hiking to natural Arches and Bridges

… there are only ten natural arches in the world that have spans longer than 200 feet. All but one of these are in the Colorado Plateau area of the United States.

Although there may be other natural arches this long somewhere else in the world, no others have so far been confirmed. The most likely candidate is Tushuk Tash (Shipton’s Arch) in China, measured at 1200 feet high, making it the tallest natural arch in the world. …

The most recent addition to this list, Aloba Arch in the country of Chad, was only confirmed in 2004.

… visiting all nine … located in the Colorado Plateau requires a considerable amount of effort. Looking for natural arches always takes you into very beautiful places, some of which you might not have thought to visit otherwise. An arch at the end of a journey through natural splendor could be seen as the frosting on a very good cake!

Here’s The Big 10 as ranked by NaturalArches.org:

+ Kolob Arch – Zion National Park, Utah
+ Landscape Arch – Arches National Park, Utah
+ Rainbow Bridge – Rainbow Bridge National Monument, Utah
+ Sipapu Natural Bridge – Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah
+ Aloba Arch – Ennedi Range, Chad
+ Wrather Arch – Paria Canyon, Arizona
+ Morning Glory Natural Bridge – Moab, Utah
+ Stevens Arch – Escalante River, Utah
+ Kachina Natural Bridge – Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah
+ Snake Bridge – Sanostee, New Mexico

But which of these have good hikes?

I’ve only walked to Wrather Arch, an excellent destination. For details on how to get there check our Paria Canyon information page.

And I’ve researched Rainbow Bridge, Utah. Access is only by boat or foot. There are several good hiking itineraries.

Here’s a view of Rainbow you’ve never seen before.

original – flickr.

There’s more like this on James Neeley’s flickr photo stream.