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The Arches Trail is in the Losee Canyon area behind Red Canyon, to the Northwest. It is named for 15 small arches on the trail, which also has many hoodoos and ledges accenting a red-orange landscape with Juniper, Limber Pine, and Bristlecone Pine trees. At the bottom of the trail is the stone shelter allegedly built by Butch Cassidy to cache supplies in his early days as an outlaw.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Red Canyon Collection page where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links to the Red Canyon Galleries:
Pink Ledges Arches Trail Cassidy Trail Golden Wall Trail Flora & Fauna Utah Prairie Dog
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Red Canyon Rock Shelter Arches Trail X2297 (739 KB)
At the beginning of the Arches Trail is a stone shelter which was allegedly built by Butch Cassidy to cache supplies. This image was taken on an overcast day in late June.
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Red Canyon Rock Shelter Arches Trail 0698 (904 KB)
Butch Cassidy’s Rock Shelter on the Arches Trail, taken in the mid-afternoon in late September. Butch Cassidy was a leader of the Wild Bunch Gang of outlaws in the late 19th century.
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Red Canyon Rock Shelter Arches Trail 0781 (627 KB)
Butch Cassidy’s Rock Shelter on the Arches Trail, shot in the late afternoon in September. Butch Cassidy was a leader of the Wild Bunch Gang of outlaws in the late 19th century, and he spent a considerable time in the Red Canyon area in the earlier part of his outlaw career. He allegedly built the rock shelter to cache supplies while hiding out in the Red Canyon area. Information on Butch Cassidy and shots of his boyhood home are on the Cassidy Trail page.
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Red Canyon Caves Arches Trail 0701 (743 KB)
Caves under the ledges in the middle part of the Arches Trail, taken in the mid-afternoon in late September.
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Red Canyon Ledges Arches Trail 0704 (774 KB)
Ledges and red-orange hoodoo formations in the middle part of the Arches Trail, mid-afternoon in late September.
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Red Canyon Caves Arches Trail X2301 (771 KB)
One of the larger caves under the ledges in the middle part of the Arches Trail, taken in the mid-afternoon on an overcast day in late June. Note the breccia at the base of the formation.
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Red Canyon Caves Arches Trail X2302 (941 KB)
Switchbacks on the Arches Trail leading up to the caves below the ledges. The larger cave in the center was allegedly used by Butch Cassidy as a temporary hideout shelter.
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Red Canyon Stone Matrix Arches Trail X2303 (585 KB)
A Juniper stands beside the stone matrix of the breccia strip below the caves in the middle part of the Arches Trail, taken in the mid-afternoon on an overcast day in late June.
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Red Canyon Stone Matrix Arches Trail 0744 M (984 x 1600, 808 KB)
The stone matrix in the Claron Formation breccia strip is in a sandstone and siltstone base and consists of quartzite, chert, white quartz, igneous rocks and limestone pebbles.
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Red Canyon Ledges Arches Trail X2304 (632 KB)
The view across the ledges from the front of the larger cave in the middle part of the Arches Trail, mid-afternoon in June.
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Red Canyon Ledges Arches Trail 0705 (760 KB)
The view across the ledges from above the larger cave in the middle part of the Arches Trail, mid-afternoon in September. Differences in color are caused by direct sunlight on the rock.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Red Canyon Collection page where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links to the Red Canyon Galleries:
Pink Ledges Arches Trail Cassidy Trail Golden Wall Trail Flora & Fauna Utah Prairie Dog
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Red Canyon Tree Skeleton Arches Trail X2299 (929 KB)
A tree skeleton on the lower part of the Arches Trail, probably a Limber Pine. The soft light of this overcast afternoon in late June was perfect for this sort of shot.
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Red Canyon Bristlecone Pine Arches Trail 0716 (719 KB)
A Bristlecone Pine root below the upper ledges on the Arches Trail, taken at mid-afternoon in September.
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Red Canyon Junipers Arches Trail 0707 (565 KB)
A Juniper skeleton and live Junipers atop an upper ledge on the Arches Trail, mid-afternoon in September.
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Red Canyon Ledges Arches Trail X2305 (565 KB)
Juniper and Limber Pine on the ledges above the caves, taken at mid-afternoon in June.
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Red Canyon Juniper Skeleton Arches Trail 0755 (399 KB)
Detail of the Juniper skeleton atop the upper ledge on the Arches Trail, taken in mid-afternoon in September.
