Who Should You Call If Lost in a National Park?

If you’re lost in a national park, call 911 first. Your call will be routed to the appropriate search and rescue authorities for your location. If you don’t have cell service, activate your personal locator beacon (PLB) or satellite messenger, stay where you are, and conserve your energy until help arrives. Each national park also has its own emergency dispatch number that you can find at visitor centers or on the park’s website.

Getting lost can happen to anyone, even experienced hikers. Understanding who to call and what to do can save your life.

Understanding National Park Emergency Response Systems

National parks operate under a coordinated emergency response framework. When someone goes missing or becomes lost, multiple agencies work together to conduct search and rescue operations. The system involves park rangers, local law enforcement, volunteer search and rescue teams, and sometimes federal agencies like the U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center.

Search and rescue operations in national parks happen more frequently than most people realize. Between 2018 and 2020, there were thousands of such incidents across the national park system, with some parks seeing hundreds of cases annually. Yosemite National Park alone averaged 233 search and rescue incidents per year during this period, while Grand Canyon reported 290 incidents annually.

The numbers tell a sobering story. Approximately 50,000 search and rescue missions occur nationwide each year, with 36 percent involving lost individuals. Day hikers make up 42 percent of all national park search and rescue cases—four times more than any other group. The average lost person is found just over a mile from where they started, often within 200 feet of the nearest trail.

Primary Emergency Contact: Call 911

When you realize you’re lost in a national park and have cell phone service, 911 should be your first call. This universal emergency number works across the United States and connects you to dispatchers who can route your call to the appropriate authorities.

The 911 system has several advantages. Dispatchers maintain connections with county sheriffs, state police, and park-specific search and rescue teams. They have communication infrastructure in place to quickly mobilize resources. Even if you’re calling from one state about someone lost in another state, 911 operators can transfer you to the correct jurisdiction.

Cell phone coverage varies dramatically across national parks. Some developed areas within parks have decent service, while remote backcountry locations have no coverage at all. Yosemite Valley, for instance, offers relatively reliable 4G LTE service from major carriers near visitor centers, while most other areas of the park have spotty or no coverage. Yellowstone provides cell service in about 50 percent of the park through five low towers serving areas like Old Faithful, Mammoth, and Canyon Village.

Here’s something important to remember: even without a signal showing on your phone, you should still attempt to dial 911. Emergency calls can sometimes connect through any available carrier’s tower, not just your own provider. Your phone will attempt to route the emergency call through whatever network it can find.

Direct Park Emergency Numbers

Every national park maintains its own emergency contact system. These numbers connect directly to park dispatch centers staffed by rangers trained in emergency response. Having these numbers saved in your phone before your trip provides a backup option if 911 routing takes too long.

Park-specific emergency numbers vary by location. Grand Canyon’s 24-hour dispatch operates at 928-638-2477. Rocky Mountain National Park’s emergency contacts include Larimer County Sheriff at 970-586-4465 and the park’s own Fire & Rescue at 970-586-1399. Joshua Tree National Park uses the Federal Agency Dispatch at 909-383-5651, available 24 hours.

Most parks provide emergency contact information at visitor centers, on their official websites, and on printed trail maps. Before heading into the backcountry, stop at the visitor center and note the emergency numbers. Write them down on paper as a backup—phones die, but paper doesn’t need batteries.

The National Park Service also operates region-specific coordination centers. In Alaska, for example, the Alaska Region Communication Center handles all national parks, preserves, and monuments at 907-683-9555, available around the clock.

County Sheriff and Search and Rescue Teams

County sheriffs coordinate search and rescue operations in most areas outside of national park boundaries, and sometimes within them depending on jurisdiction agreements. The sheriff’s department has authority to activate volunteer search and rescue teams and coordinate multi-agency responses.

State police also play a role in search and rescue coordination. They maintain 24/7 response capabilities and communication infrastructure needed to call in state agencies and volunteer groups for search operations. In rural areas where parks are located, state police often handle most emergency calls for service.

