There are five national parks in the state of Utah. Even though we’ve visited all five in the past, we wanted to revisit Arches and Canyonlands again. There’s never enough time to see everything all at once.

Arches NP is now so popular that it requires a timed entry ticket to visit during peak hours. We found the afternoons had plenty of time slots available. I was also hoping to get some sunset photos.

We started our visit this time at the visitors’ center. It was built in 2005, so it was our first time to see it. I especially liked the views from the large windows.

Our first stop along the 40-mile scenic drive was the Park Avenue Viewpoint. From the viewpoint it was like looking through a window at the mountains beyond. The trail climbed down into a valley between massive rock formations.

The three gossips looked familiar to us from previous visits. I call them “Three Wise Men” because they look like they’re wearing turbans.

Erosion is constantly wearing down the sandstone rock. Some arches eventually collapse. Such is the one shown below. The three rock columns were once connected on top by a layer of rock.

Other types of formations in the park are balancing rocks, such as this one.

This double arch was formed from water erosion from the top, rather than more typical erosion from the side. Next to them are the beginnings of other arch caves.

Delicate Arch has had many names in the past, including “Old Maids Bloomers”, “Pants Crotch” and “School Marm’s Pants.” Although the rumor is not true that the names of Delicate Arch and Landscape Arch were inadvertently exchanged due to a signage switch, in my opinion, the switched names fit better than the current ones.

We hiked up to this arch years ago. But this time, I just took a photo from a distance with a zoom lens.

There are over 2,000 natural arches in Arches National Park. There are also hundreds of towering pinnacles, huge rock fins, and giant balanced rocks.

Windows are formed by blowing sand that erodes the rock instead of water erosion. North and South Windows are sometimes called the “spectacles” because they look like eyeglasses.

Formations called “fins” are formed when water flows along parallel joints or fractures and erodes the rock away in “slices”.

As the afternoon wore on, the clouds parted and the sun lit up the rocks. We weren’t at the end of the scenic drive yet. There were still more sites to see.

Driving along the road, we could see the beginnings of many arches forming in the rocks.

Skyline Arch was one of my favorites simply because you could see it from the road and it had this interesting twisted old tree in front of it.

At the end of the scenic drive is Devils Garden Trailhead. This trail leads to Landscape Arch, which is the longest rock arch in North America. It is very long and thin, which makes me think it should have been named “Delicate Arch.”

The wind had kicked up, and it was late in the day, so I only hiked a short way on the two-mile hike to the arch.

The entrance to the trail is something like walking through the Gates of Argonath in the Lord of the Rings. The rocks tower on either side of the pathway like guards.

I hiked far enough to see one of the other arches along the trail called Pine Tree Arch, then turned around and headed back.

We noticed these holes in the rock above the parking lot. It shows how water enters the rocks and begins the erosion process that eventually forms arches.

The rain was all around us while we were there, but it finally caught up with us as we were leaving.

Our second visit to Arches made for a beautiful day enjoying the beautiful scenery created by God.

He is the Rock; His deeds are perfect. Everything He does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright He is! Deuteronomy 32:4 TLB