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Red Canyon Bristlecone Pine Arches Trail X2308 (643 KB)
A Bristlecone Pine stands atop the ledge above the caves on the Arches Trail in the soft light of an overcast afternoon. The Bristlecone Pine is the oldest single living organism on Earth.
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Red Canyon Bristlecone Pine Arches Trail X2307 (770 KB)
The Bristlecone Pine atop the ledges above the caves and a view of the Paunsaugunt Plateau beyond the distant fin in the background, taken on an overcast afternoon in June.
Some Bristlecone Pines are nearly 5000 years old, and they are the oldest single living organisms on Earth (some clonal colonies such as the Pando Aspen grove and the King’s Lomatia are as old as 50,000 to 80,000 years, although individual plants of the colony are far younger). The oldest Bristlecone Pine (Prometheus), 4862 years old by ring count, was cut down by a research student in 1964. The oldest living Bristlecone (4842 years) is Methuselah in the White Mountains.
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Red Canyon Junipers Arches Trail X2309 (589 KB)
Gnarled Junipers on the slope below the caves piercing the upper ledges on the Arches Trail, mid-afternoon in late June.
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Red Canyon Ledges Arches Trail 0726 (717 KB)
The limestone-capped, cavern-pierced upper ledges on the Arches Trail, taken in mid-afternoon in late September.
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Red Canyon Junipers Arches Trail 0732 (618 KB)
An exceptionally well-formed section of the upper ledges on the Arches Trail. Note the Junipers and Limber Pines maintaining a precarious foothold atop the limestone caprock.
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Red Canyon Limber Pine Red Queen Arches Trail X2312 (618 KB)
An ancient Limber Pine frames the first view of the Red Queen and the Windows Arches, the namesake formation on the Arches Trail. Taken on an overcast afternoon in late June.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Red Canyon Collection page where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links to the Red Canyon Galleries:
Pink Ledges Arches Trail Cassidy Trail Golden Wall Trail Flora & Fauna Utah Prairie Dog
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Red Canyon Red Queen Windows Arches Trail 0711 (733 KB)
The Red Queen stands beside the Windows Arches formation, taken at mid-afternoon in September. While these are called arches, they are more properly windows in an eroding fin formation, which is well on its way to becoming a set of individual hoodoos. The Red Queen was once a part of the same fin formation, separating when the arch in between collapsed.
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Red Canyon Red Queen Arches Trail 0708 (710 KB)
The Red Queen has also been called “Lucy” based on its resemblance to the character in the Peanuts cartoon series.
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Red Canyon Red Queen Arches Trail 0709 (667 KB)
The Red Queen is one of the most prominent and well-known hoodoo formations on the Arches Trail.
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Red Canyon Red Queen Arches Trail 0757 (664 KB)
This shot of the Red Queen was taken about a half-hour after the previous two images, with the light at a lower angle lighting the cheek. The 700-series shots were all taken on an afternoon in September.
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Red Canyon Red Queen Arches Trail X2332 (649 KB)
The Red Queen hoodoo beside the Windows formation on the Arches Trail, taken when the sun broke from the clouds for a brief moment on an overcast afternoon in late June.
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Red Canyon Red Queen Arches Trail X2329 (512 KB)
The Red Queen hoodoo taken in the soft light of the overcast afternoon in June, just three minutes before the sun broke out for the image shown at left.
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Red Canyon Red Queen Windows Arches Trail 0725 (768 KB)
The Red Queen and the Windows Arches formation from the downhill side, taken at mid-afternoon in September.
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Red Canyon Red Queen Windows Arches Trail 0728 (699 KB)
The Red Queen and the Windows Arches formation from the downhill side, taken from a position further to the right.
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Red Canyon Red Queen Windows Arches Trail X2337 (919 KB)
The Red Queen hoodoo and the Windows Arches formation, with an assortment of gnarled trees and skeletons adorning the landscape below. Taken at mid-afternoon in June.
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Red Canyon Red Queen Arch Arches Trail 0735 (538 KB)
The Red Queen standing above the Natural Bridge arch in the lower part of the Windows Arches formation.
