Arches Backcountry VIII: More Petrified Dunes

February 8, 2025

I returned to the Petrified Dunes in Arches National Park more than a year after my last trip there and had a remarkably similar experience. Basically I hiked a lot, poked my head into many alcoves, and found an intact metate and several broken ones but nothing else terribly exciting. I left home at 5:30 AM, and just before 8:00 I was in the park and beginning my hike. I’d planned a detailed route that followed the bottoms of washes and clifflines–all the places you’d expect to find the good stuff.

Beginning of the hike, random rock formations on the horizon
Beginning of the hike, random rock formations on the horizon

Rock formations
Rock formations

Following a sandy wash
Following a sandy wash

Some random arches
Some random arches

Truck parked on the road
Truck parked on the road

Crossing the head of a drainage
Crossing the head of a drainage


The route took me in a big loop, and one spire of rock was in the center of the loop so I had various views of it most of the day. The first several alcoves I visited had nothing inside them. Occasionally I had nice views to more distant areas of the park.

Spire
Spire

Spire
Spire

Steep slickrock traverse to avoid losing elevation
Steep slickrock traverse to avoid losing elevation

Cliffs above a small overhang
Cliffs above a small overhang

The spire again
The spire again

Sandstone domes
Sandstone domes

Sandstone dome
Sandstone dome

Alcove
Alcove

Another alcove nextdoor
Another alcove nextdoor

View toward Courthouse Wash
View toward Courthouse Wash

Another alcove
Another alcove

Alcove view
Alcove view

Rock formation 4535T
Rock formation 4535T

Peener
Peener


Some cliffs and rock formations looked like promising spots for rock art or inscriptions but they were a big let-down. At about the farthest point in the loop I saw a tobacco tin, the first human artifact I’d come across. After completing about two-thirds of the loop I stopped for lunch.

The spire and alcoves
The spire and alcoves

Small rock formation
Small rock formation

Perfect canvas, perfectly blank
Perfect canvas, perfectly blank

Tobacco tin
Tobacco tin

More blank patina
More blank patina

Sandstone domes
Sandstone domes

Yet more sandstone domes
Yet more sandstone domes

The spire
The spire

Lunch spot view
Lunch spot view


The next few alcoves were the most interesting. One had a metate, another had some metate fragments, but they were surprisingly devoid of any other artifacts such as potsherds or lithic flakes. One of the alcoves had an inscription on a small boulder but all I could make out was the name Martinez.

More alcoves coming up
More alcoves coming up

Spires
Spires

Pair of alcoves
Pair of alcoves

Alcove with metate
Alcove with metate

Metate
Metate

Alcove view
Alcove view

Rock fin
Rock fin

Interesting layer contact
Interesting layer contact

Shallow alcove
Shallow alcove

Martinez inscription
Martinez inscription

Overhangs
Overhangs

Metate
Metate

Firewood pile
Firewood pile

Broken metate
Broken metate

Broken metate
Broken metate

Alcove floor
Alcove floor

Pillars beyond the alcove
Pillars beyond the alcove


After leaving the last alcove and as I neared the truck I found one large worked piece of chert–the only lithic piece I’d seen other than very small scatterings of flakes out in the open. As I drove out of the park I had to pass through a parking lot that was jam-packed with cars and people, although when I’d arrived in the morning the place was deserted. I think there is no longer an “off-season” at Arches! But at least it’s still possible to spend hours and hours hiking in the park and not see another person.

La Sal Mountains
La Sal Mountains

Within sight of the truck
Within sight of the truck

Worked chert
Worked chert

Holes in some rocks
Holes in some rocks


Photo Gallery: Arches Backcountry VIII: More Petrified Dunes

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