While the country's 63 national parks awe and inspire millions with their beauty, untouched nature also poses major dangers for those who disregard safety instructions or accidentally get caught off guard in an unfamiliar environment.
National Park Service (NPS) data shows that 4,213 people died in national parks between 2007 and 2023. Some recent tragic incidents include a 41-year-old hiker who was found unconscious at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and a 71-year-old man who collapsed from dehydration during the summer heat at Death Valley National Park. Unexpected encounters with large animals such as bison and elk also regularly lead to serious injuries and in some cases even deaths.
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Crunching this NPS data over the last decade, personal injury law firm Triumph Law identified Arizona's Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument as the country's single deadliest national park.
This Arizona national park is so dangerous it got shut down for 11 years
With an average of 215,881 visitors per year and the 60 deaths that occurred between 2013 and 2023, the park known for its tall cactus plants has a rate of 25.27 deaths for every one million visitors. While still a tiny fraction of the total number of people who go in and leave without incident, it is significantly above the second-highest death rate of 10.01-per-one-million at Virgin Islands National Park.
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The Organ Pipe Cactus numbers are so high not because of anything dangerous about the park's geography but because its location near the Mexican border makes it a common crossing point for both drug smugglers and migrants trying to enter the U.S. outside an official border crossing. Every year, people die in the heat or are shot by cartel members hiding out among the desert trails. After park ranger Kris Engle was shot and killed while chasing a cartel squad in 2003, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument was closed down to visitors interested in cacti species for 11 years before reopening again in 2014.
When it comes to more natural dangers, Virgin Islands National Park has the second-highest fatality rate in the country. Along with sandy beaches and coral reefs, the park has cliffs that, while offering stunning views of the Caribbean sea, are a hazard for tourists who get too close to the edge. As the national park is among the country's most remote, visitors who get swept in by the tide while swimming or surfing also cannot always be reached as fast as at a more popular park.
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Going to a national park? Here are some safety rules to observe
Other national parks with high fatality rates include the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River (6.13 deaths for every one million visitors) with its swift current and Colorado National Monument (5.97 fatality rate). The latter park's cliffs and winding Rim Rock Drive are notoriously dangerous for visitors unfamiliar with the terrain.
While safety rules will vary for each national park (in some, one needs to look out for animals while others are prone to weather extremes), the NPS generally advises visitors to "exercise caution" and read up on park specifics rather than assuming that something one wants to try is safe.
"Park officials stress the importance of staying away from rivers, which pose significant risks, specifically due to swift water and slick granite rocks," the NPS recently wrote of the spike in water incidents at Sequoia National Park.
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