Finally collapses

Utah national park landmark, millions of years old, finally collapses

By Amanda Bartlett

An iconic landmark that stood when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and sees more than 2 million visitors per year collapsed Thursday, park officials said. 

Double Arch, a rock formation looming over Lake Powell in Utah’s Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, is made out of 190-million-year-old Navajo Sandstone and has been subject to weather-related erosion over time. “Changing water levels and erosion from wave action is suspected of contributing to the ultimate collapse of the arch,” park officials said, but the official cause is unknown. 

The completion of the 710-foot-high Glen Canyon dam in 1963 caused water levels in the lake to rise, connecting it to more than 2,000 miles of shoreline along the recreation area, per the Grand Canyon Trust. The rippling waters are shrouded by the fine-grained sandstone feature save for an circular opening facing up toward the clear blue sky, giving the landmark common nicknames such as “Toilet Bowl,” “Crescent Pool” and “Hole in the Roof.”

The landmark is not to be mistaken with Double Arch in Arches National Park, 186 miles away, which famously appeared in the opening scene of “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” and is still standing.  

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Superintendent Michelle Kerns said the park will continue to maintain its ongoing resource protection efforts and encouraged visitors to continue to enjoy the area but leave no trace. 

“This event serves as a reminder of our responsibility and need to protect the mineral resources surrounding Lake Powell,” Kerns said in a statement. “These features have a life span that can be influenced or damaged by manmade interventions.”