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Courthouse Towers
Photograph by Eastcott Momatiuk/Getty Images
Perched high above the Colorado River, Arches National Park is part of southern Utah's extended canyon country, carved and shaped by eons of weathering and erosion. Courthouse Towers, pictured here, is close to the park's headquarters.
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Red Sandstone Formations
Photograph by Simon Christen, submitted to My Shot
It's hard not to find drama in the red sandstone formations that give Utah's Arches National Park its name—and its beauty. There are more natural arches here than anywhere else in the world.
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Camping in Arches National Park
Photograph by Clifford Photography/Aurora
Camping takes on an otherworldly feel amid eons-old geological formations in Arches National Park. Free from light pollution, the park offers unrivaled views of the heavens.
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Leafless Tree
Photograph by Whit Richardson/Getty Images
The trees and shrubs that thrive in Arches National Park despite the lack of ready water are tenacious, their roots often splitting rock in the search for nutrients.
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Balanced Rock
Photograph by Scott Zalesny, submitted to My Shot
This classic hoodoo—an eroded column of rock—called Balanced Rock stands nearly 130 feet (40 meters) tall in Arches National Park. Edward Abbey wrote his classic Desert Solitaire after living in a trailer near here as a park ranger.
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Delicate Arch
Photograph by Pascal Quesnel, submitted to My Shot
Standing 45 feet (14 meters) tall at its highest point, Delicate Arch frames the La Sal Mountains some 35 miles (56 kilometers) away. Over the years other names have been attached to this famous Arches National Park monument—Schoolmarm's Pants, Old Maid's Bloomers, and Cowboy Chaps.
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Arches Hiker
Photograph by Sandy Cornell, submitted to My Shot
Arches National Park, established in 1971, is the most hospitable in spring and fall, when temperatures are ideal for hiking in the high desert. Wildflowers peak in April and May.
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Arches National Park at Sunset
Photograph by Pete Ryan/Getty Images
Sunset turns the skies purple over Arches National Park. The land in the Utah park has a timeless, indestructible look that is misleading. More than 700,000 visitors each year threaten the fragile high desert ecosystem.
