The best Parks & Campgrounds Travel Reference books: Reddit reviews

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tell that to all the poor fools who died doing that. https://www.amazon.com/Death-Yellowstone-Accidents-Foolhardiness-National/dp/1515963462. I remember reading this book at every gift shop I went to in yellowstone park. I never bought it, but if we were at a gift shop I would look for it read it while my parents browsed around and stuff. But I remember reading about people walking up to bears to take a picture with, and one woman who died after a bear put his paws on her chest ripping her breasts off.

If you're talking about the 1981 David Kirwin incident at Celestine Pool in Fountain Paint Pots (and I suspect that you are), I feel obliged to point out that it wasn't his dog. It was his friend Ronald Ratliff's dog. Quick plug for <em>Death in Yellowstone</em> by my friend Lee Whittlesey, former YNP historian.

There's actually a whole book detailing all of the people who have died in the Canyon over the years. The overwhelming majority of deaths can be attributed to being young and male. There's also a maybe not surprisingly large number of guys who died while peeing off the side of the Canyon.

Thank you so much! I will listen to it tomorrow!

You should read Death in the Grand Canyon. It tells stories about every documented death in the canyon. I have such a better respect for National Parks now. The authors don’t mince words either, so it can almost be funny as well.

Edit: here’s the amazon link for it: Over The Edge: Death in Grand Canyon, Newly Expanded 10th Anniversary Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0984785809/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_sDpDBbDA82ED6

It’s on kindle one as well.

Thank you for sending me these rabbit holes! My evening is now complete. I honestly don't know which would be worse: falling into the vast blue ocean and watching your only means of survival fading into the distance, or falling hundreds of feet onto a pile of rocks and other debris.

I actually almost mentioned the Grand Canyon but I wasn't sure if a segue like that would be relevant to the conversation at hand.

As for falling down the stairs: Now that I can believe! I slipped on my stairs last September and fell halfway down. I had a huge contusion on my right forearm, but thankfully nothing was broken there. My left foot, however, sustained three broken toes and a laceration on my great toe that required nine sutures. I thought I had degloved the tip of my toe, but I hadn't. I just bleed a lot.

The falling sensation, however, was frightening, so I can't imagine how horrible it must be to fall from an enormous height.

EDIT: Here is a link to a book on Amazon about Grand Canyon-related deaths. Looks like it might be an interesting read.

Apparently some kid jumped into Grand Prismatic and all that was left of him were his shoes that he left on the boardwalk.

I lived in the park a bit. First thing I was told safety-wise was: forget bears. They want nothing to do with you. Falling off of and into things is the #1 cause of death in YNP.

There’s actually a book that gets updated regularly with some crazy stories, Death in Yellowstone .

My apologies if I came off as an ass, whiskey tends to corrode my filters. You were right about the heat part, I just thought I would give my two cents about the pH. This is the first time my studies have actually been relevant to a reddit discussion so I couldn't resist. I'm glad people find hot springs as interesting as I do!! I wish I could have gotten into the discussion when the post was first starting but oh well. Before each field expedition, we're required to read the first chapter of &quot;Death in Yellowstone&quot; which details that story about the dude and his dog. Its crazy how fast you can die in YNP, bears, bison, hot springs, tourists in 60 foot long RVs, its just plain absurd.

death in yellowstone

> I’m positive I’m not up for the Grand Canyon

My wife and I were camping at Bryce Canyon NP and were planning to go to Grand Canyon NP later and do some hiking. But I bought this book detailing deaths in Grand Canyon at the Bryce general store, and there's a huge section on people who die hiking it. The biggest issue is the "reverse mountain" effect. Unlike a mountain hike where if you turn around when you get tired you have an easier hike back to the beginning, hiking Grand Canyon is easy downhill to start, and then if you get in trouble trying to return, you're in serious trouble.

We were already experiencing the "reverse mountain" thing at Bryce a little because the park road is at the top of the ridge and all trails go down. We decided GC was probably too dangerous.

You'd probably think this guy was especially careless, but nope. There's an entire book about this phenomenon: https://www.amazon.com/Over-Edge-Canyon-Expanded-Anniversary/dp/0984785809/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=BW0RKM267T7T&amp;keywords=death+in+the+grand+canyon+book&amp;qid=1662060734&amp;sprefix=death+in+the+grand+ca%2Caps%2C129&amp;sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/Over-Edge-Canyon-Expanded-Anniversary/dp/0984785809

Some MUST have a death wish - some have bad luck - some are too stupid to be alive....

Here you go: https://www.amazon.com/Over-Edge-Death-Grand-Canyon/dp/097009731X

I came here to tell people about this book lol. I’m glad someone was actually discussing it. I got this book at a gift shop at the Grand Canyon years ago after a park ranger told me about it. It’s written by a park ranger and has exactly what you’re looking for.

I've read that book, it's very interesting. There are books by another author called <em>Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon</em> and <em>Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite</em> that I would highly recommend as well.

I walked the Grand Canyon rim to rim two years ago and two people died from falls while we were hiking. I watched the recovery by helicopter of one of the bodies. I read this book before Hiking, it makes you take the Grand Canyon seriously.

https://www.amazon.com/Over-Edge-Death-Grand-Canyon/dp/097009731X

They know people are that stupid. If you'd like to read just how stupid, look for Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon. Average of 2 to 3 deaths per year caused by falls, mostly to young men showing off, just like this video. (Yes, this is Bryce and not Grand. Same idiocy applies.)

