National Treasures

Originally published in August 2008

Appreciating National Treasures

Earlier this month, Wall Arch collapsed in Arches National Park in Utah. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the collapse. Wall Arch was located along the popular Devils Garden Trail. The longest natural arch in the world, Landscape Arch, is located not far from Wall Arch. A portion of Landscape Arch collapsed in 1991. 
My family first visited Arches National Park in 1984, shortly after we moved to Western Colorado, and visited it several times during our eight years living in Colorado. Our last visit to Arches National Park was in 1991, shortly before we moved back to the Upper Peninsula.  The forces of nature, gravity and erosion, have caught up with several natural wonders in the last five years. New Hampshire’s Old Man of the Mountain, a series of granite cliffs that looked like the profile of a craggy-faced man, collapsed in May 2003. An image of Old Man of the Mountain can be found on the New Hampshire state quarter.  Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, located on the South Shore of Lake Superior near Munising, Mich. lost part of one of its most photographed landmarks two years ago. The right tower of Miners Castle broke off in April 2006 and fell 90 feet into Lake Superior.  I’ve long been dumfounded by how many people who are native to an area have not visited nearby national or state parks or landmarks. The National Park Service manages 58 national parks, 44 national memorials, 89 historic site, national monuments and more. Wisconsin has 66 state park and recreation areas, and over 471,000 acres of state forest. These are a great and affordable resource for camping, hiking and other recreational activities, or just a nice place to visit for a day trip with a picnic lunch.  My family took a lot of day and weekend trips when I was growing up. My father was an avid photographer who preferred landscape shots to taking pictures of people. When I was 8, we drove down from the U.P. to meet friends and camp near Devil’s Lake, a trip made memorable because I left behind my winter coat in a park bathroom. We visited a lot of parks in Upper Michigan and did a lot of traveling while living in Colorado. In addition to Arches National Park, my family and I have visited Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capital Reef and Zion national parks in Utah, Mesa Verde, Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Rocky Mountain national parks and Colorado National Monument in Colorado, the Grand Canyon and Canyon de Chelly in Arizona, Yosemite in California and more.  The collapse of Wall Arch, Miners Castle and Old Man of the Mountain remind us that we should not put off visiting the natural wonders of our country, because they won’t be there forever.  Visit www.nps.gov for more information on national parks.


UPDATE- Another arch collapsed in Utah recently. Read about it here.