Pierce Brosnan Cited for Walking in Restricted Yellowstone Geothermal Area

Pierce Brosnan has been issued a citation for walking in a restricted area at Yellowstone National Park.

According to legal documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times, the actor received the citation for "foot travel in a thermal area" at the Wyoming park.

As the National Park Service's Yellowstone safety website notes, visitors to the park must "always walk on boardwalks and designated trails" as thermal formations can pose a serious danger. Water from the hot springs "can cause severe or fatal burns, and scalding water underlies most of the thin, breakable crust around hot springs," the website states, further noting that "toxic gases may accumulate to dangerous levels in some hydrothermal areas."

According to the Times, the offense took place on Nov. 1. The park official cited 36 CFR 7.13(j) of the Yellowstone National Park Code for Regulation. The subsection states that "foot travel in all thermal areas and within the Yellowstone Canyon between the Upper Falls and Inspiration Point must be confined to boardwalks or trails that are maintained for such travel and are marked by official signs."

Brosnan has a mandatory court appearance on Jan. 23 at a U.S. District Court in Wyoming. He has been filming the movie "Unholy Trinity," which also features Samuel L. Jackson and David Arquette, in a neighboring location in Montana.

The expansive 2.22-million-acre park is known for its over 10,000 thermal geological features, including geysers, hot springs, and steam vents. More than 20 people have died in thermal features in Yellowstone since 1890, NBC News reported.

Earlier this year, a man from Michigan suffered burns from thermal sources at Yellowstone after he entered a restricted area while intoxicated. He is facing federal criminal charges and has pleaded not guilty.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Wyoming said in a statement that the man was deemed a "danger to himself or others."