Animals Popular with Visitors PAGES 4 & 5
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1 National Park Service Visitor Guide U.S. Department of the In te ri or Arches National Park 2007, No. 1 HIKING INFORMATION Animals Popular with Visitors PAGES 4 & 5 Although Arches National Park is artist and see photographs of his work not known for its wildlife, some very at www.mathhewgraypalmer.com. impressive specimens can always be found at the Visitor Center. They are “I think the great thing about the unafraid and approachable, and pose project at Arches,” Palmer said, “in patiently for endless photographs. addition to the tremendous honor of having my work integrated with one These monuments are the work of the most beautiful places in the of sculptor Matthew Gray Palmer country, is the use of the arts as an of Friday Harbor, Washington. interpretive vehicle for the park. The Commissioned in 2005 for the new arts are a natural complement to the Visitor Center, the sculptures include predominantly immersive experience a life-size desert bighorn sheep ram, that visitors enjoy, particularly with ewe, and lamb, as well as two ravens, a the profound visual and tactile whiptail lizard, and a collared lizard. A life-size desert bighorn sheep ram is one of several sculptures found outside the new visitor center. impact of the landscape at Arches. As visitors to our national parks, we Bighorn sheep are native to the park. The sculptures provide a close-up art institutes, he opted for hands- seek an encounter with beauty and Numerous petroglyphs indicate look at these magnifi cent animals. on training, gaining skill in using a the sublime. The arts have always that Native Americans saw – and no To make the sculptures, the artist variety of media including stone, clay, been a means to express this form doubt hunted and possibly revered fi rst made life-size wax models of the marble, and bronze. In 1995 he started of connection and if they can impart – these impressive creatures. After animals. A mold was made from the Parallaxis with the goal of educating information about a place, a time, or the original population was nearly wax, into which molten bronze was people about conservation and the its inhabitants, then that is a perfect extirpated through disease, 25 poured. Additional details are worked natural world through art. From his combination.” bighorn were re-introduced to Arches into the bronze by hand to make the studio on San Juan Island, he devotes from nearby Canyonlands National pieces as realistic as possible. his time to a variety of projects As you enjoy and appreciate these Park in the 1980s. The population has and commissions. His monument additions to the Visitors Center, please stabilized around 80 animals. Watch According to the artist’s website, installments can also be seen at the remember: Please don’t feed the for them around the entrance area Matthew Gray Palmer “began to Columbus Zoo, the Toledo Zoo, and animals (or climb on them, either!). and at the top of the hill behind the think big at an early age.” Passing the Kroger Equestrian Center, all in visitor center. up major scholarships from several Ohio. You can learn more about the EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA YOUR EXPERIENCE Hours of Operation Arches is open every day of the year, 24 hours a day. The visitor center is open daily (except December 25) during the following hours: Spring through October 2007 7:30 A.M. to 6:30 P.M. Moab, UT 84532 UT Moab, PO Box 907 Box PO November 2007 through Spring 2008 Arches National Park National Arches 8:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. U.S. Department of the Interior the of Department U.S. National Park Service Park National National Park Ser vice U.S. Department of the In te ri or General In for ma tion CAMPING BACKPACKING COMMERCIAL TOURS Devils Garden Campground is 18 miles from Arches is a relatively small park, with very The following privately operated companies the park entrance. 24 sites are available on a few areas far enough from roads to qualify are authorized by the National Park Service Arches Visitor Guide fi rst-come, fi rst-served basis. One site is set as “backcountry.” Outside the developed to provide visitors backcountry vehicle tours aside for visitors with disabilities. 