Someone’s truck flipped in Yellowstone National Park’s Hayden Valley on Sunday, requiring a massive crane to come retrieve it.
Bozeman photographer Mike MacLeod was driving through Hayden Valley around 11 a.m. Sunday with his wife, Barbara, when they encountered the incident. The truck, which appeared to be a red Ford F-150, was upside down in Alum Creek along the Grand Loop Road.
“From what I could see, the cab was at least partially submerged by the time we got over there,” MacLeod told Cowboy State Daily. “They had a couple of ambulances there, the road was cordoned off, and they were controlling traffic through there.”
MacLeod got some information from the rangers at the scene. Apparently, the red truck might not have been at fault for its predicament.
“It was still under investigation, but the driver reported being cut off,” he said. “It was a husband and wife inside. The wife was able to get out of the vehicle, but the husband needed help. They both seemed to be OK.”
Traffic was delayed for roughly an hour as a large crane maneuvered into place to retrieve the vehicle. The massive machine lifted the tethered truck and carried it to a nearby pullout so traffic could resume.
The truck was battered, with the roof and hood severely dented, but otherwise intact.
Hard Landing In Hayden
The stretch of the Grand Loop Road through Hayden Valley can be one of Yellowstone’s more treacherous roads to those who aren’t familiar with it.
The two-lane road is elevated, sometimes dozens of feet, above the Yellowstone River floodplain. Those spots are flanked by water or wetlands on either side.
“They have placed cones or even logs at places where tourists generally pull over,” MacLeod said. “They want to keep people away from the edge of the road because the drop is so abrupt.”
MacLeod said it’s also one of the more difficult roads to maintain. Between being closed for the entire winter and the relentless summer traffic, finding time to make any repairs or improvements can be tricky.
Earlier that morning, MacLeod helped a young Italian family change a tire on their rental car in almost the exact spot where the F-150 flipped over. They had been riding on the shoulder of the road, which destroyed the tire.
“Right afterward, Barbara remarked that it was surprising that cars weren’t regularly rolling off the narrow roadway,” he said. “Imagine our surprise when we returned later in the day to see this.”
Traci Kanaan of Berea, Ohio, was driving through Hayden Valley when she encountered the scene. She said the responding rangers used the traffic delay as an educational opportunity to talk about why Yellowstone’s wolves, bears, and grizzlies are important and shouldn’t be touched.
“Thankfully, the couple is OK” she said. “They didn’t land in a boiling hot geyser or mud pit. The environmental crews came out to ensure gas, oil, and other car fluids didn’t damage the environment. None of the nearby bison were injured, and no one else was injured.”
Fishing For Vehicles
When a vehicle gets stuck in Yellowstone, park officials call in the professionals. As long as vehicles are reasonably close to the road, they can be retrieved without much issue.
In July 2024, a vehicle carrying five people drove into Semi-Centennial Geyser, a 105-degree acidic pool. The occupants escaped with non-life-threatening injuries, but the vehicle was completely submerged.
Hanser’s, a heavy-duty towing and recovery service based in Billings, Montana, was called in to retrieve the vehicle. With assistance from the U.S. Water Rescue Dive Team, they managed to do so.
Hanser’s specializes in difficult vehicle recoveries. In July 2025, they recovered a fully loaded semi-truck that slipped off a narrow, winding section of U.S. 14-A on the western slope of the Bighorns.
“With our team and the unbelievable amount of equipment we have, we can mobilize and handle things like that, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Hanser’s co-owner Shel Hanser. “We’re ready to go, all the time, to do the best we can to be safe, handle traffic, and get people moving. That's always our goal.”
MacLeod believed the crane that recovered the F-150 was from Hanser’s but couldn’t confirm.
Accidents happen in Yellowstone, but Sunday’s incident in Hayden Valley might have been avoided if whoever may have cut off the truck had driven more considerately. That, at least, is what MacLeod was told.
“The driver (told the ranger) that he’d been cut off, but who knows,” he said. “Who knows why that happened, or if (the road) had anything to do with it, but we helped that Italian family at the same spot earlier that day.
"For us, it was odd that one occurred right after the other.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
