USA Landscape Arch

Landscape Arch is the largest arch on the planet, beating out Zion National Park’s Kolob Arch by a mere 3 feet. Pieces of the arch have broken off during the past few centuries, some chunks the size of automobiles. This leads to two schools of thought: Landscape is at the end of its life cycle and will soon be a pile of rubble, or that it has just shed some pounds and that the new, balanced arch may be around for a few hundred more years after all. Just a few years ago, a short spur trail passed directly underneath the arch but because of recent rock falls from the underside of the arch, visitors are no longer allowed to travel underneath the fragile-looking rock span. The largest arch in the entire world, Landscape is rightfully famous. It is amazingly thin, delicate-looking, and photogenic. In its last (and most accurate measurement), Landscape was reported to span 290.1 feet. Kolob Arch spanned a close second at 287.4 feet.

Obviously, I shot this image long after sunset. I carried various flashlights to illuminate the arch but shot this moonlit 25 second exposure at f/3.5; 800 ISO. A super wide angle lens in the 10-14mm range would have worked better.

From the Arches National Park Visitors Center, drive 18 miles up Arches Scenic Drive to the large Devils Garden trailhead. The trail is paved and ends at Landscape Arch. A primitive loop trail extends from there, providing access to many other spectacular structures. There are numerous vault toilets at the large parking lot.