(COLORADO) — A study done by Triumph Law in California found Colorado is home to one of America’s most dangerous National Parks.
Injury lawyers caution visitors to be careful this summer when visiting the Colorado National Monument, as it has been ranked as one of the top 10 most dangerous national parks. With six deaths per million visits, the park in Mesa County—which receives 441,356 visits on average a year—was dubbed the fourth most dangerous park.
Other National Parks that made the cut with the most deaths per million visits include:
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Organ Pipe Cactus in Arizona, 25.27 deaths per million visits
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Virgin Islands National Park in the Virgin Islands, 10.01
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Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River in New York and Pennsylvania, 6.13
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Colorado National Monument in Colorado, 5.97
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Big Bend National Park in Texas, 5.90
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Denali National Park and Preserve in Arkansas, 5.32
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New River Gorge National River in West Virginia, 5.07
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Redwood National and State Parks in California, 4.50
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Death Valley National Park in California and Nevada, 3.80
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Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, 3.73
According to data gathered for the study, every 29 hours someone dies in an American national park, most commonly due to human factors. Every 11 days, a hiker perishes in a national park. Over the past 11 years, 365 people died while hiking in a national park.
The Rocky Mountain National Park ranked fifth in the Top 10 parks with the most deaths while hiking, with 20 hikers perishing in the park. The top three spots went to Yosemite National Park (31 deaths), Grand Canyon National Park (29 deaths), and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park (26 deaths).
These parks classed these deaths as “hiking.” According to data from the National Park Service Data the leading causes of death in a national park are suicide, motor vehicle crashes, and drowning. Very rarely are they scenarios involving falls, a firearm, asphyxiation, or nature.
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