For majority of the sites which I have visited here in Arches National Park, they have been large sandstone structures and can be easily seen from afar. Then I arrived at Sand Dune Arch, which I was expecting to be a natural sandstone arch on a sand dune, why else would it be named that way. But instead, the large stone formation here was that of sandstone fins, more like slabs of sandstone someone stuck into the sand. While they were impressive to see, I was looking for the said Sand Dune Arch but I was seeing no sign of it. That’s weird.

I saw a sign to a trail, and I just followed it. The trail obviously leads to the sand dune arch and I was surprised to see that the trail leads inside the collection of sandstone fins when I didn’t even see it from the outside. Getting in was also quite fun since it was much narrower than I expected. At one point, it can be just as wide as a person but eventually it opens up inside. This this is the first time I felt that I was inside somewhere here in Arches National Park. The sky was still open but the sandstone fins were so close that it was hard for sunlight to get in. It could probably get in only in certain times of the day. Other than that it was all shade here. Additionally, since it was “inside”, sand tended to accumulate in here. The walls of the sandstone fins help keep the sand inside and thus formed a small sand dune within the fins.

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