The book "Death in Yellowstone" will help understand the history of the place and a lot of the tragedies that have occurred there. https://www.amazon.com/Death-Yellowstone-Accidents-Foolhardiness-National/dp/1570984506

When we visited the park I bought the enlightening book Death in Yellowstone at the gift shop. Great tent reading! And graphic!

Great book to read on the stupidity of humans out in the wild https://www.amazon.com/Death-Yellowstone-Accidents-Foolhardiness-National/dp/1570984506/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=bf5d8777-02bd-4c3c-ba3d-05681fab874a

There is a book Over The Edge: Death in Grand Canyon which details deaths and stuff from the Grand Canyon which may have more details on that incident.

This trail is mentioned several times in a book that I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys this subreddit called "Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon" to anyone who enjoys this subreddit

Google Books - Amazon.com

Many of the other comments have excellent advice.

I worry, though, about "moderately active [not sure how to calibrate that] first-time backpackers" taking on a first-time Grand Canyon hike in the hottest time of the year. It's easy to underestimate the heat standing at the top, and by the time you realize you have a problem you're typically deep down in the Canyon and have a long hike back to the top. Heck, in GC even the lizards estivate in June. :)

I recommend reading this post about deaths in GC by month, and also the book Over The Edge: Death in Grand Canyon. In the end it's your decision whether to do the hike in June or not, but you should at least have a good understanding of what you'd be signing up for.

One of many crazy events detailed in the book (Death in Yellowstone)[https://smile.amazon.com/Death-Yellowstone-Accidents-Foolhardiness-National/dp/1515963462]

I have no connection to this book other than owning it, so don't think this is an ad. It's just a really interesting book.

A Climber’s Guide to Glacier National Park by J Gordon Edwards. 14 hikes later, created a foundation such that the rest is history.

Honestly I have a bit of a skewed perspective having worked there in the summers of 2009 and 2010. I wouldn't want to go unless I had at least a week to devote to visiting the park but a lot of it depends on what you want to do there. If you're into backpacking a weekend won't cut it. If you're just going to drive up to the viewpoints then you can get by with just a couple of days.

Additionally, if you're able to cross into Canada, the Waterton Park across the border (The combined parks are called Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park) is stunning as well. And if you really have some time to mess around in CA, Banff National Park is only about 3 hours away just outside Calgary.

Must See in GNP if you go (off the top of my head):

• Drive over Going to the Sun Road (with a stop and easy hiking from Logan's Pass)
• Glacier Park Lodge and Many Glacier Hotel (I worked at MGH). The views just from Many are amazing and it's an easy hike to multiple glaciers and Iceberg Lake.
• Two Medicine Lake
• Chief Mountain
• and many, many more

If you are into more than just basic trail hiking I highly recommend the Climber's Guide. It'll tell you exactly how to get wherever you want to go in the park and how difficult it is.

Chapter 1 in Death in Yellowstone recounts a guy jumping into a boiling hot spring to save his dog. Absolutely heartbreaking story.

Start here: Your Guide to the National Parks: The Complete Guide to all 59 National Parks (Second edition) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1621280675/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_VJDC375DHT55YJ0BHBBV

Spend time getting to know the parks. Their locations relative to major cities, airports, interstates, family, etc. Get to know their seasons and when best to visit. Get to know how big they are and how long you would need to spend their to explore the whole park. Get to know accommodations, costs, popularity, is it better for kids or teens etc.

From there I would suggest starting small. Hit the closest parks. Get familiar with what family activities interest you: hiking, bird watching, kayaking, biking, ranger programs, guided tours, back country camping, etc. knowing what activities you want to do helps shape your whole trip.

The closer parks will allow you to make sure your child isn’t too young to remember that once in a lifetime family trip to summit Denali or something. As your family grows up, you can all contribute to the planning aspects of a long distance trip so stay small and local for now.

Eventually you will have a baseline knowledge of the parks and road trips to hit a group of parks will become apparent (northern Cali, big 5, pacific NW, I40).

I would also look at the entire NPS program, a lot of monuments and historic battlefields are more common in your neck woods and can provide just as great of an experience.

This is a great source:

Maps of the Disney Parks: Charting 60 Years from California to Shanghai (Disney Editions Deluxe) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1484715470/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_ZG2FTZAEQV0PTQPKAK60

Death in Yellowstone - Lee H. Whittlesey

I just read this book last month and couldn't help but think of it as you said "you won't see me going up to pet one in the middle of the forest". Oh man! Let me tell you. People are fucking stupid. There are stories in this book of people wanting to put their toddler child on the back of a WILD BISON so they could take a picture. Or the woman who would get a bear to stand on it's hind legs for candy. Ever been clawed by a dog or a cat as they try to slow their own decent after coming down off their hind legs? Okay now envision that was a bear. It was a really entertaining book but I absolutely had a bunch of WTF moments and I've been pretty jaded by the Darwin Awards long before this.

I was at the Grand Canyon for the first time this month where I went with a group tour. The tour guide told us about the catelogued history of the deaths in the book you are speaking about, Deaths in Grand Canyon, which is for sale in the Grand Canyon shop

(This book)[https://www.amazon.com/dp/097009731X/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_T34FH3HT1C7SS0C639YC], which I bought on my last trip to the Grand Canyon a few years ago (and highly recommend), would confirm that assumption.