Sunday, April 17, 2016

Jeep Arch Trail

Portal RV Resort
Moab, UT
April, 13, 2016

Our hiking season in Moab was kicked off with a hike to Jeep Arch.  To reach the trailhead, head north on Hwy 191 and make a left turn on to Utah 279 (Potash Road).  Drive about 10 miles and the parking for the hike is across the street from Gold Bar Campground. 



 Culvert Canyon is so named because you have to walk through a long, tunnel-like culvert under a railroad track to venture into the canyon.





Once inside the canyon the sign for Jeep Arch Trail is just a short distance on the left.





A narrow, steep gravel path takes you to the rim.  










Once on the rim, we paused several times to look for cairns that mark the way.



We had views of Culvert Canyon and in the right, top quadrant of the photo below you can see the railroad track we walked under, Utah 279 and the campground. 













































































 From there the trail narrowed...














and then went up.











 



And there it was...Jeep Arch.




 Another short climb and we were there.






























Joe looks so small compared to this magnificent piece of natural art.





















Sitting under the arch, and looking left was our lunch view...








 ...but looking right was quite a sight too.





















We had to crab walk some of the tall ledges we had climbed up to get back to the narrow trail in the picture below.



Joe and I liked this hike a lot.  It's about 4.5 to 5 miles full of scenic vistas.  Elevation gains come in spurts that get the heart pumping and in-between offers lots of time for pictures.  



A perfect day and two happy hikers!







Until next time, happy days...

and happy trails!

8 comments:

  1. Too funny! Who would have thought we would publish blogs on the same hike, the same day! It was a fun hike. I'm glad we had a little sun and the wind wasn't too bad. It's good we did the loop because the flowers were all on the way back down. Beautiful views in every direction:) This hike has been on my list for several years. Now I can check it off:)

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    1. It's been on our list too Pam. It was checked off, but one I am sure we will do again another year. I failed to mention in the blog, that we didn't see anyone the day we went...had all that beauty all to ourselves!

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  2. What a wonderful hike and excellent photos as well.

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  3. Looks absolutely gorgeous! Looks like nice weather and lots to see.

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  4. It's a nice coincidence that John and Pam posted this hike on the same day, altho you did not hike it together. It gives us a chance to enjoy it from different perspectives. This looks like one of those bucket list hikes as it has a bit of everything in a challenging yet fun hike.

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  5. So you can't take your Jeep on the Jeep trail - interesting :-) Love the views from the arch, you're having great photo weather!

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  6. A very sweet photo of you and your honey💜
    Glad to see all your gorgeous photos! What a place!!

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