Route 9 Through Zion closed indefinitely.

one of the retaining walls have failed and the highway is severely undermined. With all the trail closures due to active landslides and rockfalls from last year, now additional trails are closed like everything on the East side plus Observation Point which can't get accessed from any point within the park unless you go all the way around via Kanab and highway 89. Zion has received 5x the amount of rain it had last year
 
Bummer! Likely puts a crimp in my plans for Roof & Hepworth and MOS next month. Canaan Mountain - here I come!
 
Yvonne said:
one of the retaining walls have failed and the highway is severely undermined. With all the trail closures due to active landslides and rockfalls from last year, now additional trails are closed like everything on the East side plus Observation Point which can't get accessed from any point within the park unless you go all the way around via Kanab and highway 89. Zion has received 5x the amount of rain it had last year
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I want to Hike the West Rim Trail in May so I hope the TH at Lava Point isn't snowed in.
 
Yvonne said:
May should be fine, even with all the snow we had. It's already melting pretty fast
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@Yvonne sounds like your local. Can I offline you towards the end of the month on road conditions for kolob terrace? I know NPS updates on their website but they are not always timely. I was heading out there last year and they said the road was closed at Maloney hill only to find it clear and dry past wildcat.
 
zionsky said:
@Yvonne sounds like your local. Can I offline you towards the end of the month on road conditions for kolob terrace? I know NPS updates on their website but they are not always timely. I was heading out there last year and they said the road was closed at Maloney hill only to find it clear and dry past wildcat.
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I live in Hurricane and am in Zion a lot. Go ahead and shoot me a message when you're getting close to your trip
 
Yvonne said:
Zion has received 5x the amount of rain it had last year
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Do you mean that so far this year, the amount of rain they've gotten is already 5x what they got all of last year?? Either way, that's good to hear, aside from the infrastructure problems going on.
 
Jackson said:
Do you mean that so far this year, the amount of rain they've gotten is already 5x what they got all of last year?? Either way, that's good to hear, aside from the infrastructure problems going on.
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so far this year. Last year Zion had 2.4 inches last year, now it's almost 11 inches.
Hurricane already has 10 inches in 2 months alone. The entire last year we only had 14 inches.
This was by far the snowiest and wettest winter I've ever experienced here. But we take all the moisture.
And more is on the way midweek and next weekend
 
Route 9 from the East entrance to the main tunnel is now open. It is still closed from the tunnel to Canyon Junction.
 
zionsky said:
That's a surprise. Where in the world would you turnaround?
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There is a height and length limit on the vehicles than come through. I'm wondering if the turn-around is the parking lot just to the right when coming out if the tunnel?
 
there is a small "no parking pullout "on the left when you come from East Entrance just before the parking to the right for Canyon Overlook.
It's easy to turn around there.
Repairs will take a while. They had Federal Highways in today and some Engineering Geologists so they can figure out what to do.
That spot is a really awful spot and has always rock falls and active slides due to the soil present and the crumbling Moenave Sandstone underneath the Kayenta in that area.
 
Yvonne said:
there is a small "no parking pullout "on the left when you come from East Entrance just before the parking to the right for Canyon Overlook.
It's easy to turn around there.
Repairs will take a while. They had Federal Highways in today and some Engineering Geologists so they can figure out what to do.
That spot is a really awful spot and has always rock falls and active slides due to the soil present and the crumbling Moenave Sandstone underneath the Kayenta in that area.
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I wonder how they'll enforce the 9 to 5? I'm interested in going back to gifford and/or separation.
 
I originally made reservations in springdale just for convenience to access the east side (and oscars and blondies) Since the closure, I have also made back up reservations in hurricane and kanab to give me some flexibility. If the terrace is not accessible, I'll probably head to canaan or YF
 
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