The coordination between agencies matters because searches often cross jurisdictional boundaries. A lost hiker might start in a national park but wander into national forest land or private property. Having multiple agencies ready to respond ensures no gaps in coverage.

Search and rescue teams bring specialized skills and equipment. They use tracking dogs, helicopters, drones, thermal imaging, and ground search techniques. The average search takes about 10 hours to locate a missing person, who has typically been missing for 14 hours total by the time they’re found.

When You Don’t Have Cell Service

No cell signal doesn’t mean no hope. It does mean you need to switch to other communication methods and survival strategies. This is where advance planning saves lives.

Personal locator beacons and satellite messengers become critical when cell phones fail. A PLB sends a powerful distress signal via satellite to NOAA, which forwards your location to the U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. This triggers a rescue response coordinated with local search and rescue teams. PLBs work anywhere in the world with a clear view of the sky.

Satellite messengers offer more functionality than basic PLBs. They send emergency signals but also allow two-way text communication with rescuers. This lets you describe your situation, injuries, and needs so teams arrive properly equipped. Popular satellite messengers include Garmin inReach devices, SPOT units, and Zoleo communicators.

The newest iPhones (14 and later) include emergency SOS via satellite. This feature lets you send text messages to emergency services when outside cellular and Wi-Fi coverage. The service attempts to connect with satellites to transmit your distress call and location.

Without any electronic communication devices, you have other options. Stay where you are—this is the single most important decision you can make. Moving when lost typically makes you harder to find and exposes you to additional hazards. Search teams start looking where you were last seen or where your car is parked.

Make yourself visible. Lay out brightly colored clothing, emergency blankets, or any reflective material in an open area where it can be spotted from the air. Create geometric patterns with rocks or logs—straight lines and triangles don’t occur naturally and catch searchers’ attention. If you have a whistle, blow three short bursts, which is the universal distress signal.

What To Do While Waiting for Rescue

Once you’ve called for help or activated your emergency beacon, your focus shifts to survival and staying safe until rescue teams arrive. How you spend this time affects your outcome.

Stop and assess your situation calmly. Panic clouds judgment and wastes energy. Take several deep breaths. You’ve already called for help, which was the hardest part. Now you need to keep yourself safe until they arrive.

Find or create shelter immediately. Protection from the elements matters more than most people realize. Even in moderate weather, getting wet and cold leads to hypothermia, which kills more lost hikers than dehydration or starvation. Look for natural windbreaks like rock overhangs, dense tree groves, or depressions in the terrain. Use whatever materials you have—emergency blankets, tarps, extra clothing—to create a barrier between you and the elements.

Stay warm and dry. Put on all available clothing layers. Insulate yourself from the cold ground using branches, leaves, or your backpack. Keep your core temperature stable. If you start shivering uncontrollably, you’re entering dangerous territory.

Conserve your resources. Ration any food and water you have, but don’t withhold water if you’re thirsty—dehydration impairs decision-making. Most people can survive weeks without food but only days without water. If you find a water source, drinking untreated water is safer than severe dehydration when rescue is expected within 24 hours.

Make yourself findable. Stay in open areas when possible. Keep any signaling devices ready—mirror, whistle, flashlight. Listen for searchers calling your name or for helicopters. If you hear them, make noise. Yell, blow your whistle, wave brightly colored items.

Don’t try to find your own way out unless you’re absolutely certain of your location and route. Attempting self-rescue often leads people farther from help. The exception is if you told no one where you were going and have no way to signal for help—in that case, carefully navigating toward known landmarks or water sources that lead to civilization may be your only option.

Statistics Every Hiker Should Know

Understanding how people get lost helps prevent it from happening to you. Research analyzing over 100 news reports of lost hikers found that 41 percent got lost by wandering off the trail. Bad weather caused 17 percent of incidents, while 16 percent of people fell off trails.

