Wrather Arch

Wrather Arch is a remote sandstone natural arch in Wrather Canyon, a side canyon of Paria Canyon in northern Arizona’s Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness. First noticed from the air by Page pilot Royce K. Knight, it was reached by helicopter in 1963 by Knight and Walter M. Edwards of National Geographic, who estimated the opening at 165 feet high and about 250 feet across. Later measurements lowered its reported span to about 180 feet, ending earlier claims that it ranked among the largest arches outside Utah. Its significance lies not only in its size but in its extreme isolation, requiring a long permitted hike through protected wilderness.

Arizona · United States