Exploring Geological Wonders: A Journey Through the Devil's Garden Trail at Arches National Park

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What if a single hike could illuminate the wonders of geological time and the fragility of nature’s masterpieces? Join me, Craig the Natural Medic, as I take you on a captivating trek through the Devil's Garden Trail at Arches National Park. Discover the intriguing story of Landscape Arch, the longest natural arch outside of China, and learn about its uncertain future as erosion slowly takes its toll. Along this iconic journey, we'll explore the ancient forces of nature that sculpted these breathtaking formations, giving you a glimpse into the dynamic processes that have shaped this awe-inspiring landscape over millennia.

As we navigate this rugged terrain together, feel the exhilaration of scrambling over rocky paths and squeezing through narrow gaps, all while marveling at the unique features of Navajo and Partition Arches. Experience firsthand the thrill and challenges this trail has to offer, with stories of significant rockfall events like the one in 1991 that highlight the park's ever-changing nature. Whether you're an adventurous hiker or a curious nature enthusiast, this episode paints a vivid picture of one of America's most extraordinary landscapes—filled with natural beauty, fascinating history, and the promise of adventure.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi there it's Craig the Natural Medic going to do a
hike to part of Devil's GardenTrail here in Arches National
Park.
It's December 16th 2024 whenI'm attempting this and let's
take a look at the trail itself.
If you look at the board hereto the landscape arch is 1.8

(00:21):
miles round trip elevationchange of 40 feet 30 to 60
minutes total.
It is the second most popularafter Delicate Arch or second
most well-known in the park.
I hope you'll follow me down toLandscape Arch here in the
Devil's Garden Trail, archesNational Park.
Starting off you're looking atthese big fins that show you the

(00:43):
Devil's Garden.
Here you had upward pressure,rainwater erosion and everything
like that, causing interestingfeatures to form, sometimes
arches.
We're gonna go see one.
The landscape arch Right heregot some signposts showing
landscape arch is .65 miles tothe left, back to the trailhead

(01:11):
is a quarter mile.
You can go to some other archesover here Tunnel arch and pine
tree arch, both of which areless than two-tenths of a mile
away, just to give you an ideaof what you're hiking into lots
of interesting rock formationseverywhere.

(01:33):
I guess that's why they call itthe Devil's Garden, just
because it's so otherworldlylooking.
If you want to do the entiretrail.
It's about eight miles, takesbetween three and five
hours.
Here's our first view of thelandscape arch.
Isn't that cool?
Supposedly it's the longestnatural arch outside of China.

(01:56):
Okay, so we're looking atlandscape arch.
This is a good overall view.
The arch is slightly longerthan a football field.
Arches, of course, is a livinglaboratory.
Different disciplines are doingdifferent monitoring of
different things in the parkpretty cool place really is the

(02:20):
perfect time to be out heredoing this.
If you want to continue on theprimitive trail, it actually
goes over here to the right andloop to trailhead is four miles
and does require some scrambling, some route, finding things
like that.
If you want to go the maintrail to double O arch, one way
from here, rock scrambling,exposure to heights, etc.

(02:43):
Rock scrambling, exposure toheights, etc.
Don't think we're going to makeit all the way to that today,
but may go up here to Navajo andPartition Arch Just to check
those out.
But for now, look at thislovely view of of landscape arch
.
Isn't that cool?

(03:04):
You can take a look at the archhere and it's very thin
compared to some of the otherarches.
You can see there's a big pileof rubble over here.
I believe in 1991 was when abunch of rock fell.
People were actually here towitness it.
Nobody was hurt, but it'sthought this one is toward the
end of its lifespan because ofthe cracks and, of course, part

(03:25):
of it falling off back in 1991.
Pretty interesting.
This is about as close as viewsyou can get without actually
getting in the danger zone.
Hey, by the way, if you'reliking this video, give it a
thumbs up, let YouTube know thatit's worth viewing and gets out
to other people.
Thanks that it's worth viewingand gets out to other people,

(03:47):
thanks.
So, coming up from landscape,you scramble up this rocky hill
through a gap in the fence.
You can see where the trail isbecause the rock's worn down
where people have tread on itSlow going, as you can hear from
my breath, seems like a longtime.
When you go through the rockgap up to the turnoff to

(04:07):
Partition and Navajo, they'reonly .2 and .3 past about a
quarter mile past Landscape Arch.
If you want to continue on the00 arch, it's straight ahead,
but the trail gets significantlymore difficult.
There's also Dark Angel and youcan come back on the primitive
trail if you want, or doubleback on
the same trail.
Okay, I'm inside navajo arch.