Demographics matter. Men ages 20-25 and men ages 50-60 are most likely to get lost. These groups spend considerable time in wilderness areas but sometimes overestimate their abilities or underestimate risks.

The survival rate for lost hikers is encouraging. When search and rescue teams deploy, they successfully find people in about 40 percent of cases. Many other lost individuals manage to find their own way out before rescuers locate them. The fatality rate for search and rescue operations between 2018 and 2020 was 3.5 percent.

Day hikers face disproportionate risk because they’re less prepared than backpackers. Someone on a multi-day backpacking trip carries shelter, extra food, water filtration, warm clothing, and navigation tools. Day hikers often bring only a camera, water bottle, and phone. When unexpected situations arise—getting lost, encountering bad weather, or suffering an injury—day hikers lack the gear needed to safely wait for rescue.

Time matters in search operations. Search and rescue teams typically won’t conduct off-trail searches after dark due to safety concerns for rescuers. If you report someone missing in the evening, ground searches likely won’t begin until morning. This delay is why signaling devices and proper gear are so important—you may need to survive overnight.

Prevention: The Best Emergency Strategy

The easiest search and rescue operation is the one that never needs to happen. Taking preventive steps dramatically reduces your chances of getting lost.

Always tell someone where you’re going. Leave a detailed trip plan with a responsible person who will actually call for help if you don’t return. Your plan should include the specific trail name, parking area location, start time, expected return time, and when to call authorities if you don’t check in. Include park emergency contact numbers in your trip plan.

Carry the ten essentials: navigation tools (map and compass), sun protection, insulation (extra clothing), illumination (headlamp), first-aid supplies, fire-starting kit, repair kit and tools, nutrition (extra food), hydration (extra water), and emergency shelter. These items address the most common wilderness emergencies.

Stay on marked trails. Seventy percent of lost hiker incidents involve people who strayed from designated paths. Trail junctions are where most people get confused. Pay attention at every intersection. If you’re unsure which way to go, stop and confirm your location on your map before proceeding.

Download offline maps before your trip. Many mapping apps allow downloading detailed topographic maps that work without cell service. Having a map application that shows your GPS location even without cell signal is incredibly valuable.

Turn around before it gets dark. Most hikers underestimate how long return trips take. Don’t assume you can hike out in the dark. Getting caught after sunset dramatically increases your chances of getting lost and suffering an injury.

Check weather forecasts and be willing to change plans. Many search and rescue incidents involve hikers who continued despite deteriorating conditions. There’s no shame in turning back when weather threatens.

Bring a whistle, mirror, and bright-colored clothing or gear. These simple items help searchers find you if things go wrong. Three whistle blasts is the universal distress signal that carries much farther than your voice.

Consider carrying a personal locator beacon or satellite messenger for remote trips. At $300-450 for a PLB with no subscription fees, or satellite messengers with monthly costs, these devices provide a direct line to rescue services anywhere. They’re especially valuable for solo hikers or trips into particularly remote areas.

Special Considerations for Different Parks

Different national parks present unique challenges that affect emergency response and communication.

Parks in mountainous terrain like Rocky Mountain, Mount Rainier, and Grand Teton have more complicated search operations. Steep terrain limits ground search effectiveness and makes helicopter operations dangerous. These parks also have the most open search and rescue cases because mountainous terrain is so difficult to search thoroughly.

Desert parks like Death Valley and Joshua Tree present dehydration and heat-related emergencies. Cell service is extremely limited in most areas. Water sources are scarce. Getting lost in these environments becomes life-threatening much faster than in other parks.

Alaska parks operate through a centralized communication system. The Alaska Region Communication Center coordinates all National Park Service emergency services in Alaska. The state’s vast wilderness and weather extremes make preparation and communication devices even more critical.

Parks near developed areas may have better cell coverage but also more visitors, which can work in your favor. Other hikers might find you and get help. However, high visitor numbers also mean more search and rescue incidents competing for resources.

