The five deadliest national parks...

[DGUtley]

The five deadliest national parks...


Apart from their immense natural beauty, perhaps one of the most exhilarating things about the national parks is that they do not treat visitors with kid gloves. With the exception of some guidelines around permits, campsites, and Leave No Trace education, they let travelers explore and play at will, experiencing their wonders largely free from guardrails and supervision. Of course, with this privilege comes a certain amount of danger. Outforia recently submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the National Park Service to uncover which parks were the most deadly and what the most common causes of death were. It goes without saying that many of these parkswere also the most touristed, but the causes of death may seem surprising and warrant a second thought about how to tour safely.

1. Grand Canyon, Arizona - Death Count Since 2010: 134

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2. Yosemite, California - Death Count Since 2010: 126

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https://www.outsideonline.com/242212...rce=digg#close

[jigglepete]

Looks like Yellowstone needs to up their game

[donttread]

Interesting stuff. I wonder how many are Darwin Award types?

[countryboy]

Looks like Yellowstone needs to up their game

If the Yellowstone Caldera blows, it'll take the blue ribbon by orders of magnitude. https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/yellowstone

[hanger4]

The lovely and gracious Ms. Hanger4 and I live in the foothills of the Great Smokey Mountains of NC and Tenn. is just up the road a piece. We learned rather quickly the Blue Ridge Parkway is a fricking madhouse with tourists especially on weekends. Picnics and outings for us are normally done during the first and middle of the week.

[Standing Wolf]

I'm surprised that Yellowstone's death toll isn't higher, given its extremely wild and rugged nature. But then, I've read that they do restrict visitors' movements there quite a bit out of necessity.

Yes, between the heat and...well, gravity...the Grand Canyon is bound to be Numero Uno. I don't do well with heights and have gotten worse with age, for whatever reason. I've lived in Arizona since 1993 and have never gone to the Grand Canyon, because for me it would be a wasted trip. I wouldn't be getting within fifty yards of any cliff edge, and it would probably go something like this.

[Admiral Ackbar]

I was at Badlands National Park last summer. A few weeks earlier some idiot got gored by a Bison because she got right up on it to take a selfie of course. She didn't die but she did generate some warning literature when you entered the park! LOL