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Rattlesnake Canyon: West Rim Arch (Finger Arch)

After Work Adventures | Tuesday, September 5, 2023

This morning as I was leaving home on my way to work I noticed that there was a coolness to the air that I haven’t felt for a couple of months down in the Grand Valley. It certainly felt like fall is finally on the way! Since the temperature stayed nice throughout the rest of the day I thought it would be a great afternoon to go for a local hike when I got out of work. I stopped home at lunch to grab my hiking gear and then left from work and headed up into the Canyons of the Black Ridge so I could hike to West Rim Arch, which is also known as Finger Arch and is located at the upper end of Rattlesnake Canyon. I’ve been meaning to get over to the base of this arch since 2020 when I was on a kick visiting other arches in the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness during the pandemic lockdowns, but I never got around to it and have kept putting it off for the past few years, so I was looking forward to finally getting a closer look.

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Lonesome Lips Arch & Horsethief Canyon Overlook

Canyons of the Black Ridge Wilderness | Thursday, May 7, 2020

This evening I headed out after work again to continue my local arch hunting endeavors within the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness. I drove over Black Ridge for the second time this week, but this time I continued all the way to the Rattlesnake Arches Trailhead at the very end of the road. I had no intentions of visiting the popular arches in Rattlesnake Canyon this evening, instead, I was going to look for the lesser-known Lonesome Lips Arch which is located at the edge of a small mesa above a short unnamed canyon that is closer to the Colorado River. As I started descending the Rattlesnake Arches Trail I quickly spotted the arch I was looking for far below and headed that direction.

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Quick Rattlesnake Arches Hike

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Diane and I ended up having a rare lazy weekend at home, but we managed to get outside for a short hike on Sunday afternoon. Diane had never been to the Rattlesnake Canyon Arches before and since the upper Black Ridge Road had just opened for the season we decided to visit them. We started from the upper trailhead and followed it down to the main Rattlesnake Canyon Trail until we reached the arches. After reaching Cedar Tree Arch (the end of the trail), we climbed through the arch to the rim of the canyon to shorten the hike back to my Jeep. While I have hiked this trail a few times before, I had never felt comfortable climbing through the arch when I was alone. We were easily able to climb through the arch this time with each other’s help and didn’t have to retrace our steps back to the trailhead. With clear blue skies and harsh light I didn’t really take many photos this time, but I do have a couple snapshots that I will share.

Rattlesnake Canyon Arches

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

It’s been awhile since I’ve hiked to the arches in Rattlesnake Canyon and I have wanted to return again so that I could try and get some better photos of them. I figured that sunset would probably be the best time to go, and that I should have plenty of time to reach them after work before the sun went down. Last week I had originally planned on hiking to them after work on two separate occasions, but as I left work on those days the sky was completely overcast which wouldn’t have made for any good photos, so I cancelled the hike. Finally on Tuesday the conditions were looking good, so I grabbed a quick dinner and drove to the upper trailhead after work. I actually arrived in about an hour, which was quicker than I thought it would take. I got on my pack and started hiking into the canyon. There was no one else around and I would not see anyone else all evening…I had the place to myself. It’s great to be able to get to places like this not far from home to enjoy some solitude in the middle of the week.

Tag: rattlesnake arches

Rattlesnake Canyon: West Rim Arch (Finger Arch)

Lonesome Lips Arch & Horsethief Canyon Overlook

Quick Rattlesnake Arches Hike

Rattlesnake Canyon Arches