Three Hikers Die in Grand Canyon National Park in Less Than a Month

A 50-year-old man from Texas was found dead in Grand Canyon National Park on Sunday, according to the National Park Service, the third hiker to have died at the park in less than a month.

The cause of the man’s death has not been determined, but it occurred during a heat wave consuming the Western United States. Park rangers have posted several heat advisories in recent weeks, warning visitors against hiking into the canyon in the middle of the day as exposed parts of the trail can reach over 120 degrees. The National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning for Grand Canyon elevations below 4,000 feet that started on July 4.

The man, whose name has not been released, was found unresponsive on the Bright Angel Trail, about 100 feet below the trailhead. The National Park Service said he was hiking back up to the rim of the canyon from an overnight stay at Havasupai Gardens campground, which is about 3,000 feet below the trailhead.

On June 29, another Texas man was found semiconscious before becoming unresponsive and dying on a trail on the canyon floor along the Colorado River. The man, Scott Sims, 69, was attempting to reach his lodging site, Phantom Ranch, via the South Kaibab Trail, which is considered “steep” by the National Park Service.

On June 16, a 41-year-old man who had been hiking on the Bright Angel Trail was found dead. He was walking out of the canyon after staying at the Bright Angel Campground, according to the Park Service, which did not provide the man’s name.

The causes of death have not been determined in either case.

Grand Canyon National Park, in northern Arizona, attracts millions of visitors each year, many of them hikers who descend thousands of feet from the rim of the canyon to the Colorado River below. Heat can increase by 5.5 degrees with every 1,000 feet lost in elevation, and the park urges caution to all hikers from May to September, according to the park’s hiking information.

A few hundred miles west of the Grand Canyon, in Death Valley National Park, a motorcyclist died from heat exposure on July 6, when temperatures reached 128 degrees. Another visitor in the same party was transported to advanced medical care for heat illness treatment.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area, which straddles Nevada and Arizona, warned visitors before the July 4 weekend to protect themselves from excessive heat. The park has seen two heat-related deaths so far this year, on June 29 and June 30.

More than 250 people are rescued from the Grand Canyon each year, according to hiking information provided by the National Park Service. From 2007 to March 2024, 198 visitors died in the park, 39 of them while hiking, according to National Park Service data.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .