Today, Xianren Bridge holds the world record and is a hundred feet longer than Landscape Arch however, none of the more newly discovered natural arches have a look as delicate as Landscape Arch. For much of the time since this arch's discovery, it has been the longest known arch in the world however, a spate of discoveries in the karst regions of southern China's Guangxi Province in the past decade have dethroned Landscape Arch. The stone of the arch is so incredibly thin but somehow still stands as it spans nearly 300 feet. From this viewpoint under the arch, we could see sky below the arch, finally allowing us to appreciate the arch's incredible length. We took the left fork for the viewpoint below Landscape Arch and followed the trail to the base of the arch. Soon the nicer gravel trail ended, intersecting with the Devil's Garden primitive loop and switching to a sandy, more challenging tread. The first views of Landscape Arch soon appeared off to the left: as the arch is at a lower elevation than the fin behind it, it can be hard to spot from this oblique angle.
Crossing this undulating landscape, we had views of the fins and needles ahead in the densest parts of the Devils Garden. As we continued on towards Landscape Arch, the trail cut through a few more passageways in the fins and then entered a brushy grassland. We backtracked to the main trail, with a slight incline on the return.
The edges of Pine Tree Arch are rough, with evidence of blocks that have collapsed, and a pine tree grows at the base of the arch, giving the arch its name. This is a thick arch at the head of a small ravine, in an earlier stage of weathering than the more sculpted Landscape or Delicate Arches. We visited Tunnel Arch first: this was a large arch carved into a thick fin of sandstone, impressive in size but lacking the beauty of Delicate or Landscape Arches. Here, Pine Tree Arch was to the left and Tunnel was to the right. Curious to check out all the arches, we took the right fork, which descended a bit and then almost immediately came to another fork.
The wide trail- gravel in spots, partially paved in others- came to a junction in just 0.2 miles, where the main trail split to the left and the detour to Tunnel and Pine Tree Arch headed right. From the parking lot, the path led into a narrow passageway between two fins, emerging on the other side into a shrubby desert landscape dotted with fins and needles of Entrada Sandstone. The sandstone fins of the Devils Garden rose above the trailhead. From Moab, you can reach the trailhead by heading north on US Route 191 after crossing the Colorado River, make the turnoff on the right for Arches National Park and follow the main park road until it ends at the parking roundabout at Devils Garden. I visited Landscape Arch during a trip to Arches National Park with my mom. The hike is short but this desert is hot, especially in the summer, so it's extremely important to pack enough water. The hike to Landscape Arch alone, without visiting the three other arches, is 1.6 miles round trip. The mileage for this hike includes a detour to see Tunnel and Pine Tree Arches near the start of the hike. The views from Partition Arch are excellent, but hikers who want to avoid the rock scramble can skip Partition Arch while still visiting Landscape Arch and taking in one of the park's two most famed natural features. This hike first visits Landscape Arch via an easy trail, then continues to Partition Arch with its lovely views of the rock needles of Devils Garden via a more difficult rock scramble. Weathering is constant and arches are temporary on the Colorado Plateau, so don't put off your visit to Arches National Park for too long if you want to see this natural wonder. The arch is so thin as to defy belief in fact, the current slenderness of Landscape Arch only resulted after a partial collapse of the arch in 1991. Until recent discoveries in the karst landscapes of southern China, Landscape Arch was the longest measured arch in the world. 3 miles round trip, 550 feet elevation gainĭifficulty: Easy to Landscape Arch, Moderate to Partition ArchĪccess: Paved road to trailhead, Arches National Park entrace fee requiredĪ delicate ribbon of sandstone soaring above the Utah desert, Landscape Arch is the longest of 2000 such features in Arches National Park and an extraordinary act of defiance to the laws of gravity.