| By Vernon Robison Moapa Valley Progress Published June 2, 2010
The inexorable sands of time shifted last week at the Valley of Fire State park making a significant change to the scenic, other-worldly landscape. A natural sandstone arch, one of the favorite features at the end of the Natural Arch Trail in the state’s largest park, collapsed at some point in the last few weeks. The geological formation was located about 1.5 miles up Clark Wash north of the State Highway 169 on the eastern end of the park. The sandstone feature was about 5 feet wide and stood nearly 6 feet tall. It was perched up on a ridge nearly 40 feet off the ground. |
 A natural arch that had become an attraction for visitors at the eastern end of Valley of Fire State Park was discovered collapsed last week as it appears here. |
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| It is unclear exactly when the arch actually crumbled. “We hadn’t even noticed it yet,” said Park Supervisor Jim Hammons. “A gentleman who frequently visits the park on horseback noticed it on Wednesday as he was travelling on the trail and he called it in to us on Thursday.” |
 The natural sandstone arch as it appeared several months ago before its collapse in recent weeks. |
It appeared that the precariously placed formation had broken naturally along its weak points, according to Hammons. Park officials found no evidence of vandalism by park visitors, or any sign that someone had intentionally tried to knock the arch down.
The precarious sandstone arches are formed over long periods of time as natural hollow points in the sandstone are gradually exposed by wind and water. Those same elements were most likely the cause of the collapse of the arch, Hammons said. In recent weeks wind gusts from the south have reached up to 40-60 mph in the area. The winter months have also been exceptionally wet this year bringing more than 5 inches of rainfall to the Park since early January, according to the National Weather Service. |
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“The rock here is actually very soft, except of course when you fall on it,” said Hammons. “That is why we don’t allow any formal rock climbing in the Park. Rock climbing anchors can’t be relied on to hold fast in this material. The only thing cementing the sandstone here together is calcite and calcium carbonate which dissolves rather easily in water. It doesn’t take much water to loosen things up a lot and then it just crumbles.”
The collapsed formation was one of many natural arch features existing in the Park. Most of these arches are very small structures. But this formation was one of only about a dozen large and uniquely shaped enough to make a real Park attraction for visitors. “It had become quite a stopping point,” Hammons said. “The arch was getting up to a dozen or so visits per day. And that is pretty good for such an out of the way trail.” But the collapse is certainly not an isolated instance in the Valley of Fire State Park. About ten years ago, Mosquito Rock, a much more massive natural arch in the western part of the park, fell down after a combination of soaking rain followed by heavy winds. “Everything appears so permanent here because it is etched in stone,” Hammons said. “But it isn’t necessarily true. The fact is that things here are always changing.” The Park is currently looking for volunteers to be trail monitors. Local residents can sign up to go out on the trails, meet visitors, monitor activities and report information on the use and popularity of the Park’s many trails. For information call the Valley of Fire State Park at 397-2088. |
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