My first visits to the arch---via the Delicate Arch Trail---were fun, but I needed more. The terrain surrounding the arch creates a fantastic topographic context for the arch and therefore I felt it had to be examined up close.

The first time I saw the arch I was amazed by the huge amphitheater that separates the arch from Delicate Arch Viewpoint. The moment I saw the amphitheater it called to me, wanting to be explored. Research at home led to the conclusion that the easiest route to the amphitheater was a stream drainage named Winter Camp Wash; this drainage is easily reached from the park road leading to Delicate Arch Viewpoint. Then it occurred to me to inspect the terrain behind Delicate Arch too: thus was born the idea of a circumnavigation.

This hike exposed me to a wonderful combination of washes, stream brush, a magnificent amphitheater, a dead-end canyon, rabbits, deer, swallows, and a zillion lizards. Most of what I saw cannot be seen from the Delicate Arch Trail, and a good part is also unseen from the Delicate Arch Viewpoint. The only pre-requisite for doing this hike is having an affinity for sandstone.