Arches National Park

A national park in eastern Utah that protects more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches and a landscape shaped by erosion, salt movement, and desert climate.

Entrada Sandstone: A Jurassic sandstone formation that supplies many of the rock layers in Arches National Park. Its layers weather into the fins from which many park arches develop.
Delicate Arch: A freestanding natural sandstone arch in Arches National Park, Utah. It is the park’s most widely recognized arch and a classic example of a freestanding span.
Arches National Monument: A protected area established in 1929 to preserve the arches and other geological features near Moab, Utah. The monument designation preceded the park and began federal protection of the landscape.
Timed entry: A reservation system that assigns visitors a permitted arrival window at a site. Arches has used timed-entry reservations to manage vehicle congestion during busy periods.
Moab, Utah: A city in eastern Utah near Arches and Canyonlands national parks. Tourism to Arches contributes to Moab’s economy and seasonal pressures on services.
Salt tectonics: The deformation and movement of underground salt deposits under pressure and over geologic time. Buried salt movement warped the rock layers beneath the park and helped shape its landscape.
Landscape Arch: A long, narrow natural arch in the Devils Garden area of Arches National Park. Its exceptionally thin span illustrates how erosion can leave a fragile bridge of rock.
Arches National Park Expansion Act: A 1971 United States law that redesignated Arches National Monument as a national park and adjusted its boundaries. It changed the area’s status and defined the modern park’s boundaries.
Leave No Trace: A set of outdoor ethics principles for reducing human impacts on natural areas. Staying on durable routes and packing out waste helps protect the park’s fragile desert ground.
Colorado River: A major river of the southwestern United States that flows through Utah and the Grand Canyon. The river borders the park’s southern edge and helps define its regional landscape.

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