There are so many amazing geologic wonders to see in Arches National Park. Many need just a short walk, many you see from the car. Now this is a spectacular road tour!
I know, I took this trip the end of April, so what took so long? I usually take you on hikes, and just driving around a National Park is, well, just driving around. However, Arches is different. The primary focus when visiting here is the geology. The huge and fascinating rock formations including, of course, arches. Over 2,000 arches! The Park has one official entrance. The Visitor Center is about .2 miles from that entrance, and the road continues for almost 18 miles to Devils Garden where you turn around to return. We pass two paved roads along the way. The one we will explore takes us 2.4 miles to the park’s Windows Section. We have already explored the other road, the 2.2-mile drive to Delicate Arch’s trailheads.
We certainly can’t argue with the drama of the 2-mile drive UP into Arches National Park!
Of the 63 National Parks in the USA, Arches is the 18th smallest and the smallest of the five in Utah. It encompasses 119 square miles (76,359 acres). For comparison Yellowstone, which we have visited together many times, covers 3,472 square miles (2,221,766 acres). Then again Yellowstone is the second largest national park in the lower 48 states, so that isn’t really a fair comparison. OK, moving on . . .
A few more twists and turns and we are in the Park Avenue and Courthouse Towers areas. There are massive rock walls behind us too.
Most rock features in the park are unnamed, but let’s look at a few of the named features. The towering stand at left is the Three Gossips. The next tallest at right (front) is Sheep Rock. You need to use your imagination to “see” the form from which they get their names. Compared to the SUV at bottom center, these formations are truly HUGE! Awestruck isn’t quite big enough for the feelings just standing here! That very cool smallest feature between the other two has no name.
Hoodoo Heaven?
Continuing down the road there is a similar feature, also nameless, on the other side of the road. We could get into a lot of confusing geology particulars, but the Park Service offers a simple explanation. I’ll let you read about Rock Strata, or layers, highlighting the four strata that make up Arches National Park.
This environment has experienced all kinds of forces over millions of years, but today it is shaped and changed by water more than any other force. Rain, snowmelt pooling in rock fractures then freezing again, followed by further fracturing erodes Estrada sandstone into the arches, spires, and fins we will be seeing.
Our view opens to the east across the petrified sand dunes. The “small” single standing feature far left is Balanced Rock and when we reach it, we’ll turn southeast to visit the Windows Section.
The Windows Section itself seen beyond the petrified sand dunes.
The main park road is awsome!
Tower of Babel right along the road.
One of the lovely pull-outs offers a wide-open view of the La Sal Mountains to the southeast. This range, part of the Rocky Mountains, is only 15 miles long and 6 miles wide and 9 miles from the Colorado border. Its highest peak, Mount Peale, rises to 12,721 feet.
As we continue driving, looking west we see the Rock Pinnacles area of the Great Wall.
It is only a few more miles to the turn that will take us to the Windows Section.
About a mile down from Balanced Rock there is a parking area for visiting what is called Garden of Eden. We don’t have time to explore here today, but I’m thinking another trip to Arches in the near future. There is just so much to see.
Stopping the car for a moment we see our unnamed “welcome” to the Windows Section.
From the parking area looking east is North Window.
The main feature here is Double Arch, and we’ll get there in a minute. Let’s take a moment to marvel at the fascinating side walls. There are windows all around which made me wonder: is there a difference between a window and an arch? In geology, yes, but the defining features are not consistent in the geology world. Windows are often precursors to arches. They will continue to erode until an arch forms, and an arch typically forms at the base of a rock wall.
Selecting names for arches and windows in this park was random, following no specific criteria. Some do look more like windows as below, others more like arches as above even when called a window.
A short walk south we see Turret Arch.
This is Bicep Arch and it already is an arch but you have to stand almost beneath it to see the opening–or get here in the morning when the sun might shine through. A sure give away confirming an opening is the “varnish” on the back wall. The red to black streaking only develops on rock where water flows and interacts with the magnesium and iron in the rock. See the streaks on the eroding rock wall? Remember, though, it can take hundreds to thousands of years for varnish to appear.
The erosion forces of water and time will make this a lovely arch one day, but not in our lifetimes, not in our great-grandchildren’s lifetimes, and probably not in their great-grandchildren’s lifetimes either. It is a L-O-N-G process.
Here we are at Double Arch. We are not getting much closer due to crowds and honestly, all these easy 1/2-mile walks are adding up!
Double Arch is unique because both arches share the same foundation stone, and the water eroded the sandstone from the top down. It is most common for arches to erode side-to-side/front-to-back, as seen in Bicep Arch. Take a look here for the Park Service’s information on the types of arches found in the park.
The front or southern arch of the two is the tallest (122 feet) and second longest (144 feet) in the park. The longest in the park is Landscape Arch.
Back on the main park road, our next stop is Fiery Furnace. According to the Park Service, “The Fiery Furnace is a natural labyrinth of narrow passages between towering sandstone walls. Stand at this viewpoint near sunset, when low-angle light makes the rock faces glow like a wood-fired furnace.” This is a place you can only visit by taking a ranger-guided hike or securing a Self-Guided Exploration permit. One concern here is getting lost. GPS rarely works within these high sandstone walls. Let’s get closer.
The views from the Fiery Furnace parking area offer little more than a tease of what’s within. It might be an amazing adventure! Ahhhh . . . not for me, but I loved the videos (links above). Then again, this is an auto tour, so let’s go.
Looking southwest from the edge of Fiery Furnace we see canyons and rock features galore–and the La Sal Mountains.
Continuing on the main road we see a long range of geologic fins. Arches sometimes erode from fins.
Here we are at Skyline Arch. In 1940 a large boulder suddenly fell out of the left side of the arch nearly doubling its size. The arch now has a 71 foot span and a height of 33.5 feet.
Speaking of falling rocks, Wall Arch, one of the major arches in Devils Garden, unexpectedly fell during the night of August 4, 2008. Take a look at before and after. Oh, by the way, watch for falling rock!
It is only about a mile to Devils Garden. With a picnic area and campground, this area is a nice place to enjoy the beauty of the desert and red rocks. Let’s enjoy a snack and savor our surrounds before we head back.
So after an unfair comparison of the size of Arches vs. Yellowstone, were you wondering which national park is the largest in the lower 48 states? Bet you’ll never guess, I sure didn’t. It is Death Valley in eastern California along the Nevada border with 3.2 million acres of amazing landscapes to explore. We’ll be visiting there next February so stay tuned!
Until next time my friend . . .
Enjoyed Arches very much. Thank you for these blogs Joy.
You are so welcomed Jeff!
Thanks for a trip down memory lane! It must be 20 years since I’ve been there…or more!