Two Desert Icons Fall After 20 Trillion Gallons of Rain Hit Region

Residents of the high desert in northwestern New Mexico lost two well-known rock formations in late October. The Alien Throne and the nearby King of Wings, both located near the Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness, collapsed due to flooding and erosion. These sites served as physical landmarks for travelers and hold deep cultural value for local Native American communities.

Meteorologists estimate that more than 20 trillion gallons of rain fell across New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada during late October and early November. Tropical moisture funneled into the Four Corners region saturated ground that was already wet from the fall. The resulting storm fronts destroyed homes, washed out dirt roads, and eroded soil across the area. Officials estimate the total damage could reach hundreds of millions of dollars.

Kialo Winters, founder of Navajo Tours USA, discovered the extent of the damage on October 30. Winters, who guides visitors through the area, had been unable to visit the site for several weeks due to poor road conditions. When he rounded a bend that Friday afternoon, he found the Alien Throne, known in his language as Tsé Bináká Níyol, in pieces. The collapse occurred within weeks of the King of Wings falling. Social media posts from early October showed the King of Wings slab on the ground near its former clay pedestal.

Winters described the moment as surreal, noting that he had to pause and process what he was seeing. For Winters and other residents from the region, the formations are more than geological features. They have acted as waypoints guiding ancestors along trade routes for thousands of years and appear in stories passed down through generations. Winters stated that the sites are culturally relevant to local identity and that their legacy will continue through photographs and oral traditions.

Alan Studt, a visitor from Parma, Ohio, first saw the formations in 2019 and returned in April of this year. During his most recent visit, part of a 50-day road trip, he spent hours exploring the hills and washes. Studt noted that his earlier photographs showed signs of weathering, including new holes in the throne and cracks along the wing’s base. He observed that the formations were not expected to last forever given the visible deterioration. He described the experience of seeing the spires and petrified wood as magical.

Social media reactions to the collapse included a mix of gratitude for past visits and mourning for the lost structures. Some users shared memories of seeing the formations, while others joked about the force of gravity. Winters has asked visitors to let the sites rest. He recommended against climbing on the remaining rocks or taking pieces of the formations home. The area remains accessible, though it is located far off the beaten path down a rutted, washboard dirt road.

The collapse of these two icons highlights the impact of extreme weather on natural landscapes. While the water is receding and cleanup efforts are underway, the physical changes to the desert terrain are permanent. The sites will remain as they are now, with the fallen slabs and eroded pedestals marking the locations of what were once towering sandstone structures.