Pierce Brosnan is in hot water, accused of trespassing in a Yellowstone thermal area

Pierce Brosnan is in hot water, accused of trespassing in a Yellowstone thermal area

Brosnan walked in an off-limits area at Mammoth Terraces, in the northern part of Yellowstone near the Wyoming-Montana line, on November 1, according to two federal citations issued Tuesday.

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Brosnan, 70, is scheduled for a mandatory court appearance on January 23 in the courtroom of the world's oldest national park. The Associated Press sent a request for comment to his Instagram account Thursday, and email messages to his agent and attorney.

Yellowstone officials declined to comment. Brosnan was in the park on a personal visit and not for film work, the US Attorney's Office for Wyoming said.

Mammoth Terraces is a scenic spot of mineral-encrusted hot springs bubbling from a hillside. They're just some of the park's hundreds of thermal features, which range from spouting geysers to gurgling mud pots, with water at or near the boiling point.

Going out-of-bounds in such areas can be dangerous: Some of the millions of people who visit Yellowstone each year get badly burned by ignoring warnings not to stray off the trail.

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