Arches National Park Facts That Will Blow Your Mind

Arches National Park is 76,519 acres or 119 square miles. That’s a whole lotta National Park land to take in, so there’s a 36-mile round trip road that gives you some perfect photo opportunities and trail access.

Over 2000 arches live within the park’s parameters. However, the exact number is constantly fluctuating, as we continually discover new arches and other older ones collapse.

One of the main draws to visiting Arches National Park is obviously, the arches themselves and the fascinating history of the land. Believe it or not, most of the sandstone from this area is over 150 million years old! Some of the formations date all the way back to the Jurassic period.

Imagine how much of the world’s history these famous arches have lived through!

The tallest arch at the park is the southern span of Double Arch, looming at 112 feet above ground level.

Not only is Landscape Arch the longest in the park, it also holds the record as being the longest arch in all of North America, spanning 306 feet. This treasure of Arches National Park lies on the popular Devils Garden trail, which is at the very end of the park road (around a 45-minute drive from the visitor center).

Landscape Arch holds the distinction as being the fifth longest arch in the world.

Short answer: Yes. Sadly, it’s a natural part of an arch’s life, but they don’t fall too often on the grand scale of things (and we help with that by not touching or standing on any of the arches).

Erosion from wind and weather removes layers of rock, making changes over time. In 2008 for example, the Wall Arch suddenly collapsed. These types of collapses can be unpredictable which adds to the mystery and beauty of the arches.

Arches lowest elevation is at the Colorado River, at 3,960 feet, though the National Park Service notes the Visitor Center as the lowest elevation at 4,085 feet. This could be because the Colorado River is right on the border of the park. The highest point is Elephant Butte, at 5,653 feet. 

The crimson color of the arches is due to iron oxide in the sandstone sediment. Rocks can be all different colors depending on the minerals in them and what the conditions were when forming — was it underwater? Under pressure? With oxygen? Without?

The arches here are made from sandstone – Entrada Sandstone in particular. These grains of sand packed together when the whole area was under water, but once out of water, wind and rain has been slowly eroding the stone to create these formations.

There are over 1.5 million visitors annually to Arches and this number grows every year. Arches National Park is often found in “top ten” lists of popular parks to visit in the US.

This is a landscape unlike any other you’ll see visiting any other parks in the US. 

Delicate Arch is undoubtedly the most famous in the park and arguably one of the most iconic natural stone arches in the world. It’s such a stunner that the state of Utah chose to commemorate Delicate Arch on their license plates, so even if you haven’t been to the park in person, you may have seen a bit of it whizzing by you on the road.

You can absolutely hit the road and see Arches by car. If you aren’t an avid hiker, there is a scenic drive that can make Arches National Park accessible for everyone. That being said, we highly recommend lacing up those hiking boots and seeing more of the arches by foot if possible!

President Herbert Hoover created the Arches National Monument in 1929 and then in 1971, Congress designated the area as the 35th National Park.

Author and environmentalist Edward Abbey might be one of the most famous people associated with the park. His passion for the area and his book, Desert Solitaire shined a light on Arches and the whole area around Moab.

You may recognize several areas of Arches National Park because of its appearance on the big screen. Arches have been included in over 11 films, including award-winning movies like Indiana Jones and Thelma and Louise.

There is evidence of humans occupying the land of Arches National Park all the way back to 10,000 B.C. More recently, Ute and Navajo Indigenous tribes inhabited this region. To find what lands we are recreating on, you can use the app Native Lands to learn the history of our parks.

The park is surprisingly diverse! There are 483 species of plants in the park. While conditions may not appear hospitable at first, the flora of Arches varies from grasses, cacti and both evergreen and deciduous trees among others.

There have been nearly 200 species spotted at the park. Again, you might not think this would be a bird watchers paradise on first inspection, but there are many species that migrate through this area. Seeing a Bald Eagle or Mexican Spotted Owl is not unheard of while exploring the park. 

There are 52 species of mammals in the park.

There are 21 species of reptiles in the park.

There are surprisingly several species of frogs, toads and salamanders within the park.

There are several endangered species in the park, including the Southwest Willow Flycatcher bird and a handful of fish like the Razorback Sucker or the Colorado Pikeminnow. Along with those species, there are around 20 other threatened plants and animals.