First up was Cobra Arch, located in the remote wilderness of Vermillion Cliffs National Monument. This hike shares a trailhead with the Middle Route to Buckskin Gulch, accessed via an eight mile drive on backroads from 89 (we did utilize our 4WD in some sandy spots and were happy to have high clearance on a rocky section). According to Steve’s watch, we hiked about eight miles round trip with 1900 feet elevation gain (a lot of this in little ups and downs in addition to the drop from the rim into the valley). There is no official trail or route, although the drop from the rim is marked with cairns (we also had an offline map downloaded so we didn’t miss this spot). There were some cool teepees and rock formations where we dropped off the rim and we stopped to take some pictures. From here a lot of the tracks follow a wash and we started off that way, but veered off at one point to see the miniature hoodoo. From here we walked in a more direct route to the arch instead of backtracking to the wash. There were herd paths at times we could follow, but even when there weren’t, it was pretty straightforward hiking. My only complaint is how sandy the area is, not helped by my lightweight trail runners that let in a lot of sand.

We could see a grouping of rocks in the distance and the arch was hidden among those rocks, which became more apparent when we made the final approach. I was pleasantly surprised that not only was the arch a cool feature in this spot, but there were some other rock formations and cross-bedding that were fun to check out. The opening of the arch spans 35 feet and we spent some time here taking pictures and having lunch before retracing our steps back to our car. We did this hike on a Saturday and only saw one other hiker who was heading out as we were finishing up. There aren’t a lot of entries in the trailhead register, so this is a good spot if you are looking for a little more solitude, in addition to some cool scenery. This time of year there were also a lot of flowers blooming. All in all, a fun hike!