A hiker at Zion National Park caught the moments a portion of a cliff wall at the top of Zion Canyon fell to the valley floor, injuring three visitors and covering most of the valley with sand and dust.
I was in Zion in 2019 and wanted to hike to Observation Point, but couldn't because it was closed for a rock fall. I did Kolob Canyons instead (which is awesome), but the hike to Observation Point is still closed.
I live in Glendale Utah (about 27 miles from Zion) and the number of visitors are around 3 million annually, crazy crowded. It's scary to walk that trail, I'm afraid a kid or tourist will accidentally bump into me or one of the gazillion chipmunks will trip me up. 🐿🐿🐿 At least if I fall I'll have plenty of time to pray. Cheers.
Navajo nation has great canyons to visit. The ground looks solid but underneath is like gravel. People jump up and down. The rescue turns in a very difficult rescue. They get slide between two groves and very hard to get them out.
It's like they say, Guadalupe Mtns NP, TX is home to huge, tall limestone peaks, Yosemite is home to huge, tall granite peaks, and Zion is home to huge, tall sandcastles!!!!! May as well be huge, tall termite mounds or 3000-4000 foot tall ant hills that make up Zion! Imagine how vast such an ant colony would be per Zion mountain if they each were really a giant and tall ant hill and the amount of ants or termites that just died in such a rockslide?
Been up in there and after a couple of visits I rarely go back. I am well aware those vertical cliffs can fall at any time and no way to predict it. I would be most scared to be a shuttle driver. Best thing is to "limit your time and get in and out" but you for a fact taking your chances. historically there are HUGE collapses in the past that fill up the valley. angels landing trail also had a rock fall across it where it was closed for along time that would have killed anyone there if it was daytime
The unlooked for,, and the greatest factor in the erosion of stone is the sun. Every sunny day,, and that is the norm in southern Utah, the sun heats the stone in a strong sun,, and cools at night. The stone, like any building material, expands and contracts. In a smooth mountain face,, there is no place to expand and contract, so the stone toward the center of a face is crushed. In Arches National Park , just to the east,,, arches are almost exclusively formed by the daily heating and cooling.