28 sites visitor area there are no designated trails, in Arches: Published By and two groups sites may be reserved in camp sites, or reliable water sourc es. If Canyonlands Natural Histo ry Association, advance (see below). The campground fi lls you’d like to backpack, consider nearby OARS Canyonlands, Inc. a not-for-profi t or ga ni za tion that assists daily between March and October, usually places like Canyonlands Na tion al Park PO Box 67, Angels Camp CA 95222; (800) the Nation al Park Ser vice in its educational, by mid-morning. Visitors must pre-register that offer more extensive backcountry 346-6277; (209) 736-4677; www.oars.com in ter pre tive and scientifi c programs. For more at the visitor center as early as possible. op por tu ni ties. If you do backpack in in for ma tion, see the back page. Navtec Expeditions Tables and fi re rings are provided in each Arch es, you must obtain a backcountry 321 N. Main, Moab, Utah 84532; (800) 833- site. Water and fl ush toilets are available in permit at the visitor center. The maximum Park Mailing Address 1278; (435) 259-7983; www.navtec.com several locations. Individual sites are $15 group size permitted is twelve, but smaller Arches National Park Tag-A-Long Expeditions per night. Wood gathering and ground fi res groups are strongly rec om mend ed to PO Box 907 452 N. Main, Moab, Utah 84532; (800) 453- Moab, UT 84532 are prohibited. Wood may be purchased reduce im pacts. 3292; (435) 259-8946; www.tagalong.com from campground hosts March through Phone October and at the visitor center November CLIMBING FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE ROUTES (435) 719-2299 (voice) through February. Two group tent sites are Most technical climbing routes here require Arches has a limited number of four-wheel available for eleven people or more: Juniper advanced skills. No permits are required; drive roads. Due to fl ood damage in the fall Email Basin (up to 55 people) and Canyon Wren however, it is your responsibility to know of 2006, the road from Klondike Bluff s to [email protected] (up to 35 people). The group camping fee current climbing rules and route closures, Eye of the Whale Arch is closed indefi nitely. is $3 per person per night, with a $33 per so ask at the visitor center. Climbing of any Website The other four-wheel drive road, Willow night min i mum. No recreational vehicles or type is not permitted on arches named on www.nps.gov/arch Flats, goes west from Balanced Rock to trailers are permitted in group sites. the USGS topographic map. Slacklining is Highway 191. Please check at the visitor also prohibited. Climbers must access routes center for current road conditions. The RESERVATIONS by using designated trails, slickrock or sandy Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has The National Park Service cares for the special At Devils Garden, 28 individual sites washes to protect soil crusts. Canyonlands many popular 4WD routes off ering a wide- places saved by the American people so that and two group sites may be reserved for Natural History Association carries several range of diffi culty. all may experience our heritage. dates between March 1st and October books with route information. 31st. Reservations must be made at least EMERGENCY! four days and no more than 240 days in Any number of emergencies can occur RANGER-GUIDED ACTIVITIES advance. To make a reservation online, while you are vis it ing a national park: hiking Rangers offer a variety of guided activities go to www.reserveUSA.com (search for accidents, medical emergencies, motor from mid-March through October. Check Devils Garden Campground) or contact vehicle ac ci dents, or perhaps you have at the visitor center or on any park bulletin ReserveAmerica by phone: Toll Free locked your keys in your vehi cle. If you have board for specific times and locations. (877) 444-6777; TDD (877) 833-6777; an emergency: International (518) 885-3639. Fiery Furnace Walks • Contact a park employee: park ranger, From mid-March through October, ACCESSIBILITY campground host, or main te nance person. rangers lead walks into the Fiery Furnace Not all park facilities meet mandated Many park rangers are trained emergency twice each day. These 2½ to 3 hour hikes standards, but we’re always trying to med i cal technicians. Law enforcement wind through terrain that occasionally increase ac ces si bil i ty. We would appreciate rangers can investigate vehicle ac ci dents requires the use of hands and feet to your comments. Visitors with mobility and handle other police matters. They can scramble up and through narrow cracks impairments can access: also take reports of lost hikers, fi res, or and along narrow ledges above drop-offs. other emergencies. Group size is limited, and these popular Visitor Center walks often fill a day or two in advance. Ramp and reserved parking. • Go to the visitor center: If the building is Make your reservation and pay your Restrooms closed, use the pay phones in front of the fee at the visitor center no more than Throughout the park including the visitor building to dial 911 (no coin is needed). seven days in advance of the walk, and center and Devils Garden. Biking along the scenic drive.