Overview
Arches? In Colorado? Yep, indeed! Only
a relative few have heard of this place, let alone been to this area
on the northwest corner of the Uncompahgre Plateau west of Grand Junction,
but it is just one more feature that makes Colorado's landscape so diverse.
In fact, this area has the second largest concentration of arches in
the world behind, you guessed it, Arches National Park! Most of the
ones in this area are located in Rattlesnake Canyon, but there are a
number of others scattered about in the adjacent canyons as well. If
you don't want to fight the crowds at Arches, this is definitely the
place for you. Rattlesnake contains 11 arches, and 6 being major ones.
This area is desert sandstone country and there
is a striking resemblance to the Moab area, including the weather! Not
surprising, though, being that Moab is only about 70 miles away. If
you're wanting to see these arches firsthand, you will have to get out
of the car and walk for a bit. Rattlesnake Canyon lies in the Black
Ridge Canyons Wilderness, and as such, no vehicular traffic is permitted
within the boundaries. This wilderness area, which became such in 2000,
encompasses a string of canyons, seven which are major ones, many reaching
depths near 1,000 feet.
Akiti Arch
Directions
The easiest approach is via Colorado National
Monument, where at the Fruita entrance, you drive 11 miles through the
monument to the Glade Park turnoff, then turn west. From there, it's
.2 miles to where you'll see a sign reading Black Ridge Hunter Access
Road off to the right. You can follow the signs to the wilderness
from here, but it is an additional 10.5 miles to the trailhead. There
is actually an upper and lower access road, each open at certain times
of the year (details are on
this sign). On my trip, I took the lower road which took
roughly an hour and a half. The signs here, and most other information
online you read about, will indicate the road is 4WD/high clearance.
Well, I can confirm 4WD is not necessary on the lower road, though if
it's wet, that would be a different story. It doesn't really require
high clearance, either, though I honestly do not suggest you take my
word for it. I really do think a standard passenger car could
handle the road without a problem, though tire placement would be key
in one or two spots along the last two miles. Again, I'm not suggesting
you take a car, but if you do, you could always back up to a pull-out
and walk the rest of the way if you weren't comfortable in driving it.
Note: There is no
charge for traveling through the Colorado National Monument to access
the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness. Inform the attendant at the entrance
gate that your destination is the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness and
you will be permitted to pass through the monument at no cost.
Rainbow Arch
The hike
As far as my first visit here in early
September 2004, it was highly anticipated in that I had been reading
about this place for a couple of years prior. I was very much looking
forward to seeing what this place had to offer, but had always had other
places in mind to travel to. But once I did arrive, I was not disappointed.
I had actually arrived at the access road at night and drove in. When
I got to the trailhead, I was surprised to see the city lights of Fruita
and Grand Junction. I thought to myself, "I thought this was supposed
to be wilderness?!" Something about city lights and wilderness
sounds a bit foreign to me! I also had full cell phone coverage and
gave my folks a call as to my whereabouts. I've never been able to call
them from a campsite prior to this! On my drive in on Lower Road, I
passed a number of designated campsites. I ended up staying were Upper
and Lower Road rejoin two miles south of the trailhead, as you aren't
supposed to camp at the end. It didn't seem to matter as seldom visited
as this place seems to be, and I was the only one around for miles,
but I minded the rules.
I got up around 8:00 in the morning and started down the trail shortly
thereafter. “Hey, it's downhill! I can dig this!” And so
it was. Here is a map
of the trail, and as you can see, it's kind of a loop. From the trailhead,
it is a half-mile to a "T" intersection. If you take a left,
it goes a half-mile to a close up overlook view of the first arch, Rainbow
Arch. Now, the quickest way to get to the rest of the arches is to walk,
or more accurately, slide or repel, down through the middle of this
arch to connect back up with the end of the trail. This route is not
part of the designated trail, but many have done this. It would be a
rather steep descent/ascent, and with my heavy camera backpack on, I
really didn't want to test my balancing skills here, for fear of performing
the most ungraceful back flip/cartwheel combination ever known to man!
If that should have happened, I guess the good thing would be that no
one would've been around to watch. But then again, I might have problems
walking away without assistance and picking up any of my broken limbs
that I have grown quite fond of. So, I did the right thing and trekked
back the half-mile back to the “T,” and resumed the loop.
At this point, the next .2 miles are the steepest section of the trail
as it descends quickly from atop the plateau. Views of Fruita, the Colorado
River, and the surrounding area are present the whole time. Once at
the bottom a few minutes later, you'll come to another sign pointing
one direction to the Pollock Trailhead, and the Rattlesnake Canyon trail
to the other. From here it's pretty much a level walk two miles back
around to the end of the trail directly below Rainbow Arch.
Once you round the corner on the north side of
the sandstone bench you're walking around, and below, roughly one mile
in, you have reached your destination. For the last mile of the trail,
the arches sit consecutively back-to-back with each other and Rattlesnake
canyon is off to your right. You are walking directly below them the
whole time, so they are pretty much in your face. For this reason, wide
angle lenses work best, especially for the signature Akiti Arch, which
spans 40' across and is 120' above the ground. And while the arches
are certainly the main attraction, there are also quite a bit of other
neat sandstone formations along the way that will no doubt hold your
interest as well.
Akiti Arch to faces in a westerly direction,
so late afternoon photography works best here. Rainbow Arch faces more
to the southeast, so morning would be the ideal time to capture this
one. The majority of the other arches, which are less significant, face
southwest, though I was very pleased with the way my snapshots turned
out, which were taken from mid-morning to 3 in the afternoon. Be sure
to bring your widest angle lens. You'll especially want it for Akiti.
The trail is right next to, and below, all the arches along the way,
so they are definitely in your face.
I had encountered eight other people along the
way and really enjoyed the relative solitude. And no, I didn't see any
rattlesnakes, though I did, by chance, happen to see a very small snake
of some kind up close. Overall, the hike is relatively easy, though
on the way back out, the two-tenth mile stretch that leads from the
Pollock Bench Trail can be a bit strenuous. I would suggest saving the
half-mile spur that leads to the overlook of Rainbow Arch until the
way back. This allows for more energy to be spent on the main portion
of the loop, and if you are doing a morning hike, you'll have a little
better light on the arches as you'll get down a bit earlier. The view
from above is neat, but the view from the bottom looking up is definitely
where it's at. I am already itching to get back to get some better shots,
primarily of Akiti.
