Editor’s Note: A version of this post was first published on Aug. 11, 2022.
“Touron” is a word created by combining tourist and moron, and is defined as someone who does something stupid while on vacation. In Yellowstone National Park, for instance, tourons are constantly getting too close to bison, some with disastrous results.
Well, stupidity isn’t solely reserved for Yellowstone, as one touron in Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah proved.
TouronsOfYellowstone’s Instagram page posted video of a tourist leaping over a lookout railing and falling backwards upon landing, and sliding to the edge of a cliff. Had he kept sliding a couple more feet or so, he’d have met his demise.
“I don’t normally post two non-Yellowstone tourons in a row, but this guy is a real IDIOT and I couldn’t help myself,” the post reads. “First Bryce Canyon post I’ve ever done, I think.”
“Considering that this occurred at one of the park’s most popular viewpoints and dislodged rocks onto the heavily trafficked Navajo Loop below, we are extremely thankful that no serious injuries occurred,” park spokesman Peter Densmore said in a statement, according to KSL.com.
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Densmore stated that dangerous behavior “puts everyone at unnecessary risk…Signs, barriers and regulations are in place for the safety of all of our visitors and the protection of this special place.”
Densmore also called the behavior “relatively uncommon” at Bryce Canyon National Park, and said the majority of visitors “recreate responsibly.”
