The Geologic Story of Arches National Park 9

The Geologic Story of Arches National Park 9

West of the road between the petrified dunes and The Windows section,

the Entrada Sandstone, particularly the Dewey Bridge Member, has been

weathered into grotesque spires and pinnacles resembling the so-called

“hoodoos and goblins” in Goblin Valley State Park, just north of

Hanksville, Utah. Typical examples of “hoodoos and goblins” are shown in

figure 33 (near stop 8). It seems reasonable to assume that some of

these spires are the skeletal remains of former arch abutments. From

here may be seen North and South Windows and Turret Arch on the skyline

to the northeast (figs. 37-40).

 

[Illustration: PETRIFIED SAND DUNES, looking northeast from park

road 2.7 miles north of Courthouse Wash. The Navajo Sandstone was

once a huge sandpile of dunes laid down by winds during an arid

interval, so it is interesting to note that the irregularly

weathered sandstone once again resembles a pile of crossbedded

dunes. See also figure 35. (Fig. 32)]

 

[Illustration: “HOODOOS AND GOBLINS,” weathered from Dewey Bridge

Member, viewed northwest from park road about 2½ miles north of

Courthouse Wash. (Fig. 33)]

 

 

The Windows Section

 

The Windows section, one of the most beautiful parts of the park, once

was the only readily accessible part of the former monument and is still

the only collection of arches seen by many visitors who either do not

have or do not take time to travel farther north. All the arches and

erosion forms are on or near a high crest called Elephant Butte (Dane,

1935, p. 126, 127), which separates Salt Valley from the Courthouse

syncline. The ridge also marks the south edge of several minor

anticlines and synclines termed by Dane the “Elephant Butte folds.”

 

[Illustration: EYE OF THE WHALE, one of several arches in Herdina

Park, just south of jeep trail about 2 miles northwest of Balanced

Rock. Cut in Slick Rock Member. Front opening is 60 feet wide and 27

feet high, but back opening is only 35 feet wide and 11 feet high.

Photograph by Professor Dale J. Stevens, Brigham Young University.

(Fig. 34)]

 

Guarding the approach to The Windows section is Balanced Rock (stop 9).

As shown in the frontispiece, it is accompanied on the right by another

balanced rock and a third one may be seen in the distance. The original

route to The Windows section, pioneered by Goulding, passed just north

of Balanced Rock. Traces of the old road between here and the Garden of

Eden parking area are still visible but no longer used. To the west,

however, a part of the old road is the starting point of a jeep trail

leading northwestward through Herdina Park to a point near Klondike

Bluffs, where it joins the dirt road in Salt Valley (fig. 1). Visitors

having four-wheel-drive vehicles may wish to drive at least as far as

Eye of The Whale (fig. 34), which is about 2 miles northwest of Balanced

Rock. There are several picnic tables at the beginning of this jeep

trail, but no water.

 

[Illustration: INTRICATE CROSSBEDS IN NAVAJO SANDSTONE, on north

side of road between Garden of Eden and Cove of Caves. Red crest is

basal part of Dewey Bridge Member. (Fig. 35)]

 

Just beyond Balanced Rock, a branch paved road turns eastward 2½ miles

to the main parking lots in The Windows section. Between the Garden of

Eden (stop 13) and Cove of Caves are spectacular exposures of the Navajo

Sandstone showing the crossbedding typical of the original dunes (fig.

35). Just east of the crossbedded Navajo Sandstone, shown in figure 35,

we pass Cove Arch and Cove of Caves (stop 10) on the north side of the

road (fig. 36).

 

Just around the curve east of Cove of Caves is the first of two parking

lots (stop 11) forming a one-way loop at the end of this branch of the

road. From the loop may be seen the greatest concentration of readily

accessible arches in the park, all of which are roofed by the Slick Rock

Member and floored by the Dewey Bridge Member. Let us take the short

paved trail from the upper lot to the southeast, where we come first to

North Window (fig. 37). If we walk through this arch and climb the rock

beyond (fig. 37 caption), we see one of the best views in the park (fig.

38). A short walk south of North Window brings us to South Window (fig.

39). The other side of this arch may be reached either by walking around

the nearby southeast end of the fin or by walking through North Window.

A short walk to the southwest brings us to Turret Arch—the one seen

through North Window in figure 38. Figure 40 was taken from the

southwest side of Turret Arch, viewed northeastward toward South Window,

one corner of which appears at the left. Both North and South Windows

may be seen in one photograph taken from points near Turret Arch.

 

[Illustration: COVE ARCH AND COVE OF CAVES, on north side of road

just west of Double Arch and Parade of Elephants. Arch at left and

three of the caves on right are roofed by Slick Rock Member and

floored by Dewey Bridge Member. Arch is 48½ feet wide and 34 feet

high. In time the caves will eat through the 30-foot-thick fin and

become arches. Note sharp contact between Dewey Bridge Member and

Navajo Sandstone. (Fig. 36)]

 

[Illustration: NORTH WINDOW, viewed to the northeast. Large rock

seemingly partly blocking left end of arch actually is the southeast

end of a fin some 50 feet or more beyond the arch, from which figure

38 was taken. Arch is 93 feet wide and 51 feet high. (Fig. 37)]

 

From the lower parking lot (stop 12), a short walk by paved trail takes

us to spectacular Double Arch, shown in figure 17. This arch is visible

from the parking lot but is best seen and photographed from at or near

the end of the trail. Looking westward from near the trail’s end, we see

the Parade of Elephants, shown in figure 41. This feature is described

on pages 16 and 17 of “The Guide to an Auto Tour of Arches National

Park” as “whimsical stone statuary resembling a circus pachyderm parade.

