Arches National Park

geology · desert · Utah · natural wonders

Desert full of arches. Arches National Park in Utah has more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches carved into the red desert, which is more than anywhere else in the world. The most famous one is called Delicate Arch, and it's so beautiful that it appears on Utah's license plates.

Salt below ground. Deep underground beneath the park, there's a huge layer of salt (called an evaporite layer) that actually causes the arches to form. When water dissolves and moves this salt around, it creates hollow spaces that eventually collapse and carve out the amazing arches you see above ground.

Weird rock shapes. Besides arches, the park is filled with other strange and wonderful rock formations like towering spires, balanced rocks that look like they might tip over, thin walls of rock called fins, and tall single rock pillars called monoliths. All of these shapes were created by the same process of erosion and salt movement.

Near the Colorado River. The park sits right next to the Colorado River, just 4 miles north of the town of Moab, Utah. The river has carved through the landscape and helps shape the amazing geology you see in the park.