Landscape Arch, UT

Landscape Arch is the world's longest natural rock arch. The arch measures 290 feet in length. That is nearly 100 yards. The good news is that it is a pretty easy hike to get to the arch.

As with many of the more popular spots in Arches National Park, your biggest challenge may be in finding a place to park. The hike from the trailhead to Landscape Arch is just short of a mile, but you may have to tack on a quarter mile or more just to get to the trailhead.

The entire trail to Landscape Arch is pretty flat. There is only a difference of 63 feet of elevation between the trailhead and the Landscape Arch viewing area.

Landscape Arch starts to come into view a short distance before you reach the viewing area. In fact you may find it easier to get the entire arch into a photo during the approach than you will at the viewing area. Nevertheless, it is worth going the distance to get to the viewing area.

At the viewing area you will notice the one section of the arch at the right end is quite thin. The literature that you receive from the National Park Service at the park entrance says that the rock is only 6 feet thick at its thinnest point. That's pretty thin for such a long arch. In fact, since 1991 three large sections of the arch have fallen off, forcing the Park Service to close the trail off that used to travel under the arch. The point to all of this is that if you want to see the arch in person, you had better hurry. The arch could completely collapse at any time.

Check out the Official Route and Triplogs.

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2011-02-27 slegal