Large rock slide closes section of road, trails at Zion National Park

Large rock slide closes section of road, trails at Zion National Park

(Zion National Park)


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SPRINGDALE — A large rock slide Friday evening has shut down access to several trails and closed a portion of road at Zion National Park at the start of an expected busy holiday weekend, officials said.

The slide dropped about 200 tons of rock and debris spanning the size of approximately four car-lengths in size onto the Zion Scenic Drive at about 6 p.m., according to Zion National Park public information officer John Marciano.

The slide was spotted from a visitor in the park who was trying to pass the stretch of road. No injuries were reported.

Marciano said 12 people were on the other side of the road when the slide occurred and 11 of those parties were shuttled to their hotels Friday. Another party elected to stay with their vehicle overnight and were being evacuated Saturday.

As a result of the slide, park officials said Zion Scenic Drive is closed north of Zion Lodge and that visitors are not allowed to walk past the Grotto. In addition, the Temple of Sinawava and Weeping Rock trailheads are closed.

Marciano said crews likely wouldn't start cleaning up the blockage until at least Tuesday, but could that could take even longer due to the high saturation in the area.

The Lower Emerald Pools Trail and part of Sand Bench Trail are also closed due to other landslides and officials said there remains a concern for more slides due to saturation.

"Because of all the rain we've had and the high elevation snow mount, it has caused a lot of saturation into the soil and this is why we're having all these rock slides," Marciano said. "We have to wait for that area to dry out before we can have our trail crews go in with our geologists and make any repairs and reopen the road."

Officials added that with the closure, parking — which was already anticipated to be limited — will be limited at the park all weekend and visitors should expect the road to close at Canyon Junction once parking is full.

Marciano said there is road construction on state Route 9 in Rockville might also cause delays for those traveling to the park.

"We just ask everyone to have patience and have the flexibility to plan some other things they'd like to do because of some of the trail closures and our rock slide on Scenic Drive," he said.

The National Parks Service previously announced that its parks will offer free admission on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is Monday.

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Carter Williams

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