The Arches
Most people go to Arches National Park for one main reason…the Arches! While I wasn’t able to make it to all of them I wanted to take a chance to show you some of the main ones that I did make it to.
Delicate Arch
Delicate Arch was one of the coolest arches that I saw at the park. The arch sits on the edge of a cliff at the end of a large sloping rock. It is almost like the stage of a giant amphitheater. To me it looked like some sort of magical portal from a Sci-Fi movie. The rest of the arches in the park you can kind of figure out the physics of how they occurred naturally but this one just stands alone in all of its glory.
Tunnel Arch
Tunnel Arch is the first one that you see on the Devils Garden trail. To be honest I wasn’t all that excited about it the first time that I saw it but it is starting to grow on me. It is basically just a round hole, or tunnel, through the rock. What makes this one different is that it is pretty small and doesn’t have that large arch feel to it. But the more I looked at the pictures the more I appreciated the simplicity of it.
Pine Tree Arch
Pine Tree Arch is located near Tunnel Arch on the Devils Garden Trail and was cool because it was the first arch that I ever walked under. It is wide at the base where a tree grows and visitors are able to walk underneath and really see the amazing structure that it is.
Landscape Arch
Landscape Arch is what you think of when you think of arches. It stretches 306 feet across and towers in the air. At its thinnest point it is only 11 feet so I have to wonder about the physics that is holding this up in the air. Visitors aren’t able to get too close to the arch but it is so big you can see it very well from a distance.
Partition Arch
I think Partition arch is why I had a better respect for Tunnel Arch. Partition sits on the upper part of the Devils Garden trail, above Landscape Arch. It is almost a perfect circle and it almost looks like a picture window. As you move around the surrounding area, different rock formations from the lower section of the park are perfectly framed in this amazing piece of geology. I also liked that there is small window like mini arch next to it, like a window next to the open front door.
Navajo Arch
Navajo Arch might have been my favorite arch in the park. One reason was it was the one with the fewest people around it when I went. Navajo Arch is thicker and lower than the rest of the arches at the park. it is almost like someone was building a cave but forgot to cover the back of it. When you walk through the arch you find yourself in this small area that is surrounded on all sides by steep rock but open directly above. It was just a really cool experience.
Double O Arch
Double O arch was one of the busier arches and it takes some effort to get to. You will have to walk over two narrow spines with pretty significant drop offs if you are willing to see this one. The small arch at the bottom is dwarfed by the large upper arch. It was impressive to have two arches at one spot like a slinky that had one ring that didn’t recoil into the group.
Private Arch
Private Arch was nice because it was off the main path and it you get to walk on a giant rock that works as a ramp to get down to it. The Arch itself is tucked into the bottom of giant rock and directly across is another giant slanted rock. This was a nice place to sit for a moment and grab a snack and again question if gravity is real.
Black Arch
I put Black Arch at the end because I almost missed it and wasn’t even sure I saw it. It can be seen from the top of the narrow spine that you have to cross to get to Double O arch. I was a little shaky on the spine as I am afraid of heights but saw a cool formation in the distance. I didn’t realize until later that it was actually Black Arch!
Wrapping up the Arches
Arches are some of the coolest natural rock formations that I have seen and to see so many of them in one place is really special. There are some easy ones to get to and some that make you work for it but each one is unique and there is a beauty in each one.
I heard someone on the trail say, “If you have seen one arch, you have seen them all”. I would have to say that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Each arch I saw was different and it was like seeing my first ever arch with each one.
If you want to know more about the Devil Garden hike that had eight of these arches on it you can click here for a detailed description. More details on Delicate Arch can be found here. If you are looking for more information on Arches National Park you can click here.
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