Archways to Nature

Waking up to a hot and beautiful day in Moab, we grabbed some ice for our cooler and headed into Arches National Park. Arches became a National Park in 1929 and is mostly known for its 2,000+ natural arches. After a long geologic process spanning millions of years, you can simplify the formation of the arches like so: soft sandstone lies below hard rock, making it easier to weather away. As water, wind and other forces erode the soft material, it leaves behind these natural arches. These processes continue today and will continue for a long time after us, reforming the landscape over and over. Other natural features of this park include fins and balanced rocks.

We were planning to meet up with a friend later in the day, so we decided to hike around Devil’s Garden and see some of the famous features of Arches. Our first couple stops along the way were Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch. These are off of the main trail, but not too far and definitely worth while.

Once we got back to the main trail we headed towards Landscape Arch. This is a very famous feature as it is one of the largest arches in the world, spanning 306 feet. This arch is an example of the delicate landscape constantly changing. Back in 1991, a 60 foot section of rock fell from the arch. Because of this, people aren’t allowed to get too close to the arch anymore. We hung out on the rocks around this area, wandered up the trail a little further, and decided to head back out and hike around a different area.

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Delicate Arch is another well known feature of Arches National Park. It stands almost 50 feet high and 32 feet wide. With that being said, we were definitely down to go take a look. This hike actually proved to be a bit difficult. The trail itself is only 1.5 miles one way and gains 480 feet in elevation. However, most of the way up has you baking in the sun the entire time. If you do this hike, bring lots of water! After walking in the sun and scurrying around rock ledges with a few drop offs, we reached the arch. The area had quite the view alone, and the arch made it that much better. The only way I can think to describe it is that the arch is set along the rim of a rocky bowl. To get right up under the arch you have to walk along slightly angled rocks. I’m not sure if it was the time/day that we went, but I don’t think I’ve ever felt winds so strong either. It was sort of a challenge to get across the rock at the top without being blown away, but it was all in good fun and again, definitely worth it! In the beginning, there’s also another little trail that leads to some petroglyphs carved by the Ute Indians sometime between 1650 and 1850 AD.

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As we drove out we took in more of the views that Arches had to offer us, including Balanced Rock (which of course we had to pull over for.) From here, it was time to move on and we left east Utah in our rear view mirror. We stopped in Beaver to pick up our friend John and headed south in search of a BLM campground. After one failed attempt, we arrived at a campground near Zion in the dark, made some dinner, and hit the sheets. Stay tuned for an exciting day in Zion National Park!