Tourist lucky to be alive after nearly plummeting into active volcano: 'What happened to just looking at beauty from a safe distance?'

A tourist is incredibly lucky to be alive after reportedly falling toward an actively erupting volcano in Hawai'i.

The man was visiting Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park in June and fell 30 feet trying to get a closer look at the Kīlauea eruption, per the Your National Parks (@yournationalparks) Instagram page. The 30-year-old man from Boston "wandered off the park's Byron Ledge Trail" and got too close to the cliff edge, falling into the caldera. According to park officials, his fall was broken by a tree, which prevented him from falling another 100 feet to the caldera floor.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Your National Parks (@yournationalparks)

Search and rescue teams were already in the area to control traffic, and he was pulled out via a high-angle rope rescue, only sustaining minor injuries to his face.

At the time of his fall, Kīlauea was erupting and shooting lava 1,000 feet in the air. According to MSN, a child had previously fallen in the same area despite safety warnings. Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park Superintendent Rhonda Loh said in a statement: "National parks showcase nature's splendor, but they are not playgrounds."

Tourists ignoring safety warnings create dangerous situations for themselves, sometimes leading to worse consequences than a few facial scratches. For example, in Yellowstone Park last year, a 60-year-old woman suffered severe burns after she left the trail and walked through the park's famous thermal area, with the crust breaking beneath her, exposing her to extremely hot water.

People are also too eager to push their luck with wild animals, being chased and facing injury from bison, elk, and bears. Some of these encounters lead to the wild animals being euthanized for being a danger, a seemingly unfair outcome from human interaction.

Watch now: Giant snails invading New York City?

It's important to respect the rules associated with wild animals and natural phenomena in national parks and other areas to ensure their long-term survival as well as your own personal safety. The Your National Parks page guided people to the Leave No Trace guidelines, designed to limit human impact on nature while still enjoying its benefits.

People in the comments were disappointed in the man's and other tourists' actions. "What happened to just looking at beauty from a safe distance??" one person wondered.

Another shared that they knew someone who was there on the day of the incident and said they observed "little kids literally inches from the edge and walking on unstable cracked lava crust."

"This is why we can't have nice things! Keep your distance people," a third added.