The many ways to die at the Grand Canyon
- Of the dozen people who, on average, die each year in the canyon, relatively few fall to their deaths
Attention, Grand Canyon visitors – watch your step before attempting a selfie from the edge of the vertiginously deep and perilously steep US landmark.
The national park surrounding the enormous canyon – the second-most visited US national park, after the Great Smoky Mountains in the country’s southeast – has experienced a distressing surge in fatal accidents, with at least four visitors dying in as many weeks in March and April.
The views that draw millions to the park in the high Arizona desert are stunning, to be sure, both in their rich earth hues and in the sheer immensity of the gap cleaved over aeons by the unceasing Colorado River as it winds sinuously through the canyon bottom.
But the views can also distract or disorient visitors – some of whom take risks despite park rangers’ constant warnings – and the result can be fatal.
The body of a Japanese tourist was the first one found this spring, located in a wooded area some distance from the rocky cliffs.