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Red Canyon Natural Bridge Arches Trail 0737 (537 KB)
The delicate lintel of the Natural Bridge arch in the lower part of the Windows Arches formation on the Arches Trail.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Red Canyon Collection page where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links to the Red Canyon Galleries:
Pink Ledges Arches Trail Cassidy Trail Golden Wall Trail Flora & Fauna Utah Prairie Dog
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Red Canyon Window Arches Trail 0718 (401 KB)
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Red Canyon Windows Arches Trail 0710 (817 KB)
The Windows Arches formation on the Arches Trail. To the right of center is an hourglass window with a crack at the top which will soon be opened by frost wedging and further eroded by rain, eventually separating the right side of the window to form an individual hoodoo like the one on the far right of the image. All of the hoodoos in the area are formed by these erosion processes. Note how the narrower, more eroded portion of the fin is directly below a sedimentary boundary line. The layer above is a harder rock which partially shields the softer rock below from the elements.
The image at left shows part of the upper ledges and the Arches Trail framed by the hourglass window arch which is seen in the right center of the image above. Both images were taken in mid-afternoon in late September.
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Red Canyon Windows Arches Trail X2339 (786 KB)
The uphill side of the Windows Arches formation on an overcast afternoon in June.
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Red Canyon Windows Arches Trail X2349 (921 KB)
The rear of the Windows Arches from the trail below.
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Red Canyon Windows Arches Trail X2346 (655 KB)
A close oblique of the rear of the Windows Arches.
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Red Canyon Windows Arches Trail X2342 (622 KB)
A close oblique of the rear of the Windows Arches formation, taken about five minutes before the previous image in the soft light of an overcast afternoon in late June. I waited for five minutes in the hope that the sun might peek out from the clouds, and it did for image 2346. I ended up liking the evenly lit image (2342 above), but you never know which look you will prefer...
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Red Canyon Hoodoo Arches Trail 0719 (365 KB)
The individual hoodoo at the end of the Windows Arches formation, backlit in the mid-afternoon in late September.
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Red Canyon Hoodoo Arches Trail 0720 (604 KB)
The individual hoodoo at the end of the Windows Arches formation, taken from the opposite, fully-lit side.
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Red Canyon Hoodoo Arches Trail 0721 (463 KB)
An individual hoodoo below the Windows Arches formation, again taken in the mid-afternoon in late September.
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Red Canyon Hoodoo Arches Trail 0722 (447 KB)
The opposite side of the hoodoo below the Windows Arches formation, which can be seen in the distant background.
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Red Canyon Junipers Windows Arches Trail X2341 (822 KB)
The Arches Trail crossing over an exposed Juniper root at the uphill side of the Windows Arches formation, taken on an overcast afternoon in late June.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Red Canyon Collection page where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links to the Red Canyon Galleries:
Pink Ledges Arches Trail Cassidy Trail Golden Wall Trail Flora & Fauna Utah Prairie Dog
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Red Canyon Ledges Arches Trail X2315 (771 KB)
A view of Casto Canyon Road and the Paunsaugunt Plateau from the ledges above the caves atop the Arches Trail, taken on an overcast afternoon in June.
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Red Canyon Precarious Pinyon Pine Arches Trail 0761 (662 KB)
A Pinyon Pine preserves a precarious perch on the precipice overlooking the Paunsaugunt Plateau.
That is without a doubt the most P’s I have ever used in a single sentence. I couldn’t resist...
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Red Canyon Towers Arches Trail X2318 (720 KB)
The Arches Trail passes below the Towers fin and hoodoo formation. Note the caverns which pierce the lower section of the formation at right.
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Red Canyon Tree Skeleton Arches Trail X2320 (954 KB)
A sun-bleached tree skeleton below the Towers formation on the Arches Trail.
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Red Canyon Tree Skeleton Arches Trail X2321 (576 KB)
A sun-bleached tree skeleton stands on the slope below the Towers formation on the Arches Trail.
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Red Canyon Tree Skeleton Arches Trail X2352 (721 KB)
A Limber Pine skeleton on the Arches Trail. The 2300-series images were all taken on an overcast afternoon in June.
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Red Canyon Bristlecone Pines Arches Trail X2358 (724 KB)
Stunted Bristlecone Pine trees rooted between rocks atop a ledge on the Arches Trail.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Red Canyon Collection page where a Gallery can be selected.
Direct Links to the Red Canyon Galleries:
Pink Ledges Arches Trail Cassidy Trail Golden Wall Trail Flora & Fauna Utah Prairie Dog
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Click the display composite above to visit the Pink Ledges page
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Click the display composite above to visit the Cassidy Trail page
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Click the display composite above to visit the Golden Wall Trail page
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Click the display composite above to visit the Red Canyon Flora and Fauna page
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Click the display composite above to visit the Utah Prairie Dog page
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