Boaters describe rockfall before ‘crazy’ arch collapse on Lake Powell

PAGE, Az — Video shows the moments when a popular Lake Powell rock formation partially collapsed, with swimmers right on the edge of being hit.

A boater who was there when the arch began to fall, described the wild discovery he made just hours later in the same spot after the rest of the rock came down.

The arch, located in Lake Powell’s Rock Creek Bay, is named Double Arch, according to the National Park Service. However, it is more commonly referred to as “Toilet Bowl,” “Hole in the Roof,” and “Crescent Pool.”

Salt Lake County mom Monica Miles, who is visiting Lake Powell with 60 extended family members between two large houseboats, explained how it’s a fun landmark that her kids always love to go see.

“It’s one of our favorites. It’s just such a beautiful, neat feature,” she said. “You can drive in underneath and swim in it in the pool, and the lighting’s always pretty amazing.”

She said there are always boats stopped at the arch, which opens into a small cove. People often climb on top and jump in.

At approximately 1 p.m. Thursday, boater Merril Campbell from Hurricane, Utah, visited the iconic spot with a group of friends and family. They were camping just a couple of miles away from Toilet Bowl.

Photos from Salt Lake County boater Greg Sanders show boats, swimmers, and cliff jumpers gathered on the rock and in the water having fun.

Campbell described how there were “twenty or thirty people that had kind of just jumped off and were hanging out inside the bowl,” and had just cleared out from under the arch when he said he heard a splash that sounded larger than someone jumping into the lake.

Sanders happened to be recording a video of his daughter and another child about to jump off the rock next to the arch, capturing the edge of that large splash.

“I looked over, and a couple of the guys I was with had seen a big piece of rock fall off the bottom of the arch into the lake,” Campbell recounted. He added that his friends estimated, “it was like a Volkswagen-sized rock that fell off.

In Sanders’ video, people scream and adults begin to yell at the children to jump down before anything else caved in.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by KSL 5 TV (@kslnews)

“Dude, we were under there!” A swimmer yells, referencing the arch where the car-sized rock came crashing down. “We barely left in time!”

Rocks continued to tumble into the lake with splashes, as seen in another video by Sanders. Understanding the danger, Campbell explained that everyone got off the cliff and cleared out of the area.

Iconic Double Arch known as ‘Toilet Bowl’ collapses at Lake Powell

About five hours later, his group returned to see if more rocks had fallen from the arch. What they found was the rest of Toilet Bowl in the water.

“There just wasn’t an arch left, and it was like smooth walls,” Campbell said. “We’re just like, this is crazy. It’s not even here anymore.”

Instead of a 20 or 30-foot arch hole, he estimates there was a gap about 100 feet wide.

The NPS confirmed the full collapse Friday and reported no injuries. The NPS said changing water levels and erosion from wave action likely contributed to the collapse.

Campbell said a storm moved through that afternoon, so he’s guessing that’s why no one appears to have been around when the entire thing gave way.

“It’s really lucky that no one got hurt,” he said.

Word quickly spread of the famed arch’s complete crumble, with hundreds expressing disbelief and sorrow. Upon hearing the news Friday morning, Miles had to see it for herself, saying she hopped on a jet ski and rode over to look.

“My heart just sank, and I just knew how sad my kids were going to be that it was gone,” she said.

Miles took photos and videos of the now-defunct Toilet Bowl, saying that at least she’s glad her family got to visit it so many times over the years.

“It’s gone now, and I’m sad about it,” she said. “But we have so many wonderful memories there that will last forever.”