Zion National Park road reopens after boulder broken, moved

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

ZION NATIONAL PARK — A road in Zion National Park that was closed after a boulder the size of a house tumbled onto the highway has been reopened.

Zion officials said in a news release Friday that Zion-Mount Carmel Highway was reopened after the boulder was broken into small pieces by a hydraulic ram-hoe and moved off the roadway. Park crews cut out the damaged asphalt and put a temporary gravel patch.

The boulder fell after strong thunderstorms pounded the park Wednesday afternoon. Nobody was injured, and most park activity was unaffected.

Zion is the most-visited of Utah's five national parks. Last year, 3.6 million people visited the park known for its steep red rock cliffs and narrow slot canyons.

Heavy rains last year sent flash flooding barreling through one of those canyons, killing seven people from California and Nevada.