Dinosaur National Monument is one of the deadliest canyon parks in the country: Study

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A recent study looked at deaths in America’s national parks and monuments with canyons or canyonland, and it found that Dinosaur National Monument is one of the deadliest canyon parks in the country.

The study by Antelope Canyon chose national parks and monuments considered to be canyons or canyonland from a National Parks Service (NPS) list. It then used NPS data about park visitations and deaths over the past ten years (2014-2024). The deadliest parks were decided based on the number of deaths per million visitors, so some parks may be considered deadlier than others even though a smaller total number of people died there.

Dinosaur National Monument had nine fatalities over the past ten years, for 2.42 fatalities per million visitors. Six of those deaths were caused by drowning. While Dinosaur National Monument was one of the deadliest canyon parks, it was ranked number 7 on the list of deadliest parks.

Canyonlands National Park was the tenth deadliest canyon park over the past decade, with 17 deaths and a rate of 2.13 deaths per million visitors. The most common cause of death was falling.

The deadliest canyon park was Big Bend National Park in west Texas, with 30 fatalities over the past decade and a rate of 6.01 deaths per million visitors. The most common cause of death was a medical emergency during physical activity.

Here’s a chart showing the top 5 deadliest canyon parks in the U.S.

Rank	National Park	Fatalities over the past decade	Fatalities per million visitors	Most common cause
1.	Big Bend National Park (TX)	30 people	6.01	Medical (Physical activity)
2.	Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks (CA)	68 people	5.46	Fall
3.	Guadalupe Mountains National Park (TX)	7 people	3.22	Medical (Physical activity)
4.	Colorado National Monument (CO)	15 people	3.04	Motor vehicle crash
5.	Little River Canyon National Preserve (AL)	18 people	2.88	Drowning

Utah’s other canyon parks fared much better, and they are statistically safer.

Bryce Canyon National Park was the third safest park in the country. It had only 6 fatalities over the past decade, for 0.25 fatalities per million visitors. The most common cause of death was a medical emergency during physical activity.

Capitol Reef National Park ranked fifth for the safest canyon parks, with 8 fatalities over the past ten years for a rate of 0.65 deaths per million visitors. The most common cause of death was motor vehicle crash.

Zion National Park was also one of the safest canyon parks, as the seventh safest park. It saw a relatively high number of deaths over the past decade, at 33 fatalities, but per million visitors, that is only 0.70 deaths. The most common cause of death at Zion National Park was falling, which caused 14 deaths over the past decade.