Individuals and families that love spending time outdoors find camping destinations a popular pastime. Nothing beats sitting around a roaring fire cooking wienies and marshmallows with just the stars for company.
Jump to:
- 10. Bright Angel Trail
- 9. Death Valley
- 8. Denali National Park
- 7. Glacier National Park
- 6. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area on Lake Powell's Desert Shore
- 5. National Park of the Great Smoky Mountains
- 4. Lake Mead National Recreation Area
- 3. Mount Rainier National Park
- 2. National Monument to Organ Pipe Cactus
- 1. North of The Wave, in Utah and Arizona, are the Coyote Buttes
However, depending on the campground, it may not be risk-free. There are various reasons why some camping destinations are dangerous, ranging from irresponsible thrill-seekers to natural predators and everything in between. The following is a list of 10 such locations in the United States.
10. Bright Angel Trail
The Grand Canyon is one of America's most spectacular natural marvels and a favourite camping site. Bright Angel Trail, with its 4,380-foot drop, is the sharpest path to the canyon's bottom for the more adventurous visitor. For years, it has been known as "The Devil's Corkscrew," posing a serious danger to climbers. In reality, the park installed water, phone, and ranger stations along the route after a spate of fatalities in 1997. Even yet, many campers suffer from dehydration or even heart attacks when the temperature climbs over 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Because of the 200 heat-related rescues each year, the rangers refer to it as a path built exclusively for idiots.
9. Death Valley
On a holiday excursion to the mountains, friends go hiking. Landscape of Death Valley National Park in eastern California and Nevada, United States. Margaret.wiktor/Shutterstock.com is the source of this image.
On a holiday excursion to the mountains, friends go hiking. Landscape of Death Valley National Park in eastern California and Nevada, United States.
Death Valley stretches across southern California and Nevada for more than 140 kilometers. It's a beautiful location for hiking, birding, and astronomy since it's part of the Mojave Desert, but it also has a lot of hazards. One of the greatest dangers, besides dangerous creatures like rattlesnakes, scorpions, and black widow spiders, is the heat.
Summer temperatures may reach 130 degrees Fahrenheit, causing dehydration or even death in unprepared campers. Park rangers also caution against depending too much on your vehicle's GPS. Too many individuals have gone missing in the middle of nowhere, such as the German family that went missing in 1996 and was found thirteen years later.
8. Denali National Park
Denali National Park allows campers to spend the night in the vast Alaskan wilderness. Although it is a really beautiful experience, it is not without risk. Denali is the highest peak in North America, rising 20,310 feet above sea level. Many climbers who try to reach the top are thwarted by bitter cold, blizzards, and avalanches. Over the years, more than 100 individuals have died. Grizzly bears are a very real danger to campers who fail to pack up their food at night or stray too near to a mother and her cubs while out on a trek in the Alaskan wilderness.
7. Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park is situated on the boundary between Montana and Alberta and British Columbia in Canada. It has 734 hiking paths and thirteen different campsites, with a magnificent view of greens, blues, and whites. Fishing, boating, and skiing attract visitors from all over the world. Natural hazards such as rockslides and avalanches, which represent a constant threat to hikers, mountain climbers, and passers-by, must be kept in mind.
Many novice campers are unable to navigate the slick pathways, while others are so blinded by their own self-assurance that they stray too far from the designated routes and die after falling over 500 feet. Grizzly bear assaults have occurred in the park before, notably the notorious Night of the Grizzlies, when two ladies were murdered in separate campsites on the same night.
6. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area on Lake Powell's Desert Shore
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area has 1.25 million acres and spans from northern Arizona to southern Utah. It is a popular location for campers interested in watersports like kayaking and fishing, with huge cliffs overlooking meandering rivers and lakes. Unfortunately, this makes it a hotspot for swimming and watercraft mishaps, as shown by the six fatalities in 10 days in Lake Powell in June 2013.
Cliff leaping is another thing to be concerned about. Guests are not allowed to jump higher than fifteen feet, but some daredevils prefer to take a chance and leap from as high as fifty feet, striking the sea at almost forty miles per hour. Hundreds of people have died as a result of such irresponsibility throughout the years.
5. National Park of the Great Smoky Mountains
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is located in Tennessee and North Carolina, is the most visited national park in the United States. Camping, hiking, skiing, and horseback riding are all popular activities amid the thick woods and mountains. It also has a significant collection of buildings and relics from the early indigenous peoples, which history lovers will enjoy.
Regardless, the park poses many hazards to vehicles, which account for the majority of annual fatalities. Collisions are often caused by hairpin bends, slick roads, and limited visibility due to thick fog. Waterfalls, woodland fires, and even bee stings are all-natural hazards.
4. Lake Mead National Recreation Area
The Lake Mead National Recreation Area is situated on the Nevada-Arizona border, only 24 miles from the glitz and glam of Las Vegas. It is the country's biggest reservoir, transforming a normal brown and orange desert environment into a gleaming blue beauty. Park rangers, on the other hand, are continually warning campers against being lulled into a false feeling of tranquilly.
The water is hazardous, and it has claimed the life of many unsuspecting swimmers and boaters in the past. According to park officials, the problem isn't so much booze as it is visitors' ignorance of the reservoir's inherent power. In 1998, one person died per week on average.
3. Mount Rainier National Park
Mount Rainier, at 14,000 feet above sea level, is the highest mountain in the Pacific Northwest's Cascade Range. It is a popular camping and mountain climbing location, although it is not recommended for novice visitors. Approximately 10,000 people try to climb the mountain each year, but barely half reach to the top before being forced to turn back.
Even in the summer, many individuals are unprepared for the bitter cold and brisk winds that may lead to hypothermia. Avalanches and rockfalls are also a constant threat, with one avalanche killing eleven people in the 1980s. Falling down the mountain, of course, is a distinct possibility. Six climbers died in 2014 while attempting to reach the summit, falling thousands of feet to their deaths.
2. National Monument to Organ Pipe Cactus
The cactuses that dot this vast expanse of Arizonian desert are appropriately called Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. It was designated as an International Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations in the 1970s, and it is often utilised for desert ecological and climate change study.
Campers are allowed to remain, but be aware that the region is home to America's only wild jaguar population. Because of its isolated location and closeness to the Mexican border, it is also a transit point for drug smugglers and human traffickers. Due to the illegal activities, 70% of the park was restricted to campers between 2003 and 2014.
1. North of The Wave, in Utah and Arizona, are the Coyote Buttes
The Wave is a brilliant orange, striped sandstone formation that looks like something out of an M.C. Escher painting, and it's located near the northern Arizona border. It's no surprise that the terrain has been dubbed "The Devil's Playground."
Each day, just twenty guests are permitted. They are given maps and instructions while staying at neighbouring campgrounds and then go off on their own. Hikers should be aware of what they are getting themselves into because of unmarked routes, dizzying topography, poor phone coverage, and temperatures that may reach over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Three people died in a 30-day period in 2013 as a result of extreme heat and cardiac arrests.
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