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Angel Arch — Arch Canyon, Utah
There are two great Angel Arches in Utah. The most famous is in Canyonlands
National Park, and the name is very appropriate for it, as you will see below.
However, this one in Arch Canyon was discovered and named earlier, and therefore
has as much or more claim to the name, though it has been seem by far fewer
visitors. Actually, it is the easier to get to of the two, though hardly easy
— requiring 2 hours of four-wheel-driving, on a trail which crosses the same
stream at least 60 times! But it is not in a national park, therefore it is not
as well known as it should be. Two more exceptional arches are very nearby this
one and can be seen on the same trip. After the long drive in, and $1000 of
damage to my new truck, I was annoyed to be faced with rainy, foggy weather,
which didn't let up all night. But in the morning I took some pictures anyway,
and was rewarded with this misty shot, which has become one of my favorites, a
real contrast to the usual orange rock and blue sky of most other arch pictures.
Angel Arch
— Canyonlands National Park, UtahThere are several larger arches than this, but few more spectacular. The name has nothing to do with the shape of the arch itself, but was inspired by the rock formation forming the right side of the arch — a clearly defined angel, complete with wings, robe, and bowed head.
This was where I wound up going on my first-ever 4-wheel-driving trip, in my brand new truck in 1995 — driving down Salt Wash in Canyonlands for hours — IN it, with water usually up to the doors. Even that is no longer permissible because of park regulations and environmental concerns (too many 4-wheelers tearing up the creek), and the great Angel Arch must now be seen only after a long, soggy backpacking trip.
Mastodon Arch —
Canyonlands National Park, UtahThis is a very rarely seen, unusual arch, deep in Salt Canyon in Utah's largest national park. It is not huge, as arches go, but the shape is interesting with its great elephantine legs, and the Indian pictographs on the back side are a pleasant bonus. It requires a long backpack trip with a 1000-foot cliff to climb down and back up again.