With tail in trunk, the elephants rumble toward you along a sandstone

roadway.”

 

Ribbon Arch, on the north side of Elephant Butte, is one of the most

delicate ones in the park (fig. 1). Although it is 50 feet wide and 55

feet high, the rock span is only 1½ feet wide and 1 foot thick.

 

On the way back to the intersection with the main park road, we pass

stop 14, from which may be seen Pothole Arch (fig. 18). One and one-half

miles north of the intersection with the main road is the Panorama Point

parking area (stop 15), which affords fine distant views of Salt and

Cache Valleys and points beyond. A roadside exhibit portrays the gradual

development of the Salt Valley anticline, which supplements my

description on pages 27-32. A parking space a short distance farther

down the hill (stop 16) provides good distant views of the Fiery

Furnace. I tried several telephoto shots from this viewpoint, but

preferred my closeup views, such as the one shown in figure 44.

 

[Illustration: LOOKING SOUTHWESTWARD THROUGH NORTH WINDOW, from fin

shown beyond left side of North Window in figure 37. Turret Arch

(fig. 40) is seen at right middle ground, south rim of Moab Valley

to left of arch, Colorado River canyon forms left skyline. (Fig.

38)]

 

[Illustration: SOUTH WINDOW, viewed toward northeast. Arch is 105

feet wide and 66 feet high. See text. (Fig. 39)]

 

 

Delicate Arch Area

 

Two and a half miles northeast of the road intersection near Balanced

Rock, a gravelled side road leads northeastward to several points of

considerable interest. The photograph in figure 11 was taken from this

side road about half a mile northeast of the intersection. About 2 miles

to the northeast, just beyond Salt Valley Wash, is a parking area (stop

17) at the beginning of the trail past Wolfe’s Bar-DX Ranch (fig. 3) to

famed Delicate Arch, which is featured on the front cover. Although the

trail to the arch is only 1½ miles long, it crosses several hills at the

outset, then climbs 500 feet, mostly on bare Entrada Sandstone, so is

considered quite strenuous, particularly in hot weather. The Park

Service advises hikers to carry water. The Walt Disney crew, cameras,

gear, cougars, and all climbed this trail in the hottest part of the

summer of 1971 (see p. 16), while my wife and I were working in the

vicinity. Visitors who do not wish to make the hike may get a distant

view of Delicate Arch by driving to a parking area (stop 18) 1.3 miles

farther east.

 

[Illustration: TURRET ARCH, viewed northeast toward South Window,

part of which is visible on left. Small opening on right is visible

also in figure 38. Largest arch is 39 feet wide and 64 feet high;

smaller one is 12 feet wide and 13 feet high. A still smaller one,

not visible in the photograph, is 8 feet wide and only 4½ feet high.

(Fig. 40)]

 

[Illustration: PARADE OF ELEPHANTS, viewed west from end of trail to

Double Arch. Two elephants are on right, one on left. (Fig. 41)]

 

After leaving Wolfe’s Ranch, the trail to Delicate Arch crosses Salt

Wash on a suspension foot bridge (fig. 42). Just beyond the bridge, a

short walk to the left (north) leads to the Ute petroglyphs shown in the

lower photograph of figure 2. The most difficult part of the trail, on

bare sandstone, is marked by cairns of stones placed at sufficient

intervals to keep hikers from losing the barely visible trail. When the

summit finally is reached and the last corner rounded, one suddenly sees

perhaps the most sublime view in the park—famed Delicate Arch, framing

part of the La Sal Mountains beyond (fig. 43). This graceful arch and

mighty Landscape Arch (fig. 53) were considered to be in serious

jeopardy during the era of sonic booms, but hopefully this danger now is

past. (See p. 16-17.)

 

It may be of interest to shutterbugs that professional photographer Hal

Rumel lugged an 8- × 10-inch camera plus a heavy tripod and accessories

up the steep trail to get the excellent photograph of Delicate Arch

shown in figure 43. The late afternoon sun intensified the red somewhat,

but my shots made earlier in the day using both 4- × 5-inch and 35-mm

equipment resulted in unwanted shadows, even though the salmon color of

the Slick Rock Member was more nearly normal.

 

After leaving the junction with the side road, the main park road

traverses slices of vertical strata squeezed between faults along the

north side of Salt Valley, then gradually climbs out of the valley for

about 2 miles to a parking area (stop 19), from which good views are had

of the southeast end of Salt Valley and of the grabens in the west end

of Cache Valley. (See fig. 11.)

 

[Illustration: Petroglyph figure]

 

[Illustration: SUSPENSION FOOT BRIDGE ACROSS SALT WASH, in front of

Wolfe’s cabin at beginning of Delicate Arch trail. (Fig. 42)]

 

[Illustration: DELICATE ARCH, from end of trail 1½ miles above

Wolfe’s Ranch. The opening is 33 feet wide and 45 feet high. The

left abutment is only 5 feet wide at the narrowest point. The arch

is carved near the top of the Slick Rock Member, and the top of the

span, 19 feet thick, is capped by a few feet of the more resistant

Moab Member, as is Broken Arch (fig. 16). Photograph by Hal Rumel,

Salt Lake City. (Fig. 43)]

 

 

Fiery Furnace

 

About half a mile farther uphill is a parking area for viewing the southeastern part of the Fiery Furnace (stop 20), a vast array of towering fins and pinnacles of the reddish Slick Rock Member separated by narrow slots, vaguely resembling flames shooting skyward. The view of the Fiery Furnace in figure 44 was taken about 1 mile farther up the hill. It is not difficult to get lost among this myriad of fins and narrow slots, so ranger-guided tours are conducted during the summer.