In this third part of the Arches National Park series, we’ll be focusing on Fiery Furnace, Skyline Arch, Pine Tree Arch, and Tunnel Arch. In case you missed it, here’s Part 1 and Part 2!
Fiery Furnace
One of my most vivid memories of Arches National Park is of the colors at Fiery Furnace. Most of the rocks at Arches are colored depending on the presence or absence of iron. When iron oxidizes, it gives the rock a red color, as seen below.
The white bands you see in the rock are due to the iron bleaching because of water chemically reacts with the rock to strip it of the iron.
There is a ranger-led hike in Fiery Furnace, or you can get an individual permit. I’d love to go back and check it out one day!
Skyline Arch
An easy and short out-and-back hike leads to Skyline Arch, named because of the height and position of the arch. The arch used to be smaller, but a large rock suddenly fell out of it in 1940, doubling its size instantly!
Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch
As you may recall, our trip to Arches National Park was a whirlwind – we were in and out of the park in a few hours because we wanted to hit Canyonlands National Park as well before heading back to Salt Lake City the same day. I really wish we could have stayed longer, but feel lucky that we had a chance to visit at all. Driving through Arches, the landscape towered over us with such unique rock structures:
To make the most out of our trip, we hiked a trail that had multiple arches on it – the Pine Tree and Tunnel Arch Trail. This quick and easy out-and-back trail was really busy, but ironically, there weren’t a lot of people going to the Pine Tree and Tunnel Arches. This next shot is of the Pine Tree Arch. Not only is this one of the few arches that’s at ground level, but check out those vertical striations! It’s almost like a looking through a window to the rest of the park.
The last photo of the set is of Tunnel Arch. You should be able to see two arches in the photo. I’m not sure if the left arch (the one closest to the center of the photo) is part of Tunnel Arch though. But those striations! I’m a sucker for those. They look so cool.
Another thing I like about this shot is the pale, sandy color on the right. It looks like sand is flowing out of the arch opening.
And that’s it for our 3hr trip to Arches National Park! Thanks for reading!