Denali National Park In Alaska Was Just Named One Of The Most Dangerous Parks In The Country
Alaska has earned its name “The Last Frontier.” We have the most unexplored wilderness, the tallest mountain peaks, and the most fantastic spread of wildlife that you’ll find in any state in America. To have these all combined in one spot; well, we’re not surprised that Denali National Park was named the most dangerous park in Alaska. In fact, it ranked sixth most dangerous park in America, from data collected from the National Park Service by Outforia. This stunning, amazing, beautiful park has a darker side, because much of the beauty here is from its untamed, unexplored wilderness.
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Denali National Park makes the top of many people’s bucket lists.
The park boasts the largest mountain in North America, its namesake Denali. It also covers 6 million acres of untouched wilderness, taking you back to a time before man made its mark on much of the United States.
The number one cause of death in this park? Environmental exposure.
Accidents happen, and the weather can change rapidly. With those out exploring the backcountry of Denali, being unprepared for a change of weather could literally spell out death.
The second greatest cause of death is actually from falls.
This isn’t too surprising, as we have a healthy community of mountaineers who love to summit our great peaks in the Alaska Range, especially Denali herself.
One death so far has been attributed to drowning inside the park.
Two have been caused by motor vehicle crashes. It’s so important to take stock of where you are, and what’s around you drive into the park. Even though you can only access 13 miles in your private car, there’s still tons of wildlife on the road, as well as other drivers, and perilous conditions.
With the reputation Denali has of seeing incredible wildlife, you’d think there would be dozens of reports of animal attacks, possibly resulting in death.
But visitors will be relieved to find out that only one death has occurred from a wild animal in the park. More surprisingly, eight deaths have been attributed to transportation: that could be flight seeing, or even riding a bicycle in the park.
Denali National Park may rank in sixth place nationally, but this is calculated by counting how many deaths the park has seen in total.
Denali National Park should actually be considered far more dangerous. The 601,152 annual visitors to Denali are a mere fraction of the amount of visitors that the larger parks see. The percentage of visitors to Denali National Park who have been killed, out of the total annual visitors, would actually push this national park to the number one spot as most dangerous national park in the United States.
So the next time you head out into Denali National Park, make sure to do so with plenty of information and knowledge about where you’re headed.
You’ll want to be well prepared and well advised of the weather, your route, and with a safety person back home who knows where you are. Make sure to practice common sense while exploring our gorgeous national park!
Did you know the most dangerous park in Alaska was Denali National Park? What did you think? Did finding that out surprise you? Let us know in the comments below!
Megan McDonald is a writer, photographer, and owner of an Alaska-based media company. She spends her free time traveling with her husband and daughter, and loves to see and experience new things!
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