The Cost of Rescue Operations

Many people worry about the cost of being rescued. In most cases, search and rescue operations conducted by National Park Service rangers, county sheriff departments, and volunteer teams are provided at no charge to the person being rescued.

Exceptions exist. Some states allow charging lost individuals if they acted recklessly or ignored closures and warnings. A few national parks have implemented cost recovery programs for certain situations. Helicopter evacuations, especially those involving commercial operators, can result in bills ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands of dollars.

The broader cost falls on taxpayers and park budgets. Search and rescue operations in national parks exceeded $3 million in 2017 alone. That same year, these operations required 84,000 person-hours of work. Between 1992 and 2007, the average search and rescue cost approximately $895 per operation, totaling nearly $59 million over that period.

These costs represent money not available for park maintenance, trail improvements, and other visitor services. The National Park Service faces over $11 billion in deferred maintenance costs while search and rescue demands continue growing alongside park visitation.

This financial reality makes prevention even more important. Every person who takes proper precautions, carries appropriate gear, and avoids getting lost saves public resources for those facing true emergencies.

After You’re Found

Being found by search and rescue teams doesn’t immediately end the experience. Rescuers will assess your physical condition, provide any necessary medical treatment, and transport you to safety. Be honest about any injuries or symptoms you’re experiencing, even minor ones—hypothermia and shock can mask serious problems.

You’ll likely be interviewed about what happened. This information helps both in completing incident reports and in preventing future incidents. Searchers want to understand how you got lost, where you went, and what helped or hindered your survival.

Many people feel embarrassed after being rescued. Don’t. Getting lost happens to experienced outdoors people too. Search and rescue professionals don’t judge—they’re simply glad you’re safe. Learn from the experience and adjust your preparation for future trips.

Some rescued individuals experience emotional aftereffects. Spending hours or days lost, especially in harsh conditions, can be traumatic. Don’t hesitate to talk with friends, family, or mental health professionals if you’re struggling with anxiety or stress about the experience.

Technology and the Future of Park Safety

Emergency communication technology continues evolving. Satellite networks are expanding coverage. More smartphones include emergency satellite features. Some national parks are installing additional cell towers in developed areas, though this remains controversial among those who value wilderness solitude.

These technological improvements help with emergencies but shouldn’t replace basic wilderness skills and preparation. Even with perfect communication devices, you still need to survive until rescuers reach you. Technology fails—batteries die, devices break, antennas get damaged. Old-fashioned preparedness remains essential.

The increasing number of visitors to national parks strains search and rescue resources. In 2017, nearly 331 million people visited national parks, resulting in 3,453 search and rescue incidents. As parks become more popular, individual responsibility for safety becomes more important.

Key Takeaways

Getting lost in a national park is frightening but survivable with proper knowledge and preparation. Remember these critical points:

Call 911 first if you have cell service. Have park-specific emergency numbers written down as backup. Carry a personal locator beacon or satellite messenger for trips into remote areas. These devices work when phones don’t.

Stay put once you realize you’re lost. Moving makes you harder to find and burns energy you need for survival. Make yourself visible and signalable. Create shelters to protect against weather.

Tell someone your trip plan before you go. Include specific locations, times, and emergency numbers. This ensures someone will call for help if you don’t return.

Carry the ten essentials on every trip, even short day hikes. These items address the most common emergencies and help you survive until rescue arrives.

Prevention beats rescue. Stay on trails, turn around before dark, check weather, and be willing to change plans when conditions deteriorate.

Getting lost isn’t a sign of incompetence—it’s a reminder that wilderness environments are unpredictable and deserve respect. The difference between a frightening story and a tragedy often comes down to preparation, communication, and making smart decisions once you realize you’re in trouble.

The national park system offers incredible opportunities for adventure and connection with nature. Understanding emergency procedures and taking proper precautions lets you enjoy these places safely while respecting both the environment and the dedicated professionals who stand ready to help when things go wrong.