Grand Canyon National Park has had the most fatalities in the National Park System since 2010, according to an outdoor recreation website/Rebecca Latson file.
A review of accident reports from 54 national parks points to falls as the leading cause of death in those parks, with Yosemite (45) and Grand Canyon (27) ranked one and two for falling fatalities. When all causes of death are counted, however, Grand Canyon comes out ahead in terms of fatalities recorded in the parks since 2010.
The data were obtained from the National Park Service by Outforia.com, an outdoor recreation site. But the data come with caveats: not all 423 units of the National Park System were reported on, and 166 of the deaths did not list a cause.
Overall, according to Outforia, there were 603 deaths reported by the Park Service since 2010, with falls (245 deaths) the most frequent cause of death. Another 192 deaths were attributed to an unspecified medical emergency or natural causes.
Grand Canyon reported the most deaths, with 134, while Yosemite reported 126. In third place was Great Smoky Mountains National Park, with 92. Most of the deaths in Great Smoky (37) were attributed to motor vehicle accidents.
Rounding out the top ten in terms of fatalities since 2010 were Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks (75), Yellowstone National Park (52), Denali National Park and Preserve and Mount Rainier National Park (tied with 51), Rocky Mountain National Park (49), Grand Teton National Park (48), and Zion National Park (43).
That Yosemite and Grand Canyon ranked 1-2 in terms of falling deaths isn't surprising when you consider the Mist Trail and Half Dome and the number of visitors who have died in falls from those spots in Yosemite, and in Grand Canyon when you tally the number of visitors who fell to their deaths from the South Rim.
Grand Canyon had the most deaths attributed to medical emergencies or natural causes, with 42, followed by Yosemite, with 26.
Yellowstone led the parks in numbers of visitors killed by wildlife, with three, all tied to grizzly bear maulings.
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Comments
Given the number of visitors I'm somewhat surprised the numbers aren't higher. I wonder how (or if) the places would change if looked at from deaths / visitor. I'm also curious how many of these falls are from technical climbing accidents in places like Denali, Rainier & Yosemite as opposed to falling because you got too close to the edge of a cliff for a better view.
Is there a US National Park that has never had a death?
This list only includes National Parks-If all units are included Lake Mead has the most fatalities most years. Mostly alcohol related boating accidents/drownings.
Yeah was about to say.. back when the NPS had its Morning Reports publicly available, a daily scan of the reports made very much apparent that Lake Mead seemed like a deathtrap in comparison.
These numbers are kind of meaningless without referencing the number of visitors each park gets. It seems like part of the Yosemite and Grand Canyon figures is attributable to the vast number of visits these parks get compared to other parks; hard to say without that context.
You're absolutely right, Bill, and we're working on that angle for another story.
Alan --- thanks for bringing back memories of reading the Morning Reports and feeling I had the 'inside scoop'.