Balanced Rock Trail

The Balanced Rock Trail is a short 0.3 mile loop trail near the Windows Section of Arches National Park in southeast Utah. It is a popular trail as the Rock is visible from the main road and is one of the first attractions visitors come across.Arches National Park is just north of the Colorado River and the Mountain Bike Mecca, Moab, Utah. It is desert country and is famous for the high concentration of natural stone arches that have formed there. The arches are all in a specific sandstone layer that is exposed on the surface here and are the product of thousands of years of erosion.

The Balanced Rock often appears in western movie scenes and this type of formation is not unusual in the region. The different layers of rock and the differential erosion can be observed in the sculpted formation.

The top rounded and balanced rock is a fragment of Entrada Sandstone, the layers that most of the famous arches are formed from. It sits on the Dewey Bridge member of Carmel Formation, a layer that is darker brown and not as smooth as it erodes. Below that is the Navajo Sandstone, a thick layer that forms massive cliffs where it is exposed.

At the far end of the trail there are views toward the Windows Section and the La Sal Mountains. A few of the large arches in the Windows area are visible from the distance. The Windows Section is also popular as an area where these large features can be viewed without much walking.

Ring Arch Trail

The Ring Arch is visible from the main Arches National Park Road, with binoculars, from the pull over area on the north side of the Courthouse Wash bridge. The arch is to the west and slightly south about 1.5 miles away.The trail going that way is in the sandy Courthouse Wash. Down in the wash the banks are deep and steep and the view to where you are headed is obscured.

A side wash comes in from the left after about a mile and the trail to Ring Arch goes that way, but there isn't a sign so you have to watch for it. The trail up Court House Wash continues past the unmarked Ring Arch turnoff.

It is possible to climb up and get under the arch but look carefully for the right spot to climb. I only saw one feasible place to scramble up.

Looking up at the blue sky angle, it looks like during heavy rain this arch would get a spectacular flow of water funneled through it.

The view from the arch back toward the main road shows some of the panorama that is Arches. I spent about 1:45 on this 3 mile round trip. It was somewhat exhausting hiking due to all the sand.

Christmas Tree Arch Trail

Christmas Tree Arch is located in the Windows Section of Arches National Park in southeast Utah. It is vaguely visible along the short trail to Double Arch to the right, past the formation that looks like the Sphinx. The Park has a sign at that point telling visitors that there isn't a trail going over to it from Double Arch.

From the west side of the North and South Windows parking area there is a route along a small wash and between some rock fins that leads to the back side of Christmas Tree Arch.

From the Windows Primitive trail you can see between these fins. The path I walked is connected to the Windows Primitive Trail by an obscure trail junction. Going this way I didn't see any "This is not a trail signs."

There is a little climbing but it's not too hard to get between the fins, and then get up under the arch and look through back toward the Double Arch area. From there, the Sphinx like formation is visible and there is a minor arch up to the right looking through the opening.

Looking the other way from Christmas Tree Arch, a drainage allows the hike to continue and the view to the north is toward the Delicate Arch area. There is another arch, Ribbon Arch, down the drainage and to the left around the corner.

I thought that I scanned carefully but somehow missed Ribbon Arch, unless it is here and I'm not seeing it. I see some alcoves and almost arches, but I didn't go up closer. Ribbon Arch is supposed to be a thin strip near the top of the cliffs. I hiked in this area for about 1:30 hours.

Jug Handle Arch and Desert Big Horn Sheep

Jug Handle Arch is an easy to view large arch located 13 miles west along Potash Road, Highway 279, near Arches National Park in southeast Utah. It is visible from the road, positioned up in the sandstone cliffs overlooking the Colorado River.

There is a parking area just to the west of the arch and it is a short walk along the road or the railroad tracks to view the formation from either side. At the same level as the base of the arch and about 100 feet to the left there is a petroglyph panel. It is hard to spot from a distance. There is a rough trail going up that doesn’t look like it gets used very often.

It is possible to find an angle where both Jug Handle Arch and the petroglyph panel are in the same picture. Many petroglyph panels have spirals, this one appears to have three sets of concentric circles that look like targets and have drawn some shots. There is also a Moab Man like image.

While hiking up closer for pictures I had the good luck of startling a group of Desert Big Horn Sheep who spotted me with their keen eyesight and dashed up the cliff side and under the arch for safety.

From the safety of the cliffs they looked down on me with what appeared to be calm curiosity. There were at least six in the group, I think, one with large full ram horns, three females with smaller horns and two yearlings.

The Desert Bighorn Sheep are adapted to go longer periods without water, though this group has easy access to the Colorado River. They have unique padded hooves that aid them in bounding along these cliffs with ease. These sheep are able to lose of to 30 per cent of their body weight from dehydration and recover easily when they finally drink.

This ability gives them an advantage in evading their predators who can't take the heat. They are able to obtain sufficient water from the grasses and other vegetation that they eat. They particularly like Prickly Pear Cactus and other succulents.

In moving away from the arch, up the canyon, it appeared that the ram and one ewe were leading and a group of two ewes and the two yearlings were following, staying close together. The normal breeding season is July to December though breeding can vary due to environmental conditions. Lambs are usually born in late winter after six months gestation. This group was sighted on November 18, 2008.

The 1993 population estimate for Utah was 2200 to 2250 individuals with the trends increasing due to conservation efforts. Arizona, Nevada, and California have the highest populations and the total in the U.S. was estimated at about 19,000.

Morning Glory Bridge in Negro Bill Canyon

The Negro Bill Trail to Morning Glory Bridge is about a 4 mile round trip to one of the largest natural rock spans in the world. The trail head is about 3 miles east of Moab along Highway 128 in southeast Utah. This area is near the south end of Arches National Park.

The well marked trail follows along a year round clear stream and crosses it several times. The crossings usually have stepping stones and the water is shallow in fall. The walls of the canyon are very high and steep and the canyon bottom is lush with riparian vegetation.

The Morning Glory Bridge is at the end of the second side canyon to the right. The main canyon continues for several more miles. There is a little bit of elevation change upwards in the last section of the hike. Though the trail is well marked, keep an eye open for the route toward the bridge.

The interpretive information at the trail head says that the span of Morning Glory Bridge is 243 feet, making it the sixth largest in the United States.

There isn't much of a gap between the span and the back wall, but it is easy to get below and see blue sky in between.

There were a lot of fins and alcoves along the route, but I didn't spot any other arches or any signs of Indian Ruins. This trail has a lot of poison ivy growing in the moist areas near the stream. Negro Bill was William Granstaff, an early settler who arrived in 1877.

I took about 2:00 hours to make the about 4 mile round trip. There were at least 20 other hikers on this trail on a late October day.