The National Parks Service worked with members of the public to identify the account and located the individual allegedly responsible for the incident.
“On October 26, an individual posted a video to her personal TikTok page showing her hitting a golf ball and throwing a golf club into the canyon near Mather Point,” said the Grand Canyon National Park in a statement on Facebook.
In the video shared on Wednesday—which has been deleted on that platform but was available for viewing on Reddit—a person can be seen hitting the ball against the rocky rim and her golf club snaps in two and flies out into the canyon.
“On October 27, Grand Canyon Law Enforcement identified, located and contacted the individual responsible for the incident,” said the statement, adding she was awaiting charges and a court appearance.
To maintain the pristine nature of national parks, there are rules and regulations in place that prohibit littering—and that includes golf balls. Anyone violating these rules could face fines or even imprisonment.
Disposing of waste properly not only improves the aesthetic of the parks, but it helps preserve their native wildlife. The Grand Canyon is home to 450 species of bird, 91 species of mammal, 58 reptiles and amphibians, 18 fish and 1,443 invertebrates, some of which are not found anywhere else in the world.
Human waste can affect these animals in a number of ways: food waste attracts wildlife and causes them to be less cautious around humans, and plastic wrappers can pollute soil and river ecosystems.
Despite these rules, this is not the first time a golfing incident has been reported in a U.S. national park. In 2021, comedian Jake Adams was investigated for teeing off in Yellowstone National Park as part of a challenge to hit a golf ball in every state in America. He has since recognized that his actions could have posed a risk to the local wildlife and released a public apology.
In the Grand Canyon that same year, another individual was identified hitting baseballs off the canyon’s rim, following an internet search via social media.
The Grand Canyon is a mile deep, 278 miles long and, at the maximum, 18 miles wide. Throwing objects off this towering precipice can have serious unintended consequences. Not only does it risk injuring wildlife and hikers below, but it can also trigger landslides.
The National Parks Service recommends visitors to keep designated trails and walkways and stay at least 6 feet from the edge of the rim.
For anyone wanting to try a similar stunt, the National Park Service has a simple message: “Do we really need to say, ‘don’t hit golf balls into the Grand Canyon?’”
