Road Trip! Far Off The Beaten Path
Rattlesnake Arches Is Colorado’s Stunning Secret
Story and photos by Reid Neureiter
For the GPHN
Nearly everyone knows about the beautiful natural stone arches in Arches National Park, outside of Moab, Utah. Fewer people know that Colorado has its own magnificent collection of natural stone arches — 35 of them.
Collectively they are called the Rattlesnake Arches, and all are within one square mile of each other. They are in the McInnis Canyons Conservation Area, on the Western Slope just southwest of Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction. It is the second largest collection of stone arches outside of Arches in Utah.
There are two ways to view the Rattlesnake Arches. The “Lower Trail” circles the bottom of the narrow mesa where the arches have formed. This route allows hikers to walk under and look up at the stunning red sandstone formations — including the aptly-named Hole in the Bridge Arch and the 120 foot-high, 40-foot-wide Rattlesnake Arch.
A second, “Upper Trail” climbs the mesa allowing hikers to experience the arches from above. The intrepid can even walk across some of the arches. In March, Conde-Nast Traveler named the six-mile trek covering the Lower and Upper trails as one of the top 20 hikes in Colorado. The magazine described it as “literally off the beaten path,” and emphasized that “the views are completely worth it.”
There are two ways to access Rattlesnake Arches, neither of which is easy. The first involves a tough 14-mile round-trip hike starting from the Pollock Bench Trailhead near Fruita. Guidebooks recommend good route-finding on this trail, taking lots of water, wearing a hat and sunscreen for protection. It’s not a good plan to take this path in the height of the summer heat, as there is no water source available and little shade.
The other method is via an eight-mile one way dirt and gravel road reached from the Rimrock Drive in Colorado National Monument. The last two miles of the road are particularly rocky and steep and those without a high clearance 4WD may choose to park and walk to the start of the Upper Trailhead.
Despite the difficulty of getting to the Rattlesnake Aches, the payoff of breathtaking views is great. These magnificent formations can be experienced in relative solitude, without the massive crowds often encountered in Utah’s national parks.
The 123,739-acre McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area was originally known as Colorado Canyons National Conservation Area. It was established in October, 2000 and renamed in honor of former Congressman Scott McInnis on Jan. 1, 2005.
More detailed information on finding the Rattlesnake Arches is at visitgrandjunction.com/blog/post/how-to-find-the-amazing-arches-of-rattlesnake-canyon.
