Elephant Arch

Monday, January 3, 2022

Hike #2 of 2022.  6.0 miles / 10.5 miles YTD

The destination of today's hike was the Elephant Arch.  The first part of the trail was a little boring because it really just went along a packed sand road but eventually it joined into the Bone Wash Trail and then the trail became more interesting.  The sand became more loose and a little deeper and the trail wound through a lot of rock formations.    

In order to get to the Elephant Arch, you have to leave the Bone Wash Trail and take a side trail to the arch.  There is a bit of an uphill hike at the beginning of that side trail and the sand becomes deeper and the trail narrows.  I had seen photos of the Elephant Arch but the photos didn't have people or objects in them for scale.  It really was a lot bigger than I was anticipating.  It doesn't necessarily stand out immediately because there are tall rock walls and other formations all around it.  But once you see it, it most definitely looks like an elephant, no doubt. 

Elephant Arch


We did a little exploring around the arch and got some fun photos before heading back.  Once we got back to the Bone Wash Trail, we continued on in the direction we had originally been heading to check that out a little more before turning around and eventually following the same path out that we had come in on.






There are a number of ways to get to the trailhead.  The particular route that we took absolutely required our Tacoma.  However, other routes do not as there were cars at the trailhead.  We did take a different route back to the highway and then the truck was not necessary.  

We saw a few other people on this hike - three pairs that were at various points heading out as we were heading in, one couple that was heading toward the Elephant Arch as we were leaving it, one couple that was heading toward the arch as we were returning to that point after exploring the Bone Wash Trail some more, and then one lady and her dog as we were getting close to the trailhead.  However, we were completely able to explore the area around the arch all on our own, which was nice.



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