Delicate Arch
Delicate Arch (Arches NP)
If your dream is to experience the Wild Wild West at its best and venture into its majestic & mysterious landscape, then your destination is Arches NP! If you ever dreamt of visiting the most iconic natural monument of the Wild Wild West, then your destination is, again, Arches NP!
Although this national park is relatively small compared to other parks in the west, exploring this majestic land can take you days in order to marvel at all its beauties. As its name suggests, this NP is full of arches…Natural Arches:) and its home to the most famous of all…THE DELICATE ARCH!!
Exploring this NP is relatively straightforward. First, it is easily accessible as its located at the entrance of the US adventure capital…Moab, UT. Second, it has only one main road from along which you’ll have various trailheads and viewpoints to the different arches (click to request map); however, the main challenge that you’ll face when exploring this majestic NP is to try and see all the arches:)
So how to do it?
When exploring a new place, there are usually two schools of how to do it: 1) save the best for last; or 2) start on a high:) I personally belong to the 1st school; however, for this NP, I had to go for the 2nd school and start with the iconic & majestic Delicate Arch! for three reasons: 1) I wanted to start early and beat the crowds, 2) I didn’t want to risk not having enough time to enjoy and marvel at this out-of-this-world beauty, and 3) I honestly couldn’t resist:)
As I said, this NP is full of arches, but honestly, it’ll be unfair to write about them in the same blog as the Delicate Arch and because there are not enough words or pics that can describe what you’ll see in front of you, I’ll dedicate this blog to exploring the Delicate Arch only, and exploring all the other arches will be through another blog post. Another recommendation before embarking on this exploration is to postpone visiting the viewpoint, which can be done by car, till after you visit this icon up close and personal so as not to ruin the surprise… So lets start!
The trail to the Delicate Arch starts at the Wolfe Ranch, but you’ll have to park in the parking lot 1 mile down the road and walk back to the ranch to start. From here, it is a 3-mile (+480ft) hike to the Arch over rocky terrain.
From the moment I reached the ranch and started the hike to the Arch, the adrenaline started pumping in my veins, and with every step forward, I found myself walking faster till I practically ran as I was too eager to be finally able to see this wild west icon. Until suddenly, the Delicate Arch came into view and What a View!!
Still, you are far away and from that distance, you can’t grasp the full scale of its size nor how delicately carved it is! Yet, once I reached the vicinity of this icon, I instantly felt so small, both in size and age:) and started running around from the excitement and disbelief of what I was seeing.
How can nature carve such a fine and delicate rock is beyond me, how can this majestic arch keep standing tall all these years is mind-blowing.
I can’t describe my feelings while I’m in front of this icon, its simply a miracle that is unmatched anywhere on earth. So, it goes without saying, that you’ll spend a lot of time admiring this stunning arch in front of you and it’ll be one of your hardest decisions when you finally decide to head back to your car…SO ENJOY:)
