ARCHES

LONGBOW ARCH

FEBRUARY 2018

LONGBOW ARCH

ALONG THE TRAIL TO LONGBOW ARCH

PETROGLYPHS ALONG THE TRAIL

DINOSAUR FOOTPRINT NEAR THE BEGINNING OF THE TRAIL

Longbow Arch is nice two-and-a-half mile round-trip hike located south of Moab along Potash Road. The trail begins at the Poison Spider Trailhead, which is only five miles away from the Corona Arch Trailhead. Just after beginning the hike, there will be an optional side trail that will take you past some dinosaur footprints and petroglyphs. It is a very short detour that is definitely worth your time. After joining back with the main trail there will be a bit of a climb through a steep section where I temporarily lost the trail. Some parts are a bit hard to follow, so go slowly and watch closely for cairns when the trail becomes faint.

After a while you will enter a wide canyon that will narrow as you near the arch. It is hidden from view until just before you arrive at it. It is located along the side of the canyon wall, and it is not too difficult to walk up to its base. The alcove below the arch provides a nice shady spot to relax. I was able to have the entire trail to myself while visiting on a relatively warm winter morning in February. While not the most impressive hike in the Moab area, it is worth the walk and appears to receive a lot less traffic than the more popular arches in the area.

FIERY FURNACE

NOVEMBER 2015

FIERY FURNACE

A SHORT SLOT I WAS BARELY ABLE TO SQUEEZE THROUGH

SHORT SLOT CANYON IN FIERY FURNACE

SMALL ARCH IN FIERY FURNACE

The Fiery Furnace is a fun area to hike around in Arches National Park. Before you hike it, you will need to watch a short video at the Visitors Center telling you not to walk on the microbiotic soil crust, and pay $6 for a permit. Only a certain amount of permits are issued each day, so if you are there during a popular time of year, you will want to get the Visitors Center early. You also have the option of signing up for a ranger-led tour if you would rather.

I hiked the Fiery Furnace early in the morning during Veterans Day weekend and had no problem getting a permit. It's a really cool canyon with some short slot canyons and interesting rock formations. There is no set trail so it's completely up to you to decide how far to go and which canyons to explore. I remember wishing I had a map of the area, as I wasn't sure I was seeing all of the coolest parts. I did a lot of back-tracking after starting down canyons that didn't turn out to be as cool as I thought they would be. But I guess part of what makes the Fiery Furnace fun is being able to make your own path and not knowing what you will find.

TOWER ARCH

NOVEMBER 2015

TOWER ARCH

Tower Arch is a three-mile round-trip hike located in the Klondike Bluffs section of Arches National Park. To get to the trailhead you will travel approximately eight miles down a well-maintained dirt road that breaks off from the main road through Arches National Park just south of Skyline Arch. Because Tower Arch is not as well advertised as the other arches in the Park, it receives a lot less traffic. I only saw a couple groups on the trail while hiking it over Veterans Day weekend.

It is a pleasant hike that passes by some cool rock spires called "The Marching Men" before reaching the arch. Tower Arch is very large, and is located just in front of a large sandstone wall. You can scramble underneath and behind the arch to get some different perspectives before returning back down the trail.

SKYLINE ARCH

MARCH 2011

SKYLINE ARCH

Skyline Arch is a short, family-friendly, half-mile round-trip hike located along the main road through Arches National Park. It is a popular hike due to its location and the small effort required to reach the impressive arch. The trail takes you all the way to the base of the sandstone fin in which the arch is located.

SEGO CANYON

JANUARY 2022

SEGO CANYON ROCK ART

SEGO CANYON GENERAL STORE

SEGO CANYON GHOST TOWN

Sego Canyon is a nice stop along the I-70 near the town of Thompson Springs with an impressive rock art site and ghost town which can be accessed without much effort. To get to the rock art, just follow Sego Canyon Road for about three miles north from Thompson Springs to a parking area on the left side of the road.

There is a panel located at the parking area, and another really cool panel located several hundred feet further to the right. There's a third panel located a couple hundred feet further up the road on the right side containing some very tall figures. This panel is located on private property, so you can't get too close, but it is visible from the road.

To get to the ghost town, continue up Sego Canyon road for a half-mile and turn right. Follow this road about one mile, past an old cemetery, until you come to the former coal-mining town originally established around 1910. The two-story company store is really impressive to walk through, and there are also a few former home sites and railroad bridges in the area which are fun to explore.

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