Editor Pick
Canyonlands Famous Neighbor
- February 22, 2009
- Rated 5 of 5 by
Wasatch from heber ctity, Utah
Three miles north of Moab, UT, Arches and Canyonlands(see journal on) National Parks sit on
opposite sides of US Rt 191, only 12 miles apart. Arches has some 2,000 identified arches.
Most of the biggest and best can be seen from or by short walks from the park’s three
paved roads. The main road runs 18 miles from the Visitor’s Center to
Devils Garden trail head (restrooms) and campground. Two roads branch off
the main road, the very scenic Windows Road(rest room), and the road to
the Delicate Arch view point (restroom) and trail head.
There is more to Arches than arches. Leaving the Visitor’s Center, the
road climbs about 1,000 ft. up a red rock cliff, with good views of the
Moab Fault, the depression where the highway runs. The first of the
park’s major stops is at the top of the cliff on the left, the Park Ave.
area which bears a resemblance to Monument Valley. The Park Ave. trail ( one mile, o.w)
cuts across a curve in the road, so if you have someone to pick you up, it can
be walked one way. We walk Park Ave. on the installment plan– we park at one end or the
other, walk halfway, and turn around and walk back. Since these rock formations look different
depending on which way you are going, this is not repetitious.
The next place of interest is the Petrified Sand Dunes pullover on the
right, from which you look out across a filed of ancient sand dunes which
turned to rock when they sank beneath the sea eons ago. In the spring, the snow covered La Sal
Mtns. rise up on the horizon behind the frozen dunes.
Next on the right, the very short flat trail (0.3 miles, r.t.) around Balanced Rock is much more
interesting than it looks from the road. Do it.
The turn off to The Windows runs through some of the best roadside
scenery in the Park, ending at the Windows parking lot(restroom). On
about three out four visits, we skip the Windows Trail(one mile) , but always take
the short and easy Double Arch Trail (0.8 miles), one of the best in the Park. The
parking lot is oval shaped. The Double Arch Trail is about 3/4 the way
around the parking lot.
There is a spot about 80% of the way from the parking lot to where they trail turns into a climb
under the first arch where the cliff to the right produces a remarkable echo of hands clapping.
Face the cliff, clap your hands until you find it. Others on the trail will look at you oddly until
you hit the spot, then everybody starts clapping. Once you locate echo central, try snapping your
fingers. The result is amazing.
On the way back to the main road, stop at the Garden of Eden Viewpoint
for grand views in every direction. Bring binoculars. Use the spotting
scope at the right hand end of the parking lot to locate the Delicate Arch, the parks most famous
feature.
Back on the main road, 2.5 miles from the Windows Road intersection, Panorama View Point
has a great view of Salt Valley Wash and the Fiery Furnace. From here, the road plunges down
the side of Salt Valley Wash to the side road to the Delicate Arch.
Next up, the Delicate Arch (see review of). The trail head(2-3 hrs. to the Delicate Arch.) or
parking lot(rest room) view point of Delicate Arch are reached by the
same road. If you go to the end of the road, the short trail from the parking lot up the slick rock
for a better view of the Delicate Arch is worth the little effort required. Do not be fooled by the
name ‘slick rock’. In reality, this rough sandstone is sticky rock, anything but slick. It got the
name slick because iron horseshoes can not get a grip on it. The old west’s horse riding cowboys
and explorers slid all over the place, but even with leather soled shoes, you feel like you are
nailed onto the rock face. With athletic shoes or hiking boots, especially with those with Vibram
soles, the effect is positively unnerving. You can walk straight up steep hills without slipping as
easily as strolling on a flat big city sidewalk. Feel the rock surface. Its like course sandpaper.
Back on the main road, we pass the Fiery Furnace, Arch’s toughest
hike. If you sign away your first born at the Visitor’s Center, they
might issue you a permit to explore Fiery Furnace on your own, but this
is no place for amateurs. The Fiery Furnace is a rugged rock maze, with
walls so high you can’t see out except straight up. Get lost here, and you
are really lost. A Ranger leads 1-2 daily hikes into the Fiery Furnace.
Very difficult hiking, and only by personal reservations at the Visitor’s
Center. Do not be surprised if you show up to register for the Ranger led hike and find it booked
full for 1-3 days ahead.
Next stop, Sand Dune Arch, a short 15 minute walk(0.3 miles) from the road. Both literally and
figuratively this is one of the coolest places in the park. When you reach the cliff, about 50
yards from the road, the trial enters a narrow crack in the rock face, shading the trail all day long
and keeping it cool. You climb up some sand dunes filling the crack from wall to wall a little bit
and then, above you to the right, is the arch, a cool trip and cool view.
Do whatever else you want in the park, butt do not miss the trails to Double Arch and Sand Dune
Arch.
The parking lot at the end of the road is very popular and the start of one of the park’s most
popular trails (there is also a campground and restrooms here). The flat trail runs past a string of
arches, including Long Arch, or at least it did. Long Arch, with a span of about 260 feet, was the
longest arch in the world. It collapsed in 2008. Now it is a plie of rubble at the bottom of a gap
in the ridge.
On our May 23 & 24 visit, Indian Paintbrush were in full bloom. Paintbrush is the most
spectacular desert wildflower, a bright red flower atop a stem looking like a spring of rosemary.
Technically, Paintbrush is not a flower. Rather, red is the temporary color of the new
growth leaves. If your schedule is flexible, it’s worth a call or email
to any of the Southwest’s National Parks to get an estimate on when the
Paintbrush will flower and time your trip for that. The rocks will always
be there. Paintbrush makes but a fleeting, awesome appearance.
