Bay Area couple drown at Kings Canyon National Park falls

A Bay Area couple died at a Kings Canyon National Park waterfall that federal rangers warn can look calm while hiding deadly currents. Parth Patel, 30, and Dharti Patel, 29, of San Mateo drowned at Roaring River Falls in the Cedar Grove area of the park on May 25, 2026.

Fresno County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Tony Botti said the cause of death was drowning and there was no indication of other physical trauma in the water. The falls, a 40-foot drop along the River Trail, is one of the park’s better-known scenic stops, the kind of place where visitors often pause for photos, a rest, or relief from the heat.

That setting is exactly what makes the site dangerous. The National Park Service warns that visitors should not be fooled if the pool below the falls appears calm. Rocks are slippery, and currents below the surface can pull people under before they realize how quickly conditions have changed. Park safety guidance says the rivers in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are powerful and cold, and that drowning is the parks’ most frequent cause of death.

Officials have repeatedly said many drowning victims never intended to swim or enter the water. That warning matters in a region where spring runoff can keep rivers cold, swift, and deceptive long after the weather turns warm in Fresno and across the Sierra Nevada. A prior Memorial Day weekend warning in nearby Sequoia National Park urged visitors to avoid swimming or getting too close to river water because conditions were cold, swift, and dangerous.

The deaths at Roaring River Falls are likely to sharpen attention on how families judge risk at mountain waterways that can look harmless from the trail. The park already posts safety warnings, but the fatal outcome shows how easily a scenic stop can become a recovery scene when visitors underestimate depth, current, and slick rock surfaces. In Kings Canyon and Sequoia, the most dangerous water is often the water that looks least threatening.