Count of arch: Grand County
Location of arch: Delicate Arch Trail, Arches National Park, near Moab
Coin: US Quarter
Issued: 2014
"Coin Description
Reverse
"Shows Delicate Arch, through which the Olympic torch relay passed in 2002. This 65-foot arch is well-known in Utah, depicted throughout the state in places like postage stamps and license plates. The La Sal Mountains are visible in the background.
Obverse
"Features the portrait of George Washington by John Flanagan, used on the quarter-dollar coin since 1932.
The Story
"The Arches National Park quarter is number 23 in the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program. This park, in the state of Utah, is a red rock wonderland, though the colors you can see there are certainly not limited to red.
"The park’s landforms and textures are unlike any others in the world. The unique geological conditions there have created more than 2,000 natural stone arches in many shapes and sizes. They also created hundreds of soaring pinnacles, massive fins (fin-shaped rock formations), and giant “balancing” rocks.
"The park was first established as Arches National Monument on April 12, 1929." ~ US Mint
"Delicate Arch is the subject of the third 2014 quarter of the U.S. Mint's America the Beautiful Quarters program commemorating national parks and historic sites. The Arches quarter had the highest production of the five 2014 national park quarters, with more than 465 million minted.
"American writer Edward Abbey was a park ranger at Arches National Monument in 1956 and 1957, where he kept journals that became his book Desert Solitaire. The success of Abbey's book, as well as interest in adventure travel, has drawn many hikers, mountain bikers, and off-pavement driving enthusiasts to the area. Permitted activities within the park include camping, hiking along designated trails, backpacking, canyoneering, rock climbing, bicycling, and driving along existing roads, both paved and unpaved. The Hayduke Trail, an 812-mile (1,307 km) backpacking route named after one of Edward Abbey's characters, begins in the park." ~ Wikipedia