ZION NATIONAL PARK — A local tour guide captured on video a rockslide in Zion National Park Tuesday afternoon.
“It was surreal,” Nolan Hanson of Hurricane said of the event at Weeping Rock.
Hanson said he was with clients leading a hike up Angel’s Landing at approximately 3:38 p.m. when he heard loud rumblings.
“It sounded like thunder,” he said. “Real, close thunder, but there were clear skies. It sounded really close. We could actually feel it.”
Already with his phone out to document the hike, Hanson caught the majority of the rockslide on the video included below.
According to a press release from Zion National Park and as reported previously by St. George News, the rockslide temporarily halted shuttle service in the park for about an hour, resuming at 5 p.m. However, the shuttle stop for Weeping Rock and the trails are closed until further notice.
Reportedly no one was injured.
Hanson works for Ride Zion Adventures, which offers guided hikes and e-bike ride trips in the park. He said he had a pair of clients who were shocked at the sight, getting more than what they paid for with a full show of the power of nature.
A small section of Weeping Rock opened less than a year ago after a rockslide occurred in 2019.
“That is why no one was injured from this slide,” said Nelson, adding that no one was in the slide zone because most of the area remains off-limits.
As a hiking and recreational tour guide, he offered advice for handling emergencies in nature, especially rockslides.
“If you know there has been an active rockslide or landslide, avoid that area,” Nelson said, adding it’s important to have plenty of water, a way to contact someone if something happens, backup ways to get out of the area and other survival-type items as needed according to weather, overall conditions and the terrain.
“Be prepared,” he said.
For updated road and trail closures within Zion National Park, click here.
For outdoor tips for Southern Utah, click here.
Photo Gallery
A Ride Zion Adventures tour guide caught images and video of the rockslide at Weeping Rock on Tuesday afternoon within Zion National Park, Utah, Nov. 14, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Nolan Hanson, St. George News
A Ride Zion Adventures tour guide caught images and video of the rockslide at Weeping Rock on Tuesday afternoon within Zion National Park, Utah, Nov. 14, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Nolan Hanson, St. George News
A Ride Zion Adventures tour guide caught images and video of the rockslide at Weeping Rock on Tuesday afternoon within Zion National Park, Utah, Nov. 14, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Nolan Hanson, St. George News
A Ride Zion Adventures tour guide caught images and video of the rockslide at Weeping Rock on Tuesday afternoon within Zion National Park, Utah, Nov. 14, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Nolan Hanson, St. George News
A Ride Zion Adventures tour guide caught images and video of the rockslide at Weeping Rock on Tuesday afternoon within Zion National Park, Utah, Nov. 14, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Nolan Hanson, St. George News
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