Arches National Park, Utah

Arches is one of my favorite parks. The only trouble is that the heat can be very oppressive with summer temperatures often in the high 90s and 100s!

When you enter Arches National Park, you take a series of switchbacks up the side of a plateau. This shot is looking out from the switchbacks towards Moab. In the foreground is some of the park's building. In the background you can see the city of Moab which is about 6 miles away.

This  the start of the Park Avenue Trail. This is a simple trail that goes down a valley for about a mile. It is a nice hike with great walls on the side. The ecosystem is different than most of Arches because the rain water runs down the center of the valley. After a rain, the colors are vibrant. By the way, some of the walls on the right are less than 5 feet (1.7 meters) thick starting at the ridge line!

Park Avenue Trail after a rain.

Faces in the rock along the Park Avenue Trail.

Landscape Arch is 290 feet (88.3meters) long and is only 11 feet (3.5 meters) thick near the center. It is the second longest arch in the world; the longest is Kolob Arch in Zion National Park and is 4 feet longer. Sadly, three large sections of the arch have broken off since 1991 and the arch is probably on its last leg. Arches are formed by erosion eating away the rock and dirt beneath the arch. If a river forms the arch then it is called a natural bridge.

Balanced Rock

This is one of the North Windows Arches. This is supposed to be a "golden light" shot but of course it was a heavily overcast day.

This is on the hike to Delicate Arch. Most people are in too big a hurry to get to Delicate Arch to stop and look.

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All photographs on this page are Copyright 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007 by Roger Tuttleman
Roger & Marian's Web Site, last modified 02/12/07