Sep 04 2024
Double Arch is one of the largest, most dramatic, and easiest-to-reach formations in Arches National Park. Two enormous sandstone openings rise from the same rock mass, creating a cavernous natural space that seems even larger when you stand directly beneath it. Unlike many of the park’s famous arches, Double Arch requires almost no strenuous hiking …
Sep 04 2024
Balanced Rock is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Arches National Park, rising dramatically above the open desert beside the park’s main scenic road. From a distance, the formation looks almost impossible: an enormous reddish-orange boulder appears to balance precariously on top of a much narrower pedestal, as though the slightest push could send …
Sep 04 2024
The Fiery Furnace is one of the most unusual and adventurous places in Arches National Park. From the roadside overlook, it appears to be a compact maze of towering orange-red sandstone fins packed closely together. Once inside, however, those fins become walls. Narrow corridors twist between them, passages suddenly end, hidden arches appear around unexpected …
Sep 04 2024
Double O Arch is one of the most rewarding destinations in Arches National Park, but reaching it requires far more effort than visiting many of the park’s famous roadside formations. Hidden deep within Devils Garden, the unusual sandstone feature consists of two openings stacked within the same fin, creating the distinctive double-ring appearance that gives …
Sep 04 2024
Delicate Arch is the most recognizable natural landmark in Arches National Park and one of the most famous rock formations in the American Southwest. Rising alone from a broad sandstone bowl with the La Sal Mountains often visible in the distance, the graceful freestanding arch has become an enduring symbol of Utah and the signature …
Sep 04 2024
Wildlife in the National Park of American Samoa is unlike anything found in the continental United States. There are no native deer wandering through the rainforest, no squirrels darting among the trees, and no bears or other large terrestrial mammals. Instead, giant fruit bats soar over tropical forest ridges, colorful native birds feed among banyans …
Sep 02 2024
Precipice Trail is one of the most thrilling hikes in Acadia National Park, climbing more than 1,000 feet up the steep eastern face of Champlain Mountain with the help of iron rungs, ladders, handrails, stone steps, narrow ledges, and exposed granite slabs. It is less a conventional hiking trail than a carefully engineered climbing route …
Sep 02 2024
Jordan Pond is one of the most recognizable landscapes in Acadia National Park, a clear glacial lake framed by evergreen forest and steep granite mountains in the heart of Mount Desert Island. At its northern end rise two rounded peaks known as the Bubbles, creating the classic view that has appeared in countless photographs, paintings, …
Sep 02 2024
The Beehive Trail is one of the most exciting short hikes in Acadia National Park, climbing the steep south face of a 520-foot granite peak with the help of iron rungs, metal bars, stone staircases, handholds, and narrow cliffside ledges. The complete loop is only about 1.4 miles, but this is not an ordinary mile-and-a-half …
Sep 02 2024
Thunder Hole is one of the most famous stops along the rocky coastline of Acadia National Park, where Atlantic waves surge into a narrow granite inlet and sometimes produce a deep, booming sound powerful enough to resemble distant thunder. When the tide, waves, and wind align, seawater rushes into the constricted opening, traps and forces …
