Читать книгу 50 Best Short Hikes in Utah's National Parks - Greg Witt - Страница 31

8 Sand Dune Arch and Broken Arch

Trailhead Location: Sand Dune Arch parking area

Trail Use: Walking, hiking

Distance & Configuration: 1.8-mile balloon with a short spur to Sand Dune Arch

Elevation Range: 5,192' at Sand Dune Arch Trailhead to 5,300' at Broken Arch

Facilities: Restrooms and water near the trail at Devils Garden Campground near Broken Arch

Highlights: Two very different arches accessed by a level path starting from either the parking area or the campground

DESCRIPTION

This hike starts at the Sand Dune Arch parking area, which is where most visitors arriving by car would logically start. But if you’re staying inside the park at the Devils Garden Campground—a phenomenal campground, by the way—then leave the car behind and start your hike at the trailhead at campsite 40, at the south end of the campground.

Broken Arch

The hike features two arches with completely different personalities. One is a very private arch, small, reclusive, shy, and hidden from view—that’s Sand Dune Arch. The other, Broken Arch, is big and bold, fully open to public view, and quite flashy. These personality differences can perhaps best be explained by their very different childhoods. Sand Dune was protected from outside influences and has led a sheltered life. Broken Arch came from a broken home. It has taken a real beating and has always had to fend for itself against the ravages of wind and rain. By hiking to both, you can discover which personality you’re most compatible with, the introvert arch or the extrovert arch.

Along the way and between the two arches, you’ll walk through desert brush dominated by sage, blackbrush, and some hardy grasses. It’s a harsh environment, to be sure, with not a lick of shade between the two arches, so you might want to save this for cooler weather. It’s also a great wake-up walk before breakfast for those staying at the campground.

ROUTE

Starting from the Sand Dune Arch parking area, the trail cuts through a sandy desert sparsely decorated with sagebrush, Mormon tea, and Indian ricegrass. At 100 yards you come to a junction with Broken Arch on the left, visible in the distance, and Sand Dune Arch, hidden from view but set within the mound of fins just 100 yards to your right. As you take the trail to the right toward Sand Dune Arch, the sand seems to deepen with every step you take. Entering what feels like a hallway—a crack set between two large walls of sandstone—you’ll find that the base is one giant sandbox with some exposed slickrock made slippery by the fine layer of sand on top. Within seconds, you meet Sand Dune Arch face-to-face on your right. It’s 30 feet wide and 8 feet high in a shaded setting.

Returning to the main trail, turn right and continue northeast toward Broken Arch. Walking on a sandy trail across a grassy brushland, you’ll arrive at Broken Arch in less than 0.5 mile. Despite its name, the arch isn’t really broken, but a deep cleft in the top of the arch makes it appear to be cut in two, or broken, at the top. But don’t worry; it has plenty of life left.

While it’s easy to leave shy Sand Dune Arch without ever taking its picture, bold Broken Arch demands to be photographed. Don’t resist. In fact, using the arch as a frame, you’ll have views of the Uncompahgre Plateau and the La Sal Mountains to the southeast. Broken Arch is 50 feet high and 60 feet wide—one of the largest arches in the park. Be sure to walk through the arch; you’ll find that it’s just as photogenic from its back or eastern side. From the backside of the arch, you have two options for returning to the parking area: You can hook to the left to connect with the trail leading to Devils Garden Campground and back to the parking area, or you can return the way you came, across the desert to the Sand Dune Arch parking area.

TO THE TRAILHEAD

GPS Coordinates: N38º 35.887' W109º 35.000'

The Sand Dune Arch parking area is 17.5 miles from the Arches Visitor Center on Arches Scenic Drive.

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