It's amazing what sandstone can make. The Arches in Arches National Park are spectacular formations mainly of salmon colored Entrada Sandstone and buff colored Navajo Sandstone.

What defines an arch from a bridge you might ask? Well maybe you wouldn't but usually bridges are attributed to water flow and arches to wind.

However these were made they are so worth seeing.

Today it was Canyonlands and a couple interesting local places.

Dead Horse Point State Park is a great canyon of goodneck plateaus snaking along the Colorado River. For many years horses were herded out onto one of the plateaus and then locked in with a single gate. Then the best would be culled and the rest released.

The "Dead Horse" name is the result of a group of horses that died after being herded onto the plateau were either not released or unable to find their way out. Either way they died, thus the name.

On our way back into Moab we saw all these cars parked along the road next to this huge hill of sand. Apparently locals come here in the late afternoon and enjoy sliding, jumping and falling down the hill. Parents sit in lawn chairs talking as they watch their children enjoy defying gravity.

After Dead Horse Point we drove into Canyonlands National Park. The great thing about this area is so much is so close.

We did a bit of driving a a bit of hiking. There is so much to see you need to devote several days

Heading back toward Arizona we drove through Valley of the Gods. This area is similar to Monument Valley but with some different formations and if you like going backpacking you do not need a native guide because this is not on Navajo reservation.

We drove through and did some stops but not nearly enough hiking to fully appreciate the great side canyons.

As dusk settled in we stopped at Mexican Hat Lodge for the night. They are famous for their swinging steak grill. For some reason that night we were the only American guests. All our dinner companions were French and German. What a great time we had.