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Angels Landing to reopen following months of closure due to storm damage

Posted at 7:21 PM, Sep 21, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-21 21:22:25-04

SPRINGDALE, Utah — A trail which includes the route to Zion National Park’s famous Angels Landing will reopen after it had been closed due to storm damage.

The National Park Service (NPS) said in a press release Friday that the West Rim Trail will reopen at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday.

The popular trail has been closed since early July when thunderstorms caused flooding, rockfalls and mudslides.

NPS said that a section of retaining wall on the trail failed, as well as several “protective check dams,” which were built over a century ago to protect the trail.

“The flash flood opened an 18 foot gap in the trail that was over five feet deep,” NPS wrote. “To re-open the passage to Scouts Lookout, Zion’s trail crew stabilized both ends of the trail and built a new custom bridge to span a 30 foot section where the trail and the retaining wall had been damaged or washed away.”

Crews also built four new protective dams to prevent future flooding.

The Kayenta Trail, Upper Emerald Pools Trail, the terminus of Lower Emerald Pools Trail and Hidden Canyon remained closed as of Friday, NPS said, due to ” unstable and unreliable trail integrity.”