About the Park/My Experiences:
My impression of
Arches National Park
is that it is very red. Most of the park consists of exposed red sandstone
which has been tortured by the elements (mostly wind) into a variety of
unusual, occasionally bizarre, shapes. Some of the more notable formations
include the Fiery Furnace, Devils Garden, Balanced Rock, Windows, Double Arch,
and perhaps the most famous of them all, Delicate Arch. Most of the
popular stuff is very accessible by car. Delicate Arch is somewhat of an
exception. If you want to see it close up, it's about a 2 mile hike. An
alternative (which we took) is go to the car accessible overlook
located about a 1/2 mile or so away from the arch and view it from there across
the gorge separating the two places.
My lone trip to Arches was part of my
Arizona/Utah trip
in the summer of '94. It was a typical summer day for the park - hot with
condidtions ranging from bright sun to brief periods of rain. The park is small
enough (the main park road is only about 17 miles long) that we covered basically
everything we wanted to, including a couple of short hikes in one day. Because
you can cover most of the park in a half day or so and because it is a truely
unique place, I highly recommend stopping at Arches if you are ever in the area.
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