Delicate Arch & Landscape Arch - Arches National Park, Utah

After lunch, the skies began to clear, and I returned to tackle the park's northern attractions. One sight you simply must see is Delicate Arch. The familiar formation is on billboards, brochures, and even the state's license plates. To see it up close, you must hike a 3-mile round-trip trail, that gains 480 feet and provides little shade. There's a second option that is shorter but still includes an uphill climb--it will take you to a ridge across from the base of the arch (I took this trail during my 2004 visit). Your third choice is the quickest and easiest: walk about 300 feet to a viewpoint near the parking area, attach your zoom lens, and click off a few uninspired photos. Since my time was limited, I chose the third option.

Just a few more miles up the park's main road, you reach the Devil's Garden. This is where the pavement ends (you can go further on dirt roads). A large parking lot often proves to be not large enough, so prepare to circle a few times before finding a spot at the trailhead for such sites as Landscape and Double "O" Arches.

The first major attraction, Landscape Arch, is nearly a mile from the trailhead, but there's plenty to see along the way. This part of the park displays an amazing array of color: red rock, blue sky, green vegetation and orange dirt.

There's a good chance that Landscape Arch will be in full view, long before you actually spot it. The arch blends in with the rock wall behind it, making it almost invisible until you're directly in front of it. It's especially fun to hike this trail with someone who's never seen the arch before, to see how long it takes for them to see it.

The park no longer allows visitors to walk directly underneath the arch. As time passes and weather slowly erodes the thin span of rock, the chance of a collapse increases.

The arch is best viewed and photographed in the morning--by the afternoon, the light is behind it, making a good picture difficult.

In 2006 I received a few emails from people trying to solve a riddle, as part of a contest called "Outwit the West". One visitor quoted the cryptic clue:

Follow Park Avenue past the Windows, send us a photo of the landscape from end to end, and tell us the name of the garden across which it stretches.

I think the word "landscape" is a reference to Landscape Arch, and the name of the garden would be Devil's Garden. If that info helps you win, be sure to share some love with your friends here at TakeMyTrip.com!

From Landscape Arch, the next big destination, Double "O" Arch, is about a mile away. Side trails lead to other arches as well. If you have the energy and enough bottled water, you can take the main trail from Landscape Arch to Double "O", or follow a primitive trail, that's about twice as long. I chose to head back to the trailhead.

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Arches NP: Park Avenue
Balanced Rock
Fiery Furnace & Devil's Garden
Previous Arches NP Visit (2004)

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Fisher Towers
Unaweep Tabeguache Byway
Canyonlands National Park

Arches National Park, Utah Delicate Arch & Landscape Arch

Arches National Park, Utah
Delicate Arch & Landscape Arch