Grosvenor Arch

Grosvenor Arch

Grosvenor Arch is located in the northwestern corner of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah. It is unique in that it is actually two sandstone arches towering 150 feet above the ground.1 The larger of the two arches is nearly 100 feet in diameter.2  The arch was named for Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor who was the president of the National Geographic Society and would become the first full-time editor of National Geographic Magazine.3

The arch is accessible from either the north or the south via Road 400, also known as Cottonwood Canyon Road. It is ten miles by car from the nearest paved road. When you reach the small parking area, there is a sidewalk that will take you almost right to the base of the arch.

Water (and to a much lesser extent, wind) persistently carved away at the landscape to form this structure. The arch is formed in yellow Henrieville Sandstone from the late stages of the Entrada Formation. The capstone layer is formed of darker Cedar Mountain from between the underlying Morrison and overlying Naturita Formations, and Dakota Formation sedimentary rock.4

1. http://www.utah.com/nationalparks/bryce_canyon/grosvenor.htm
2.  http://www.utah.com/nationalparks/bryce_canyon/grosvenor.htm
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Hovey_Grosvenor
4.  http://www.digital-images.net/Gallery/Scenic/Southwest/Utah/GrandStrcase/GrsvnrArch/grsvnrarch.html