(04:30):
This is a cooler view.
I think there's some reallycool trees in this little spot
right here, back in this littlegap between the rock fins.
But this is navajo arch, Iwould imagine, so-called because
it's formed in navajo sandstone, which is prominent in this
area.
Really cool tree right herehanging out in the entrance of

(04:52):
it and it's pretty cool that youcan walk through it.
There's the little sign for itnavajo arch, and here it is from
the outside.
Very cool, slightly differentview of Navajo Arch.
And this is from the west side.

(05:13):
Cool, interesting thingto think about.
We're here at Navajo Arch.
This tree is right here andit's well established.
It's probably about 10 feettall.
What impact will this have onthe weathering and erosion of
the arch in the future?
I don't think it's going to getany taller, but what are the

(05:34):
roots going to do?
I'm actually standing on theother side of there is some
railways fencing.
You really can't see because ofthis trees
in the way.
Let me get a little closer.
I was standing over there wherethat little patch of snow and

(05:57):
ice is, and landscape arch isjust on the other side of this
ridge here.
You just can't see it from thisparticular angle.
If I was able to somehow getdown here where this tree is, I
could probably see it, but I'mnot going down there.
If you want to look from thisside at the partition arch here,

(06:23):
it is Ba-ba Part of thequestion for this particular
geocache.
The question for this cache iswhy is there debris down here
and there is a fair amount Rocksthat are loose.
You have somebranches, some trees.

(06:47):
Very interesting, better viewof Partition Arch from the
uphill side.
Landscape Arch is over here tothe south, but what a beautiful
view through the arch here.
If you look behind me, there'sa strong slope, so I imagine

(07:10):
when it rains there's a lot ofstuff that moves through the
portal here, which probablycontributed to its creation as
well as will contribute to itsdemise in the future.
I certainly think it's coolerwhen you can peer through these

(07:31):
arches like windows.
This is one of the best viewsin the park, in my opinion, that
I've seen so far.
Okay, you can definitelysee the pathway.
The rock is pretty worn goingdown this ridge here to come
back towards the landscape arch,which is just around the corner
.
Partition arch is Just anotherside of this rock.

(07:52):
You cannot really see it fromhere, but I was just standing
there a second ago.
Okay, coming back over here,you can see Partition Arch as we
are back at Landscape Arch.
Pretty cool, didn't know thatwas going to be where I was
going to be standing at onepoint.
All right, you can seelandscape arch behind me and

(08:19):
partition arches over off of myleft shoulder.
Hopefully you can seethat as well.
And one thing to bear in mindwith accessing the park on
December, november, january,february no timed entry Park
gets heavy 1.8 million annualvisitors To a park that's only

(08:39):
76,000 acres.
We need a timed entry stampbecause it's so popular.
I don't know about you, butit's weird to see Yucca with
snow on it.
Okay, right here is a branchoff the main trail going back to
the trailhead.
We can go to Tunnel Arch, whichis this way you can see it from
here, right on top of thehillside there.

(09:00):
Right now we're going to checkout Pine Tree Arch, which is
this way Okay, right here, thePine Tree Arch and the trail
ends here, so I can get a littlecloser and stand under it, etc.
I'll do that in a second, but Ijust want to give you a good

(09:25):
view of the arch.
Pretty cool.
I would assume it's called pinetree arch because there are all
kinds of pinyon pines aroundthe area
and underneath it.
So our last arch for this videotunnel arch, which is close to
the beginning, looks like you'vegot another arch forming to the
left of it.
A little bit Pretty cool.
You can see right through itlike a tunnel, I don't know,

(09:51):
maybe more like a window.
What do you think?
Okay, that was a quick anddirty.
Through the devil's garden Sawfive arches, five arches.
It's crazy.
Overall nice Decent hike.
Get to the end of it.
We're going to be a little bitover four miles, about 4.3 miles
, including dilly dally.

(10:11):
Time About two hours and 30minutes Roughly, give or take.
Hope you enjoyed this is alovely view you're treated to
when you come out of the Devil'sGarden and look at that great
view of the La Salle's.
If you like this video, makesure to give it a thumbs up.
Think about subscribing to thechannel if you want to see more

(10:32):
content like this.
Till next time.
See you on the trail.