Arches National Park, Utah
"Mother Nature is a master sculptor and in no place is that more evident than at Arches National Park."
β Stefanie Payne
About
Arches National Park is one of Utah's 'Mighty 5' parks and is located north of Moab, a small town with a population of about 5,000. Of all the parks, this one stood out to me because of the red-hued mountains and natural sandstone arches, which are so symbolic of the Southwest.
Photos
Canyonlands airport in Moab has limited regular flights, so I had to connect via Denver from Santa Fe. The layover was only 45m and my first flight was delayed, so I was really nervous about missing it. Luckily I arrived only two gates away and was at the desk within minutes!
View from the plane flying into Moab
The airport is tiny - we had to stand on the runway and pick out our bags from the trolley.
Not my photo, but this gives you an idea of the size of Moab. It's one long street (Main Street) located within the Spanish Valley mountains.
I'd planned to have at least a day to explore Moab before the park and it was great, a really authentic small-town Americana experience. Walking the total length of Main St only took about 40 minutes.
Gas prices were around $4.60 a gallon, which - along with the midterms - was all I heard on cable news.
There were loads of lovely little shops, mainly focused on Western clothing and similar to Santa Fe.
Berkshire Hathaway, the famous investment firm led by Warren Buffet, has a presence here. I was told that locals are being priced out of Moab due to the increase in Private Equity activity - my driver from the airport said she was paying $2,500 for a basic one-bed apartment, but doesn't have other options to move and reduce costs since the nearest city is hours away.
Trucks were constantly coming through town, going back and forth with materials for the mines.
BBQ is really popular in Moab. I saw restaurants offering bison and yak, as well as beef, chicken etc.
The local cinema with one showing of each movie per day.
My favourite restaurant - I had an amazing breakfast and tried grits, corned beef hash, and cornbread for the first time.
The start of the trip into Arches National Park.
This area is called the 'Park Avenue Viewpoint' and it's one of the first major scenic spots on the trail.
'Courthouse Towers' is another very popular sight, with a cluster of monoliths that include 'The Three Gossips' and 'Sheep Rock'.
'Balanced Rock' - the boulder on top weighs over 3,500 tonnes and the neck underneath is narrow because it's made of mudstone which erodes faster.
'Turret Arch', which is in the Windows section of the park. If you walk through North Window and look back, Turret Arch is framed neatly inside it, which makes it a really popular photo stop.
The 'North and South Windows', viewed from the front.
Some information on how arches are formed. In one line, it's when water pools along the seam between two rock layers, which dissolve the rockβs mineral βglueβ until a hole opens up and slowly grows into an arch.
Some wider scenery.
This is 'Double Arch', which is the tallest arch in the park at 112 ft high and a span of 144 ft. Can you guess which film's opening scene it was in?
It's...Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
A signpost for the famous 'Delicate Arch', which is widely recognised as an icon of Utah (it's featured on Utah state license plates).
'Delicate Arch' - unlike other arches, this one is freestanding on the edge of a massive sandstone basin which makes it a very dramatic and unique landmark.
Wrapping up the final stop of a really spectacular tour with a photo at the 'Delicate Arch' viewpoint.
The tiny departures lounge at Canyonlands Airport - there were only 5 of us on the flight.
And we're off to Vegas! See you in the next post.