‘Quicksand is real’: Hiker rescued after getting trapped in Arches National Park
An experienced hiker spent hours in freezing temperatures after becoming trapped in quicksand during a trek through Arches National Park in Utah.
A hiker at Arches National Park sent out an SOS on Dec. 7, 2025 after getting stuck in quicksand. Grand County Search and Rescue were able to free him from the freezing stream after several hours.
Quicksand may seem like something from a cartoon, but it became a very real danger for an experienced hiker during a trek through Arches National Park in Utah.
Austin Dirks was hiking a roughly 20-mile section of the Hayduke Trail on Dec. 7 when he entered a shallow canyon with about an inch of water covering the sand. With one step, the ground gave way. He sank to his ankle, and when he tried to pull free, he sank to his knee, locking his leg in place.
“It felt like I had stepped into concrete, and then it hardened around my leg,” Dirks told CNN. “I couldn't even move it a millimeter.”
After about 30 minutes of trying to dig himself out with a trekking pole, Dirks typed an SOS message into his Garmin device. Temperatures in the canyon had dropped into the 20s, and he said his fingers were nearly frozen by the time he sent the alert.
A still photo from drone video shows rescuers reaching a hiker stuck in quicksand on Dec. 7, 2025 at Arches National Park. (Image credit: KSTU via CNN Newsource)
A National Park Service ranger eventually reached him with a shovel, but the flowing water continued to refill the hole faster than they could clear it. After roughly two hours, Grand County Search and Rescue arrived with specialized equipment, including drones, ladders and traction boards, to safely extract him from the quicksand.
Once freed, Dirks slowly regained feeling in his leg and was able to walk out with rescuers.
He later shared the ordeal in a Reddit post to warn other hikers about the hazards that can form in desert environments.
“If nothing else, let this stand as a reminder to others. Quicksand is real,” he wrote. “It does not care how experienced you are. It only cares that you stepped in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
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