Female Hiker Dies in Great Smoky Mountains Park
Getty/Billy McDonald
A fatal accident occurred over the weekend on a heavily traveled trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. According to park rangers, a 65-year-old woman died after falling roughly 60 feet from a cliff along the Alum Cave Trail on Saturday. Authorities have not yet released her identity as they continue efforts to notify her family.
The Alum Cave Trail is among the park’s most frequently used hiking routes because it leads toward Mount LeConte, one of the park’s most visited destinations.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park stretches along the border between Tennessee and North Carolina. Park officials say fatalities do occur each year, though many of them are the result of vehicle accidents or drownings rather than hiking incidents.
A separate analysis ranked the park as the fourth most dangerous national park in the United States, documenting 104 deaths between mid-2013 and mid-2023. More than one-third of those deaths were connected to vehicle crashes.
About Post Author
