Man dies after 200-foot fall from ledge in Grand Canyon

The man left the trail and approached the edge of the canyon before falling to his death

A man died after falling more than 200 feet into the Grand Canyon, officials said.

The man, who has not been identified, was visiting the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona when he reportedly fell in at a location west of Bright Angel Point Trail.

According to WoodTV8, the Grand Canyon Regional Communications Centre was notified that a visitor had fallen from the rim into the canyon and dispatched rangers to the location.

Rangers searched the area and found the 44-year-old man's body 200 feet below the rim of canyon. The rangers said the man had left the trail and accidentally fell near the ledge.

The National Park Service and Coconino County Medical Examiner's Office are investigating the man's death.

Rangers recommend visitors stay safe by remaining on marked trails and walkways and never approaching the edge of a cliff or a canyon's rim.

While the National Parks are home to some of the nation's most breathtaking natural features, they are also still largely wild spaces, and visitors deviating from established tourist spaces — like trails and campgrounds — can and has lead to people's deaths.

Two women have already died at Grand Canyon National Park this year; one was dragged by currents into the Colorado River, and another died from currently unknown causes, possibly heat related.

While deaths in national parks aren't frequent, they are plentiful enough that there is a literary mini-genre of books cataloging and telling the stories of individuals who died during their visits.

Death in Yellowstone is one of the better known books documenting deaths in the parks. Earlier this year a foot was found floating in one of the parks' thermal pools, and a 23-year-old man was killed in 2016 after he fell into a geyser after illegally leaving a trail.

All this is to say, visitors to national parks should stay on the trail to best protect themselves and the often fragile ecosystems they're visiting.