Wall Arch, located on the Devils Garden Trail at Arches National Park, collapsed on August 4, 2008. Rock has continued to fall from the arms of the remaining portion of the arch, necessitating the closure of the trail just beyond Landscape Arch.

On August 7, representatives from the National Park Service and the Utah Geological Survey noted obvious stress fractures in the remaining formation. Debris blocked the trail. The closure will remain in effect until safety issues can be resolved.

Reported and named by Lewis T. McKinney in 1948, Wall Arch was a free standing arch in the Slickrock member of the Entrada sandstone. The opening was 71-feet wide and 33 feet high. It was 12th in size among the 2,000 plus known arches in the park.

All arches are temporary features and will eventually succumb to the forces of gravity and erosion. While the geologic forces that created the arches are still very much underway, in human terms it’s rare to observe such dramatic changes.