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Randi Minetor has written nine books about people dying in national parks. Needless to say, she has a lot of thoughts about it.

“A lot of people go to national parks to challenge themselves, to try things they have never tried before,” she tells Popular Science . “They’ll take a course in canyoneering or hire a guide to go up a mountain; they’ll push themselves in ways they haven’t before. Not everyone can do those things,” she warns. “Just because you want to do it doesn’t mean you can. ”

It’s excellent advice that doesn’t always get followed . Yet the number of people who die in national parks each year is smaller than you might expect.…