Updraft Arch

Updraft Arch is about 1.0 miles east of Moab along Highway 128, near Arches National Park in southeast Utah. The arch overlooks the Colorado River from high sandstone cliffs on the south side of the highway. The Goose Island information and interpretive site provides easy parking and a route for easy viewing.

There are numerous campgrounds and river access points along this section of the Colorado River.
From the east side of the information pullout, a gravel road descends down to a paved bike trail. There are good views of the Colorado River and the spectacular cliffs.

To see the arch hike back to the west along the bike trail for a few hundred yards, looking at the cliffs to the south.

Updraft Arch appears to be a pothole type of arch. Looking at the opening to the right of the arch , the two formations look like a pair of droopy eyes. It may be possible to view the top of Updraft Arch from the Moab Slickrock bike trail.

There isn't a sign pointing out Updraft Arch in the information pullout or along the bike trail. The interpretive information points out that this area is good for watchable wildlife.

The water and lush vegetation provide habitat for numerous birds and mammals such as beaver and otters. The high cliffs and talus slopes attract desert Bighorn Sheep and Peregrine Falcons.

Looking Glass Arch

Looking Glass Rock is a large arch about 2.0 miles west off of Highway 191, south of Moab in southeast Utah. The road is well marked as Looking Glass Road and is a little north of the large Wilson Arch that is visible along the highway.

There is a dirt road that leads right to the base of Looking Glass Rock, or you can stop at the junction and hike a little bit. There is a small BLM sign pointing out the formation. Moving to the right and back along a fence, it looks like this is a double arch.

The climb up closer on the sandstone is fairly easy, but to get under the arch looked steep with a dangerous drop off.
There is another dirt road that allows easy access around to the other side of Looking Glass Rock. From this opposite angle the formation is more hollowed out and I thought resembled an elephant's head.

Looking Glass Arch is one of three arches that offer short hikes along this section of Highway 191. The others are the obvious Wilson Arch and the less noticed Lopez Arch.

Lopez Arch Trail

Lopez Arch is one of 50 large arches that are south of Moab in southeast Utah and outside of Arches National Park. It is visible from Highway 191 at mile post 98, about 2.5 miles south of the more visible Wilson Arch.There is a large pull over place on the east side of Highway 191 but there is no sign calling attention to Lopez Arch. It is in a fin about 0.25 miles away but may be hard to see from the highway depending on the light.

There is a path leading to the fence and an eroded spot where you can crouch down and slip under. There isn't an official trail but there are some hiker made paths that lead down to a wash. Along the bank of the wash, without crossing it is possible to see blue sky through the opening.

It isn't hard to cross the wash and scramble up the sandstone on the other side to get a closer look. I only went far enough to get a good view and didn't try to get under the opening. There are also good views from this area back to the south toward the Blue Mountains.

This area is part of the Cameo Cliffs BLM area. There is an extensive system of ATV Trails in the area. Good maps are available at the staging area. Look for the highway sign for Steen Road and ATV trailhead.

Double Arch Trail

The Double Arches Trail is a 0.5 mile route in the Windows Section of Arches National Park in southeast Utah leading to one of the more spectacular Arches in the park.

Besides the large Double Arch there are several minor arches to keep an eye out for. There are more than 2000 arches within the park. From the start of the trail, the formations to the left are the Parade of Elephants. Two minor arches are visible. The larger one could be imagined as an eye for one of the elephants.
Looking back to the left, I thought this view, toward the Parade of Elephants, looked like a skull with two flaming eyes. The eye to the left is an arch but to the right is just a notch. There is another minor arch to the left of the left eye but it is hard to see from this point as there is rock behind it. A little further forward and blue sky is visible through it.

Looking to the right, it looks like there is a large arch, Christmas Tree Arch, there. There is also a Sphinx like formation. The Park is very militant about staying on the trail in the highly visited areas, and there is no trail from the Double Arch going over there to look closer.

Closer to the Double Arch and looking up to the left there is a minor arch. The park brochure says that the opening has to be about 3 feet to qualify for the official catalog.

Close up to the massive Double Arch. The major span has a horizontal gap that also appears to be a minor arch, though this angle doesn't show it.


It is possible to continue under the Double Arch and climb up on the rocks behind. The view through the smaller of the Double Arches is toward the approaching road and overlooks the Cove of Caves area. There is an arch in the Cove of Caves but it is hard to pick out from the viewpoint.

Garden of Eden and Serpentine Arch

The Garden of Eden is an overlook area in the vicinity of Balanced Rock and is on the road to the Windows Section of Arches National Park in southeast Utah. There is no official trail here but there is room to wander in the garden and hunt for some of the 2000 arches.

From the parking area the view to the east is a jumble of the carved formations that are among the highlights of this sandstone area.

Moving a little east and north into the garden, one fairly large arch comes into view. This is Serpentine Arch, the name in keeping with the Garden of Eden theme. Pick your own route over the exposed sandstone. There doesn't seem to be any of the slow growing dark biotic soil in this area that they worry about.

A few steps further and looking all around, there is another small opening. It doesn't look like much but probably meets the three foot opening size to qualify as an arch.

A little further and I saw these two small eyes, glancing at me. These might be too small. I only went about a quarter mile along the north side of the Garden and found several minor arches. I can see how there can be thousands, but it would take a lot of wandering around to find them.