Lower Arch Canyon Overlook.

On July 4, 2016; dad (Richard Watkins) took us on a hiking trip; included were Roy, myself, his daughters Amy and Jan, and Jan's children: Gabby, Bessie and Victoria.  Amy stayed behind with Gabby, and the vehicles, as Gabby was very young, and we had a hard enough time keeping Bessie from doing happy dances on the ledge edges.  I thought I was bad hanging off of them!  Now dad is going to be 80 in Feb 2017, and he surely put us through our paces; he made me feel old and feeble trying to keep up with him.

Now here is the truly funny part, Roy and I had picnicked nearby just last year, and didn't know this trail existed.  You see, the trail for the Upper Arch Canyon Overlook is marked on Mule Canyon/Texas Flat Road; there's even a metal stairway to help you get down to the ledges.  Not here, you either know where it is, or you drive right by never knowing the wondrous beauty that lies behind a sandstone hill.

Lets begin, the location is 3 miles along (click link above for Road info); it's an open slickrock area with evidence of previous camping being done there.  Start walking straight towards the sandstone hill; you might have to do a little crab walking on some spots; and a bit of your back against the sandstone as you watch your footing on the tight ledges.  Keep moving to the right of the hill; around the corner it opens up for easier walking and then you see it; the openness of Lower Arch Canyon...prepared to be in awe!

View from the sandstone hill.



Formation back in Mule Canyon.

Lower Arch Canyon Panoramas

The formations are Dreamspeaker (desert tower), and Dreamcatcher (fins behind Dreamspeaker); they are mentioned in rock climbing books, and climbing sites on the internet.  Dad said the locals call the desert tower, "The Old Man", but the other name he couldn't say, considering he was surrounded by polite female company.  I'm sure he told my husband Roy later on, but I still haven't heard; it must be that bad!



Dreamspeaker (desert tower to right), Dreamcatcher (left side of photo)

Dreamspeaker

Dreamcatcher

To the far left of the formations, look along the cliffside ledges (squint if you have to) are Anasazi ruins.

If you look over the top of the ledges, you can slightly see Upper Arch Canyon; to get a better view, drive another 3 miles on Mule Canyon/Texas Flat Road.  There will be a sign to the right directing you to the Overlook; a metal staircase makes it easier to get down to the ledges.













Begin walking to the right to get a better view of the far southern end of Lower Arch Canyon.  This area can be accessed via 4 wheel drive, and then ATV, from State Highway 95.  (click Here for information)

Don't forget to keep looking across the canyon; didn't see more ruins, but the carving of the stone, by Mother Nature, is picturesque.

Keep walking and you end up in a desert/forest area full of pinyon pines, sage brush and cacti.  Be careful, it's easy to get turned around, lose your bearings and get lost in this area.

 

Pinyon Pine

By the way, the entire time we were hiking around, we were being watched; first by one Turkey Vulture, sometimes circled by a group of six or more.  I decided to look up what a group of vultures is called. "A group of vultures is called a wake, committee, venue, kettle, or volt. The term kettle refers to vultures in flight, while committee, volt, and venue refer to vultures resting in trees. Wake is reserved for a group of vultures that are feeding."  All I know is that they were probably watching us and trying to figure out which of us would become lunch.

Now after this jaunt, we did more hiking to find a cave that locals know about, "Bear Cave".  There is rock art there of human figures, a bear, and, wait for it...mammoths.  I have loads of photos to share, but the location....that's going to remain a secret.

Mary Cokenour

Lower Arch Canyon, You'll Need Those ATVs.

After our adventure along Posey's Trail Road (CR 240), Roy and I decided to go back and see if we could find the trail upwards from State Highway 95.  According to various maps we have of the area, CR 205 - Lower Arch Canyon should have led us there.  It would have, if we had ATVs and not only a 4WD vehicle; and getting into Arch Canyon itself was the same dilemma. Basically, except for the scenic shots, this was a bust in trying to drive through; doesn't mean we didn't have fun though.

CR 205 is located 14.3 miles, on State Highway 95, from Route 191; it's an unmaintained dirt trail; we did see a car bumping along (passengers didn't look too happy), following a RV.  By the way, here and there you'll see no trespassing signs warning that a fenced off area is Ute tribal land; heed the warnings as there are plenty of places to camp and ride ATVs than on tribal land.

We'd only traveled 2.4 miles before we came to a split in the road and decided to continue going straight.  2/10ths of a mile later, we came upon some truly beautiful camping areas.  There was also a set of "ruins" there, but I'm sure if they were Native American or not.  We could not continue onward any further, as the trail became very narrow, and more roughed than our 4WD could handle.

A Natural Rock Garden - I want one just like it!!!

 The "ruins".

...back to the split in the road, this time going right and towards Comb Ridge.  Next problem was, which trail will be the one to connect with Posey's Trail Road (CR 240)?  Every time we tried another trail that went to the right, we encountered a "dead end", or it was ATV accessible only.  The scenery on both sides was pretty impressive though.

There came a point in time when I simply put down the paper and pencil, stopped calculating mileage, and realized that without ATVs, we wouldn't get as far as we had intended.  That was ok; it's more about enjoying the adventure, not making it a downright chore.  We saw a large cave in the distance and took a left side trail as far as we could.  We didn't come prepared for a hike,  so took what photos we could of it.

We did pass by one interesting sandstone formation; no mention of it on the maps; then again, not every formation in the area has a name.

 

 

...and that's all folks!

 

Mary Cokenour