I’m not going to try to explain the 300 million years of geology that has resulted in what we see today in Arches National Park (pics), you can read all about it here.  The result is that the Entrada Sandstone gives us over 2,000 natural stone arches along with massive fins, pinnacles and balanced rocks.

We took the 3 mile hike to view Delicate Arch, perhaps the most popular arch in the park.  It stands 65 feet high and is impossibly perched all alone on a long stone ledge.  In the past it was also known as “the Chaps” and “the Schoolmarm’s Bloomers” due to its shape.  Notice the tiny people standing in the saddle underneath the arch.

Landscape Arch is the largest in the park with a span of about 300 feet.  Underlining the evolving nature of these arches, since 1991, several larges slabs of rock have detached and fallen from the underside of Landscape Arch.

This park will invite you to gape at scenes such as this one.  Here you can see the formation called “Three Gossips” on the left and “Tower of Babel” on the right.

While visiting Arches National Park we are staying in Moab, UT.