USA Broken Arch

Arches National Park is home to more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches. In addition to arches, the monoliths, fins, hoodoos, and petrified sand dunes are subjects of endless photo compositions. I like the contrast of the bright orange sandstone fins with the snow. Like many of the park’s more well known arches, access to Broken Arch is easy, requiring only a short hike to get to it. This arch, for some reason, seems to get much less traffic than others even though in my opinion it is very photogenic.

The park is a great place for photography year round but at the height of the tourist season (summer months) park officials frequently close the gates at different times of the day due to crowd saturation. We prefer early spring, fall, or winter. I like early to mid morning or late afternoon/early evening in Arches NP but on this day, the clouds made all day good for photography.

From the park entrance, drive 16 miles up Arches Scenic Drive to the Sand Dune Arch parking lot. Follow the trail toward Sand Dune Arch. It’s worth visiting the arch before continuing northeastward toward “Broken Arch”. It’s an easy 10-15 minute stroll to get to the base of the arch.