The Windows section, one of the most beautiful parts of the park, once
was the only readily accessible part of the former monument and is still
the only collection of arches seen by many visitors who either do not
have or do not take time to travel farther north. All the arches and
erosion forms are on or near a high crest called Elephant Butte (Dane,
1935, p. 126, 127), which separates Salt Valley from the Courthouse
syncline. The ridge also marks the south edge of several minor
anticlines and synclines termed by Dane the “Elephant Butte folds.”
[Illustration: EYE OF THE WHALE, one of several arches in Herdina
Park, just south of jeep trail about 2 miles northwest of Balanced
Rock. Cut in Slick Rock Member. Front opening is 60 feet wide and 27
feet high, but back opening is only 35 feet wide and 11 feet high.
Photograph by Professor Dale J. Stevens, Brigham Young University.
(Fig. 34)]
Guarding the approach to The Windows section is Balanced Rock (stop 9).
As shown in the frontispiece, it is accompanied on the right by another
balanced rock and a third one may be seen in the distance. The original
route to The Windows section, pioneered by Goulding, passed just north
of Balanced Rock. Traces of the old road between here and the Garden of
Eden parking area are still visible but no longer used. To the west,
however, a part of the old road is the starting point of a jeep trail
leading northwestward through Herdina Park to a point near Klondike
Bluffs, where it joins the dirt road in Salt Valley (fig. 1). Visitors
having four-wheel-drive vehicles may wish to drive at least as far as
Eye of The Whale (fig. 34), which is about 2 miles northwest of Balanced
Rock. There are several picnic tables at the beginning of this jeep
trail, but no water.
[Illustration: INTRICATE CROSSBEDS IN NAVAJO SANDSTONE, on north
side of road between Garden of Eden and Cove of Caves. Red crest is
basal part of Dewey Bridge Member. (Fig. 35)]
Just beyond Balanced Rock, a branch paved road turns eastward 2½ miles
to the main parking lots in The Windows section. Between the Garden of
Eden (stop 13) and Cove of Caves are spectacular exposures of the Navajo
Sandstone showing the crossbedding typical of the original dunes (fig.
35). Just east of the crossbedded Navajo Sandstone, shown in figure 35,
we pass Cove Arch and Cove of Caves (stop 10) on the north side of the
road (fig. 36).
Just around the curve east of Cove of Caves is the first of two parking
lots (stop 11) forming a one-way loop at the end of this branch of the
road. From the loop may be seen the greatest concentration of readily
accessible arches in the park, all of which are roofed by the Slick Rock
Member and floored by the Dewey Bridge Member. Let us take the short
paved trail from the upper lot to the southeast, where we come first to
North Window (fig. 37). If we walk through this arch and climb the rock
beyond (fig. 37 caption), we see one of the best views in the park (fig.
38). A short walk south of North Window brings us to South Window (fig.
39). The other side of this arch may be reached either by walking around
the nearby southeast end of the fin or by walking through North Window.
A short walk to the southwest brings us to Turret Arch—the one seen
through North Window in figure 38. Figure 40 was taken from the
southwest side of Turret Arch, viewed northeastward toward South Window,
one corner of which appears at the left. Both North and South Windows
may be seen in one photograph taken from points near Turret Arch.
[Illustration: COVE ARCH AND COVE OF CAVES, on north side of road
just west of Double Arch and Parade of Elephants. Arch at left and
three of the caves on right are roofed by Slick Rock Member and
floored by Dewey Bridge Member. Arch is 48½ feet wide and 34 feet
high. In time the caves will eat through the 30-foot-thick fin and
become arches. Note sharp contact between Dewey Bridge Member and
Navajo Sandstone. (Fig. 36)]
[Illustration: NORTH WINDOW, viewed to the northeast. Large rock
seemingly partly blocking left end of arch actually is the southeast
end of a fin some 50 feet or more beyond the arch, from which figure
38 was taken. Arch is 93 feet wide and 51 feet high. (Fig. 37)]
From the lower parking lot (stop 12), a short walk by paved trail takes
us to spectacular Double Arch, shown in figure 17. This arch is visible
from the parking lot but is best seen and photographed from at or near
the end of the trail. Looking westward from near the trail’s end, we see
the Parade of Elephants, shown in figure 41. This feature is described
on pages 16 and 17 of “The Guide to an Auto Tour of Arches National
Park” as “whimsical stone statuary resembling a circus pachyderm parade.
With tail in trunk, the elephants rumble toward you along a sandstone
roadway.”
Ribbon Arch, on the north side of Elephant Butte, is one of the most
delicate ones in the park (fig. 1). Although it is 50 feet wide and 55
feet high, the rock span is only 1½ feet wide and 1 foot thick.
On the way back to the intersection with the main park road, we pass
stop 14, from which may be seen Pothole Arch (fig. 18). One and one-half
miles north of the intersection with the main road is the Panorama Point
parking area (stop 15), which affords fine distant views of Salt and
Cache Valleys and points beyond. A roadside exhibit portrays the gradual
development of the Salt Valley anticline, which supplements my
description on pages 27-32. A parking space a short distance farther
down the hill (stop 16) provides good distant views of the Fiery
Furnace. I tried several telephoto shots from this viewpoint, but
preferred my closeup views, such as the one shown in figure 44.
[Illustration: LOOKING SOUTHWESTWARD THROUGH NORTH WINDOW, from fin
shown beyond left side of North Window in figure 37. Turret Arch
(fig. 40) is seen at right middle ground, south rim of Moab Valley
to left of arch, Colorado River canyon forms left skyline. (Fig.
38)]
[Illustration: SOUTH WINDOW, viewed toward northeast. Arch is 105
feet wide and 66 feet high. See text. (Fig. 39)]