Delicate Arch from upper viewpoint with La Sal Mountains in background. Delicate Arch is 65-feet tall and unlike many natural arches is freestanding. It is located in Arches National Park near Moab, Utah and is the most widely-recognized landmark in Arches National Park. You can see the arch from two places in the park. The lower viewpoint, which shows the arch from the other side and about half a mile in the distance, is only a 10-15 minute hike from a parking lot. This shot was is from the more popular upper view point. This it a 1.5 mile hike is up hill all the way with a 480ft elevation gain and takes 1.5 to 2 hours but the view is well worth it with wonderful golden late afternoon sun on it’s face.
At one time there this was a sandstone fin of Entrada Sandstone. A fin is a tall thin rock formation formed when parallel cracks in the rock allowed erosion producing water to penetrate down and erode away slot canyons. As they canyons became wider and wider through erosion the fins became thinner and thinner. At the same time, wind and rain attacked the fins from the side eating away at them, and many time punching holes all the way through fin forming an arch. Most arches in this area are still part of a fin or the fin is still present in some way. However in the case of Delicate Arch the fin has completely eroded away, leaving on this free standing iconic arch.