10 Most Dangerous Tourist Hiking Trails That Claim Lives
Some hiking trails ask for sturdy boots and a full water bottle. Others ask for nerves of steel, a healthy fear of gravity, and maybe a written will. Around the world, certain trails have earned reputations not just for jaw-dropping scenery but for the very real body count they’ve racked up over the years, whether from sheer cliffs, sudden weather, altitude sickness, or just plain bad luck on a narrow ledge.
We combed through hiking lore, safety records, and trail histories to rank ten routes where the view is stunning but the margin for error is razor thin. These aren’t urban legends or exaggerated internet scares — they’re real trails with real warning signs, real rescue operations, and real fatalities. Lace up carefully.
#10. El Caminito del Rey, Spain
Before its 2015 renovation, this walkway clung to a gorge wall in southern Spain on crumbling concrete just a few feet wide, with sections missing entirely and only a rusted handrail between hikers and a sheer drop into the gorge below. Its reputation as one of the most dangerous walkways in the world came from a string of fatal falls that eventually forced authorities to close it for years.
The rebuilt version added secure fencing, safety harness clips, and a sturdy new boardwalk, making it far safer today than the version that earned its deadly reputation. It lands at the bottom of this list precisely because of that transformation, though its old, terrifying legacy still draws visitors curious about the history. Locals nicknamed it ‘The King’s Little Pathway’ after a Spanish king once walked it to inspect a nearby dam, long before it became famous for its danger.
#9. Half Dome's Cable Route, Yosemite
The final stretch up Half Dome’s granite face is tackled using two steel cables bolted into the rock, which hikers grip while hauling themselves up a slope steep enough to feel like climbing a playground slide backwards. Rain turns the smooth granite into a skating rink, and afternoon thunderstorms roll in with little warning, which has proven fatal for hikers caught exposed on the cables. Park rangers now require permits partly because the route got so crowded that bottlenecks left people stranded in dangerous conditions.
Several deaths have occurred here over the decades, mostly from falls during wet or stormy conditions. The National Park Service actively discourages attempting the cables when they’re wet.
#8. Angels Landing, Zion National Park
This trail’s final half-mile involves a narrow sandstone ridge with sheer drop-offs on both sides, tempered only by a series of chains bolted into the rock for hikers to cling to. Two-way foot traffic on a path sometimes barely wide enough for one person creates constant close calls, especially when crowds pack the ridge during peak season. Wind gusts and loose gravel have contributed to numerous fatal falls over the years.
The National Park Service now requires a permit lottery system to limit how many hikers attempt the chains section on any given day, a direct response to overcrowding-related accidents.
#7. Huayna Picchu, Peru
Towering above Machu Picchu, this steep peak is climbed via ancient Inca stone steps so narrow and uneven that some sections require using a fixed rope or cable to steady yourself. The stairs were built centuries ago for different feet and different purposes, not for modern tourists in hiking sneakers, and rain makes the worn stone treacherously slick. Falls are common, especially on the descent, when tired legs meet loose footing.
Peruvian authorities limit daily visitor numbers to the peak, partly for conservation and partly because the trail simply cannot safely handle unlimited foot traffic at once.
#6. Kalalau Trail, Kauai
This eleven-mile coastal path along Kauai’s Na Pali Coast looks like a postcard, with towering green cliffs plunging into turquoise water, but it includes narrow cliffside sections prone to landslides and sudden flash floods in stream crossings. Hikers have drowned attempting to cross swollen streams after heavy rain, and others have fallen from crumbling cliff edges. The trail’s remoteness also means rescue can take hours, which has proven fatal in emergencies.
Permits are required to hike the full trail, and rangers frequently close sections after storms due to unstable, washed-out terrain.
#5. Drakensberg Traverse, South Africa
This high-altitude route along South Africa’s Drakensberg escarpment includes sections where hikers must climb a chain ladder bolted to sheer rock faces to reach the plateau above. Weather here shifts with almost no warning, and hikers have died from exposure, lightning strikes, and falls when fog rolled in and obscured the ladder’s exact location. The terrain offers little shelter once storms arrive at altitude.
Local mountain rescue teams report that most serious incidents happen when hikers underestimate how quickly clear skies can turn into a whiteout on the escarpment.
#4. Tiger Leaping Gorge, China
One of the deepest river gorges in the world, this trail traces a narrow path along cliffs high above the raging Jinsha River, with sections so tight that hikers press their backs against rock walls to let others pass. Rockfall is a constant hazard, and landslides have swept sections of trail away entirely, sometimes taking hikers with them. Winter ice on the path adds another layer of danger to already precarious footing.
The gorge gets its name from a legend about a tiger leaping across the river at its narrowest point, a claim that becomes oddly believable once you see how tight the gorge gets.
#3. Kokoda Track, Papua New Guinea
This roughly 60-mile jungle track through Papua New Guinea’s mountains gained fame as a brutal World War II battleground, and it remains punishing today thanks to relentless humidity, steep muddy ascents, and the constant risk of tropical disease like malaria and dengue fever. Trekkers have died from heart attacks, heat exhaustion, and falls on the slick, root-tangled terrain, with the physical demands catching many hikers off guard. Rescue is difficult given the remote, roadless jungle setting.
The track is often trekked as a memorial hike honoring WWII soldiers, adding a somber historical weight to its physical challenges.
#2. Mount Huashan Plank Walk, China
Bolted directly into a sheer cliff face thousands of feet up one of China’s Five Great Mountains, this plank walk consists of narrow wooden boards with a single chain to hold onto, no railing, and a straight drop below. Hikers must wear a safety harness clipped to the chain, though the path’s extreme exposure and the crowds of tourists shuffling along it in single file have made it infamous. Fatal falls, some linked to hikers unclipping harnesses or losing footing, have cemented its dangerous reputation.
The plank walk originally connected to a remote hermitage, built centuries ago by monks seeking isolation rather than modern tourists seeking thrills.
#1. Mount Everest's Climbing Routes
While technically a mountaineering route rather than a simple hike, Everest’s popular ascent paths, including sections through the notorious Khumbu Icefall, have claimed more lives than any other single route in the world. Avalanches, sudden storms, altitude sickness, and dangerously overcrowded traffic jams near the summit have all contributed to a steady toll of deaths, some occurring within sight of other climbers unable to help. The infamous ‘death zone’ above 26,000 feet offers so little oxygen that rescue becomes nearly impossible.
Bodies of climbers who died decades ago still remain on the mountain, preserved by the cold, serving as grim, permanent trail markers for those who follow.
Most of these trails aren’t dangerous by accident; they’re dangerous because they push right up against the edge of what a human body and a bit of rock or ice can handle. That’s exactly why people keep coming, permits and warning signs and all. If you ever attempt one, respect the weather, respect the chains, and maybe skip the summit selfie until you’re safely back on flat ground.
