Wall Arch Collapses in Arches National Park

Was Twelfth Largest of 2,000 Arch Formations

Arches National Park in Utah is home to over 2,000 arches; these are historic entrada sandstone formations. Unfortunately, the park has one less arch now.

The International Herald Tribune has picked up a story from the Associated Press, "Iconic stone arch collapses in southern Utah park" that reports Wall Arch, an arch favored by photographers collapsed.

As the article goes on to report Wall Arch sat on the very popular Devils Garden Trail. It was the first arch to collapse since the nearby Landscape Arch in 1991.

A spokesman for the park indicated that sooner or later all the arches succumb to the forces of gravity and erosion.

The AP article reported the specifics with respect to Wall Arch: It was more than 33 feet tall; it was more than 71 feet across and, the arch was ranked at 12th largest of the estimated 2,000 arches within Arches National Park. Wall Arch was reported and named in 1948.

There is residual rock fall, so parts of Devils Garden Trail have had to be closed.

Arches National Park is representative of millions of years of history. With its exposed layers of rock it is not only beautiful but records throughout its history peoples who may have been coming and going in the area.

The Native American tribes that inhabited the region were Pebloans, Acami, Cochiti and Hopi to name just a few. The first Europeans to be a part of the region were Spaniards.

The most special arch at this point in Arches National Park is the world-famous Delicate Arch.

It is amazing when you think that over millions of years different peoples have come in and out of the area as the land has allowed.

I live near an iconic historic site called Starved Rock in my native Illinois. It overlooks the Illinois River.

Starved Rock has many canyons and rock formations as does Arches National Park. Its named was derived from legend that a group from the Illiniwek tribe was surrounded by a band of Ottawa and Potawatomi until they died of starvation. This was retribution for Pontiac, chief or the Ottawa, being killed by an Illiniwek.

Of course with Arches National Park it is not difficult to figure out where its name came from.