Kayaker found dead in Yellowstone Lake
JACKSON (WNE) — A Colorado man was found dead in Yellowstone Lake on Monday morning.
Yellowstone National Park announced the discovery of Brandon Rhea, 41, of Denver, on Thursday afternoon.
Another group of boaters on the lake found Rhea’s body floating in the water near Rock Point on the northwest shore of the lake, near Bridge Bay, according to a Yellowstone National Park press release.
The National Park Service responded to the scene and recovered the body, a capsized kayak and other personal belongings.
The incident is under investigation and the park is not sharing additional details at this time, according to the press release.
Boating in Yellowstone can present “significant risks,” according to the park’s boating information page. Water temperatures of park lakes are cold in June, or in the 40s Fahrenheit, and typically reach 60 degrees in the late summer.
Estimated survival time in water as cold as in Yellowstone Lake is about 20 to 30 minutes, according to the park.
Strong winds can produce large waves, up to three to five feet high, which can make open-water crossings dangerous, according to the page.
Weather over the weekend was windy, with gusts as high as 32 mph on Saturday and Sunday, according to historical weather data.
Yellowstone Lake is the largest high-elevation lake in North America, according to the park. It is 20 miles long and 14 miles wide. It is 390 feet deep at its deepest point.
A 23-year-old kayaking guide died in Yellowstone Lake in June 2017 while working to help a client who had capsized.
At the time, the Jackson Hole Daily reported that the lake had claimed 41 lives since 1894. The 2017 death was the first since 1997, when two canoeists capsized.
This story was published on June 12, 2026.
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