Unique rocks collapsed in Utah National Park: tons of stones blocked walking paths

Thousands of kilograms of rock came off a canyon wall in southern Utah and landed on one of the country's most iconic trails in Bryce Canyon National Park, reports Yahoo.

Photo: IStock

The collapse occurred Dec. 8 on the Two Bridges side of the Navajo Loop Trail, which leads to the towering hoodoo rock formation known as Thor's Hammer.

A "cluster of rocks and small boulders" weighing about 1800 pounds was found "across the trail's lower bends" and retaining walls, park officials said in a Dec. 13 Facebook post.

There were no injuries or witnesses reported. Thor's hammer was not damaged.

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Bryce Canyon is a giant natural amphitheater along the eastern side of the Pountsaugant Plateau, created by erosion.

Bryce Canyon is notable for its unique geological structures called hoodoos, which look like rock forests and are formed by the erosion of river and lake sediments by wind, water and ice. The red, orange and white colors of the rocks are a breathtaking sight, especially at sunrise or sunset. According to experts, the hoodoo pillars are formed as a result of uneven weathering and erosion of sandstone.

“Navajo Loop is one of the most popular trails in Bryce Canyon National Park,” said park spokesman Peter Densmore. “On either side of the Navajo Loop there are stretches of winding mountain roads that are some of the most iconic images of the park.”

It took two days to clear the trail, which winds “between narrow walls of colorful limestone overlooking tall spruce trees,” according to the National Park Service. Damaged retaining walls at the site of the rockfall will be repaired in the spring, officials said.

Parts of the park, including sections of the Navajo Loop, are generally closed in winter due to the risk of rockfalls in the narrow areas.

Causes of rockfall

Some national parks in the southwest have reported an increase in rockfalls due to extreme summer heat linked to global warming.

However, in Bryce Canyon the situation is the opposite.

The park is located higher than its surroundings, causing temperatures below freezing on many nights, according to the USGS.

“Here in Bryce Canyon, we experience an average of about 180 annual ‘freeze/thaw cycles,’ during which daytime temperatures rise above freezing and then drop below freezing at night,” Densmore says.

“Water seeps into cracks in rocks, expands into ice wedges, then melts, freezes, and so on. This cycle is believed to be the primary shaping force of Bryce Canyon's rock spiers,” he says.

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The park received its first significant snow of the season around Thanksgiving, he said, and that likely triggered the recent rockfall.

Photos posted to Facebook show the rockfall left two noticeable "rectangular cavities" in the canyon wall, officials said.

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