National Parks- Arches, the land of red rocks and arches!

The relationship between the landscape and time is always amazing! The forces of nature create wonders in time. The wind has carved thousands of arches in one place- Arches National Park, 6-miles from Moab, Utah. Home for the world famous landmark- Delicate Arch! Arches National Park in the high desert of Utah is a red rock wonderland and is a home for thousands of natural arches, hundreds of massive spires, colossal fins and many other wind-formed sandstone formations. A place to witness vast expanses of breathtaking scenery.

World famous landmark Delicate Arch!

The weathering of sandstone domes have left vertical slabs of soft sandstone called fins. And further these slender sandstone walls are weathered by the wind to create spectacular arches in this country of rocks. The extremes of climate high above the Colorado river will keep changing the looks of this seemingly  timeless landscape. Wherever I went my attention was distracted by the wind. Seemed like wind was looking for appreciation from the visitors on what it has created!

Turret Arch

The park gets millions of visitors each year for its beauty and also the easy access. In comparison with its neighbor Canyonlands National Park, Arches gets crowds of visitors. May be due to the easy access. There are around 2,000 arches in the park, old ones are collapsing and new ones are formed in time.

Double Arch

There are many short and long hiking trails. Some are difficult for common tourists because of their level of difficulty. Primitive trails need good navigation skills to scramble over the rocks, cross narrow ledges and climb steep-narrow spines of these sandstone slabs. Most of the sightseeing can be done in a day if you are not hiking much.

I did whatever was in my capability up to the Double O' Arch. I did spend a day-and-a-half just to do most of the trails except the primitive parts. Hike up to that Delicate Arch is nice. Not very challenging as mentioned in the guides but, in hot summer care must be taken to cope with the heat. With tiny increments one can climb the all uphill trail to be there at sunset and sunrise. I went up at sunset and was disappointed to see so many hikers. Then I climbed up next early morning in the limb-stiffening cold for a crowd-free picture of the arch. It was worth drowning in that cold wind! I thought I was accompanied only by the ghost of movement. Was I alone there at that time?! You can see the pic! There was a couple to snoop into the picture!! Well, they might have thought same about me :) One could see the delicate arch from a viewpoint which is nice too.

Landscape Arch

Landscape arch is the largest in the park measures 306ft wide base-to-base. Up to here the trail is well maintained and easy. From here to Double O' arch I did some scrambling which was hard for me. Because this part is challenging there were many hikers here too tp prove their ability.

Double arch is the most beautiful after the Delicate arch in my opinion. You don't have to hike long to reach it. There are many other arches ... Tunnel, Skyline, Sand Dune arches, North and South Windows and so on which can be reached easily.

Fiery Furnace is an area which doesn't have any marked trails and needs a permit ($4), navigating ability to hike on your own. Guided tours are available for a fee ($10) which need to be booked in advance. Seems like a great activity to do in the park, though my reservation was cancelled due to government shutdown. Fiery Furnace is a labyrinth landform with a great concentration of high vertical fins. Navigating through the narrow and complex passages is difficult and needs physical strength. GPS doesn't work here due to the high standing walls.

Fiery Furnace landform

The park has an entrance fee of $10 which is valid for 7-days. Visitor center has an information kiosk and gift/souvenir shop. Officers are very friendly and give good advice on weather and activities. The shop is loaded with souvenirs, guide books, maps, DVDs and posters. Weather-wise October was a bit cold that is when I visited the park. Moab- the nearest town is nice and has all the amenities. 

Fins and spires of Arches, La Sal mountains in the backdrop!

I had been wandering for a month around Utah and Arches National Park is one of the best but not so remote places. Driving in the park looking at those huge vertical red rock slabs and spires, petrified dunes, mysterious labyrinths and the spectacular red color at the sunset was a great experience. Climbing up to the delicate arch early in the morning was a divine experience.

To travel is worth any cost or sacrifice- Elizabeth Gilbert

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Scrapbook- A Travel Blog by Kusum Sanu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.