Yosemite Officials Sound the Alarm as Granite Cliff Begins to Crack
Yosemite National Park has temporarily shut down several well-loved climbing routes after a rapidly-growing crack on the western side of Royal Arches sparked major rockfall concerns.
The fracture, now about four inches wide, was first spotted by a climber in 2023 when it measured barely an inch. Since then, it’s grown fast enough to make even veteran geologists nervous. Jesse McGahey, a Yosemite climbing ranger, said he could hear the rock “cracking like a frozen lake that wasn’t consolidated,” adding that pieces of granite were “rattling down the crack without touching it,” something he’d never seen in 15 years on the job.
The National Park Service says the widening fissure, informally dubbed “Super Natural,” has partially detached a large pillar of granite near the popular Super Slide route. As a precaution, officials have closed the trail to Super Slide along with routes like Serenity Crack/Sons of Yesterday, Peruvian Flake West, Rhombus Wall, and all climbs in between.
Yosemite is no stranger to rockfall (more than 1,000 events have been recorded in the past 150 years) but this one has park officials on high alert. Even 2024, considered a “quiet year,” still saw 42 documented rockfalls.
Visitors are urged to stay aware of their surroundings and report any signs of falling rock. Rangers will continue to monitor the area closely as the investigation continues.
Stay safe out there, Yosemite fans. The granite is talking, and park officials are definitely listening.
