Grand Canyon National Park — A solo backpacker has been found dead near a rugged and remote trail along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park, authorities in Arizona said Thursday.
The National Park Service said the 60-year-old North Carolina resident was located by helicopter Wednesday along a trail that connects Lower Tapeats and Deer Creek Camps. The two sites are accessible from the North Rim at a bend in the river about 29 miles northwest of Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim.
The man’s name and hometown were not released. The Park Service said he was on a solo multi-day backpacking trip from Thunder River to Deer Creek and was reported missing Tuesday after he failed to check in with a family member.
The Park Service and the Coconino County coroner are investigating the cause and manner of death.
According to a Park Service guidebook, the route between the campgrounds, which are about 4,400 feet (1,340 meters) below the North Rim, offers stunning views of colorful rock walls and canyons, waterfalls and pools that are accessed via steep and sometimes difficult trails.
Servive National Park / M. Graden
It is believed that the walker sixth person dies in canyon in less than a month and the 14th this year. Park officials reported 11 deaths in 2023 and say there are usually about 10 to 15 deaths a year.
Other Recent Deaths at the Grand Canyon
Park officials said an 80-year-old man on a commercial river trip died Sunday after his boat capsized and dropped him into rapids along the Colorado River near Fossil Rapids, about 10 miles upriver from Tapeats Creek. The Park Service said it was investigating the circumstances surrounding his death in cooperation with the Coconino County Medical Examiner.
The body of the 33-year-old was also found on Sunday Chenoa Nickersonfrom Gilbert, Arizona, was found by a group of visitors on a commercial river tour, park officials said. She was reported missing a few days earlier, after she was swept away in a flash flood that hit Havasu Canyon, nearly 20 miles from where she was.
Earlier in August, officials reported that another woman had been found dead about 150 feet below a section of the Grand Canyon rim called Twin Overlooks. She was identified as 20-year-old Leticia Castillo of Albuquerque. Officials said she had likely been missing for three days when they found the body.
Shortly before Castillo was believed to have entered the Grand Canyon, park officials said rangers discovered the body of a BASE jumper who apparently fell to his death after planning to jump from a spot along the park’s South Rim called Yavapai Point — which rises about 4,600 feet above the ground-level river that cuts through the canyon. His body was found next to a deployed parachute about 500 feet below the rim. The man’s identity was not released. Officials said they had opened an investigation into his death and reiterated that BASE jumping, a particularly extreme variation of typical skydiving that can be deadly, is illegal in the Grand Canyon.
One visitor died in late July after accidentally falling off the canyon rim at Pipe Creek Overlook, the national park said. That person was identified as Abel Joseph Mejiaa 20-year-old from North Carolina whose body was found 400 feet below the rim. Officials said people should stay at least six feet away from the rim of the Grand Canyon when visiting the park.
Emily Mae Czachor contributed to this report.
