![]() ![]() ![]() Poulton who said this: “Delicate Arch is to Utah what the Golden Gate Bridge is to California and the Empire State Building is to New York: it is the symbol by which Utah is recognized as a state.” Soft salmon-pink against a bright blue sky the arch forms an exquisite frame for the snowy 13,000-foot La Sal Mountains to the south.”Īllen also quoted Donna L. He is quoted in Steve Allens’s book, Utah’s Canyon Country Place Names,” published by Canyon Country Press in 2012.Īllen quoted Catherine Freeman who said this in 1948: “Rising from the sandstone ridge it looks like a giant handle by which the bowl might conceivably be lifted. But from the front one can easily see that it took no fantastic flight of imagination for the cowboys of that range to give it their name, The Chaps. It rises to an unbelievable height, appearing as only a slim spire when viewed from the side. This wonder stands alone overlooking the abysmal depth of the canyon below. ![]() In 1937, a man named Wayne McConkie described the area, which was beginning to attract more attention: “Just across the canyon to the east on the rim of Salt Wash is found the Delicate Arch, the predecessor of all the triumphal arches. Other arches in the park were formed similarly, but because of their placements and less dramatic shapes, are not as famous. Eons ago in geologic history, an original sandstone fin there was gradually worn away by weather and erosion, leaving the arch. Photo by Doug McMurdoĭelicate Arch is formed of Entrada Sandstone. A typical day at Delicate Arch has crowds of people viewing the famous spectacle. The Olympic torch relay for the 2002 Winter Olympics passed through the arch when the torch first arrived in Utah by helicopter on its long journey from Greece. #Arches landscape arch licenseIt is depicted on Utah license plates and a postage stamp commemorating Utah’s centennial anniversary of admission to the Union in 1996. The free-standing Delicate Arch is 52 feet tall and is arguably the most widely recognized landmark in Arches National Park, if not all of Utah. The idea was ultimately abandoned as impractical and contrary to NPS principles, said Wikipedia. ![]() In fact, according to Wikipedia, Delicate Arch “played no part in the original designation of the area as a national monument,” which it was first named in 1929, and was not included within the original boundaries “it was added when the monument was enlarged in 1938.”Ī comical aside to the celebrated history of Delicate Arch is that in the 1950s, the NPS investigated the possibility of applying a clear plastic coating to the arch to protect it from further erosion and eventual destruction. Wikipedia debunks the rumor that the arches’ names were inadvertently exchanged during a signage mix-up by the NPS. Frank Beckwith, a leader of the Arches National Monument Scientific Expedition, explored the area in the winter of 1933-34, and he gave it the official brand. Wikepedia, the fount of online information - true or untrue - says that cowboys called Delicate Arch the Chaps, Bloomers Arch, Mary’s Bloomers, Old Maid’s Bloomers, Pant’s Crotch and Salt Wash Arch. For example, it’s been said that early cowboys called Delicate Arch the School Marm’s Bloomers or the Teacher’s Bloomers. The first monikers for some of the arches might have been more comically creative. The three names could all be exchanged and still be appropriate titles for their amazing forms. Photos by Doug McMurdoĪnd what about Skyline Arch, located above the road between Delicate Arch and Devils Garden where Landscape Arch is located? It complements the landscape, as well. Below is the famous Delicate Arch unusually devoid of people with just one person standing at its base. It is easily visible from the park road inside Arches National Park. Skyline Arch, above, glows in the waning sun of a winter day. After all, doesn’t the fragile-looking Landscape Arch, whose span is among the longest known natural sandstone forms on the planet, seem more delicate than Delicate Arch, whose setting has more of a broad landscape when viewed from afar? It seems more sturdy, for sure. There has long been some discussion as to whether the titles of the two arches were mixed up when federal officials branded the stone spectacles. It is located in the Devils Garden area of Arches National Park. Landscape Arch, above, is perhaps the longest natural sandstone span in the world. But the names of several of its arches makes it even more so, especially with respect to its famous monoliths, Delicate Arch and Landscape Arch. The topography of Arches National Park is a delicate landscape for many reasons. ![]()
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