Late afternoon is the best time to travel the park’s roads because that’s
when the setting sun best lights up most of features along the roads.
Always carry water with you, lots of water in the summer.
As the bird flies, Natural Bridges National Monument is about 60 miles south west of Arches,
but Canyonlands National Park is in the way, so it’s a 120 mile drive. Natural bridges and
arches, what’s the difference? A natural bridge is carved through the rock by running water, a
river or stream or a seasonal wash. An arch is created by temperature changes. The rock face of
the cliffs are covered with tiny cracks. If a little water gets into a crack and freezes, the force of
the expanding ice pops a little bit of rock off the face of the cliff. For reasons I can’t recall, the
process operates to create an upside down U shape on the face of the cliff. Given a few million
years to work on it, these little pieces of popped off rock can eventually eat right through a ridge,
leaving a hole in the rock and creating an arch. You can see arches being formed in many
places by looking for an upside down U shaped hollow in the side of cliff.
The visitor’s canter is just inside the park entrance.
The entrance fee is $25 per car, good for a week and for both Arches and Canyonlands National
Parks.
From journal Canyonlands National Park
Arches National Park
- May 2, 2007
- Rated 5 of 5 by
Wasatch from heber ctity, Utah
The world’s densest collection of natural rock arches, sometimes called natural bridges, is in Arches National Park, three miles north of Moab, UT, off US 191. The park has some 2,000 identified arches. Most of the biggest and best can be seen from or by short walks from the Park’s three paved roads. The main road runs 18 miles from the Visitor Center to Devils Garden trail head (restrooms) and campground. Two roads branch off the main road, the very scenic Windows Road (restroom), and the road to the Delicate Arch view point (restroom) and trail head. There is more to Arches than arches. Leaving the Visitor Center, the road climbs about 1,000 ft. up a red rock cliff, with good views of the Moab Fault, the depression where the highway runs. The first of the park’s major stops is at the top of the cliff on the left, the Park Avenue area which bears a resemblance to Monument Valley. The Park Avenue trail cuts across a curve in the road, so if someone picks you up, it can be walked one way. The next place of interest is the Petrified Sand Dunes pullover on the right, from which you look out across a filed of ancient sand dunes which turned to rock when they sank beneath the sea eons ago. Next on the right, the short flat trail around Balanced Rock is much more interesting than it looks from the road. Do it. The turn off to The Windows runs through some of the best roadside scenery in the Park, ending at the Windows parking lot (restroom). On about three out four visits, we skip the Windows Trail, but always take the short and easy Double Arch Trail, one of the best in the Park. The parking lot is oval shaped. The Double Arch Trail is about 3/4 the way around. On the way back to the main road, stop at the Garden of Eden Viewpoint for grand views in every direction. Bring binoculars. Use the spotting scope at the right hand end of the parking lot to locate the Delicate Arch. Next up, the Delicate Arch (see review). The trail head (2-3 hours) or parking lot (restroom) view point of Delicate Arch are reached by the same road. Back on the main road, we pass the Fiery Furnace, the Arch’s toughest hike. If you sign away your first born at the Visitor’s Center, they might issue you a permit to explore Fiery Furnace on your own, but this is no place for amateurs. The Fiery Furnace is a rugged rock maze, with wall so high you can’t see out except straight up. Get lost here, and you are really lost. A Ranger leads 1-2 daily hikes into the Fiery Furnace. Very difficult hiking. Only by personal reservations at the Visitor’s Center.
From journal Rocks, in every shape, size, and color
The Delicate Arch
- April 28, 2007
- Rated 5 of 5 by
Wasatch from heber ctity, Utah
Open Baedeker’s USA, a guide book to America written by a committee of German professors, and the first thing you will see is a full page full color photo of the Delicate Arch. Most Americans would probably think of the Washington Monument or the Capital Dome or Niagara Falls as the image of America, but the Germans know better. The German professors wanted to give their readers the most memorable sight they could to introduce them to 600 pages of pedantic text on sightseeing the USA–slickrock.
The Delicate Arch looks like a horseshoe standing alone on top of bare rock hill. The scene of the red-orange rock of the Delicate Arch against the deep blue desert sky with the snow capped La Sal Mountains in the background is unforgettable.
There are four places in Arches National Park from which the Delicate Arch can be seen. 1] The Garden of Eden parking lot on the Windows Road. There is a spotting scope at the right hand end of the parking lot to locate the arch, about four miles away. Once you know where to look, the arch is easy to see. The remarkable feature of this view of the Delicate Arch is how it shows the arch as a lone sentinel on a field of rock. Also note that, at this distance, the arch appears gray, not its true red-orange color.
2] A glimpse of the Delicate Arch can be seen from the Delicate Arch viewpoint parking lot at the end of Delicate Arch Viewpoint road, but the view is much better at the top of the short climb at the end of the parking lot.
3] After the easy climb uphill from the Delicate Arch viewpoint parking lot, the Delicate Arch stands alone across the rolling slickrock hills (see review, ‘What is slickrock’). This is a fine view of the Delicate Arch, and as close as you can get without a strenuous hike. It looks like you should be able to walk over to the Delicate Arch from here, but there is a sheer cliff and a deep gully in between; it can’t be done.
4] The Delicate Arch trail, three miles round trip, 2-3 hours, is one of the most strenuous hikes in the park as it climbs 480 feet to a slickrock path to the Delicate Arch. Here, you can get right up to the Delicate Arch. Keep in mind there is no shade or water on this trail.
Once you see the Delicate Arch, you will know the answer to the question a tourist once asked me, “What’s that rock on your license plate?” Most Utah licensed vehicles carry a picture of the Delicate Arch.
From journal Rocks, in every shape, size, and color