Difficult path leads to Utah icon

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK — High on a hilltop in southeastern Utah is a magnificent redrock arch. Whether you envision it to be "Schoolmarm's Bloomers," "Cowboy Chaps, "License Plate Arch" or "Delicate Arch" makes little difference. It has become the icon of Utah — world famous — rivaling the traditional beehive.

Early Utah cowboys attached the "Bloomer" and "Chaps" names to the feature. Some schoolkids sometimes favor the license title. McDonald's restaurants may boast of their golden arches, but Utah has its official redrock arch.

Located in Arches National Park, some 230 miles from Salt Lake City, Delicate Arch can be reached by a three-mile round-trip hike — mostly over slick rock. Given its global fame, a visit to Delicate Arch is a must-do for every true and able Utahn.

Surprisingly, Delicate Arch is only the third most popular hike in the park. Windows (one mile round-trip) and Devils Garden (1.6 miles) supercede Delicate in the total number of hikers.

Diane Allen, spokeswoman for Arches National Park, said that's likely because those two hikes are significantly easier.

The National Park Service estimates that as many as 200,000 hikers a year travel to Delicate Arch. Allen said that's roughly one out of every four of the total visitors to Arches National Park.

The red sandstone and the nearby La Sal Mountains, tallest in Utah outside the Uinta Range, offer a stunning backdrop for this, one of Utah's most photographed natural features.

This hike is at least a moderately strenuous trek and one of that is best not done in the heat of the day.

"Take water, water and take more water," Allen said.

At least one quart of water per person is recommended. There are only a few small pockets of shade found in the upper reaches of the hike.

With an average high of 82 degrees during May, it is a good month for a Delicate Arch hike in the morning or evening. With average daily highs of 93 to 100 degrees, June, July and August are much hotter and travel to Delicate should be avoided during the late morning and afternoon in that season.

During 2004, the National Park Service had to rescue five injured hikers doing the Delicate Arch hike and another two hikers for heat-related problems.