‘My heart just sank’: Popular Lake Powell geological feature collapses

BIG WATER, Utah (KSL.com) – About 20 to 30 people were swimming and playing around Lake Powell’s Double Arch Thursday afternoon when Merril Campbell said he heard a “huge splash.”

“(It) was obviously bigger than someone jumping in the lake,” he said on Friday. “It was like a Volkswagen-sized rock that fell off.”

Campbell, who was boating in the area at the time, was one of the many witnesses who saw the popular geological feature begin to crumble in the water below it. The feature didn’t fall all at once but in little pieces throughout the day.

Within the next five hours, it was completely gone.

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area officials confirmed Friday that Double Arch, also commonly known by visitors as “Toilet Bowl,” “Crescent Pool” or “Hole in the Roof,” crumbled on Thursday. No injuries were reported as a result even with video showing many people in the area at the time it began to fall apart.

“This event serves as a reminder of our responsibility and need to protect the mineral resources surrounding Lake Powell. These features have a lifespan that can be influenced or damaged by manmade interventions,” said Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Superintendent Michelle Kerns in a statement.

Park officials note that the natural feature formed out of Navajo sandstone in the late Triassic to early Jurassic periods about 190 million years ago. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the collapse, but its formation is the result of many of the same factors that likely caused it to collapse, such as erosion from wind, rain and other weather factors.

Rangers say changing water levels from the manmade reservoir — a reservoir that first started filling in 1963 — and erosion from wave action likely contributed to the feature’s collapse, as well.

Word of its collapse quickly spread through social media and outdoors-themed online chatrooms even before the National Park Service confirmed the collapse. Monica Miles, who said the natural feature was one of her family’s favorite parts of Lake Powell, was among the people who returned to the site Friday to see that it had completely vanished.

“I know my heart just sank, and I just knew how sad my kids were going to be,” she said. “But we have so many wonderful memories there that will last forever.”

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, which features Lake Powell, broke its visitation record last year, bringing in 5.2 million visitors.

Its popularity has shown no signs of slowing down this year. Kerns said park rangers are doing their best to make sure that other elements of the park are available to visitors.

“We will continue to maintain our resource protection efforts on Lake Powell for future generations to enjoy,” she said.