Colorado man on river trip to Grand Canyon found dead, marking 7th fatality since July

A Colorado man on a river trip to the Grand Canyon was found dead over the weekend, officials said Monday, marking what appears to be the seventh death at the park since July 31.

Patrick Horton, 59, was on day 10 of a non-commercial trip along the Colorado River when others in his party found his body Saturday morning near the river, the park said in a news release.

Rangers were dispatched to an area known as Poncho’s Kitchen at 5:30 a.m. and found Horton’s body, according to the release.

An investigation into Horton’s death by park officials and the local medical examiner’s office is ongoing, the release said. No cause or manner of death was provided.

Other deaths at the Grand Canyon since July 31 include a woman who was swept away by flash floods, a boater whose vessel flipped in the Colorado River, a BASE jumper whose parachute failed, a college student who fell to his death from an overlook, a North Carolina hiker who went missing on a remote trail and a woman from New Mexico whose body was found below the Grand Canyon’s South Rim.

The park did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

The Grand Canyon recorded an average of 17 deaths per year between 2014 and 2023, a park spokeswoman said previously.

The spokeswoman, Joëlle Baird, said extreme heat and increased visitor activity during summer months present challenging conditions at the park and have prompted an increase in the number of dangerous incidents and fatalities.

Since 2019, between 2 million and 5 million people have visited the Grand Canyon each year, park data shows. Park data that looked at mortalities between 2014 and 2019 shows that “photographing” was the most lethal recreational activity at the Grand Canyon.