Delicate Arch Road at Arches National Park Reopens After Flood-Inspired Improvements

Delicate Arch is a favorite with visitors to Arches National Park. Photo by Scott Ingram Photography via Flickr.

Winter can be a great time to visit Arches National Park, but the off-season is also a good time for maintenance and repairs. The road to Delicate Arch, one of the park's signature attractions, had been closed earlier this month for major work inspired by flooding in 2006, but it's now open again for public use.

Massive flooding on Friday, October 6, 2006 and subsequent rains over the following weekend caused the road to the Delicate Arch Trailhead, the Wolfe Ranch District and the Delicate Arch Viewpoint to be closed. Work crews cleared the road several times, only to have water resurge, depositing more sand on the road. At one point, nearly two feet of sand blocked the road at one of the low water crossings.

The trail beyond Wolfe Ranch was completely destroyed and required several months to repair. Salt Wash, a major drainage from the Book Cliffs and Yellow Cat area, created a new channel, washing away at least 50 horizontal feet of trail surface.

Following that incident, planning got underway for installation of culverts at the point where Salt Valley Wash intersects the paved road. The improved drainage system should prevent future road closures due to heavy rain—and reduce risks to visitors using the area.

This work began earlier this month, and has been completed ahead of schedule. The road is now open for visitor traffic.

Arches National Park preserves over 2,000 natural sandstone arches, like the world-famous Delicate Arch, as well as many other unusual rock formations. In some areas, the forces of nature have exposed millions of years of geologic history. The extraordinary features of the park create a landscape of contrasting colors, landforms and textures that is unlike any other in the world.