Easy, ~1 mi loop
217 ft elevation gain (mostly me wandering the cliff edge)
Hiked 12/22/23
A short hike to a famed arch that sits atop a sheer horseshoe shaped cliff wall complete with views of the La Sal Mountains as a partial backdrop. Absolutely fantastic views extend outward towards the rising sun in the AM. Incredibly popular, and even in the off season gets a fair share of visitors.
Half of the horseshoe shaped cliff may be seen in this photo, wit the sun burning off both fog below and the clouds above it.
A view through part of Mesa Arch towards some of the sandstone towers rising from the fog below.
A V-shaped intersection of two sections of cliff wall frames the valley fog below, while the rising sun has cleared a large portion of clouds from above it to begin the day.
It's no wonder they saw this place and thought it was The Promised Land..... they were very very wrong but it sure is pretty for a fukkin desert
So much of the landscape out there has the appearance of being sculpted out of clay which, in a way, it really was.