Yellowtail Arches in Bighorn Canyon

Imagine leaning back on the seats of your motorboat and looking up at the clear blue sky, with beautiful red cliffs framing your view on either side.  This is the Bighorn Canyon near Lovell, Wyoming.  It is second only to Lake Powell in my favorite places to go boating.  We have been going there annually for years and we consider it one of Wyoming's best kept secrets.  

We drive our boat from Wyoming up into Montana all the way to the dam, about 58 miles each way.  Our trip in 2023 was especially exciting because the water level was up so high that I noticed a lot of arches that I haven't noticed in years past.  I have not been able to discover the names of any of these arches yet, and I'm wondering if I can access them from above.  I know that there's an arch at Devil's Canyon overlook, but I'm not sure which arch it is from the photos I took on the water.  I suspect that it is the higher one in my photos of the 2 arches by mile marker 47 on the water.

This is the most obvious arch, that we've noticed every year right by mile marker 18.  That's my son Teancum water skiing around what I'll temporarily call "Arch 18" until I'm able to find out its real name.

It's hard to see it because of the canyon wall behind it, and it is not very big.  The funnest thing about this arch is how close it is to water level.

the arch from the other side

These two arches were noticeable from the water because of the moving rock behind them and the light through them depending on my viewpoint in the boat.  I suspect that the higher one is the Devils Canyon overlook arch that many people take photos through.

this photo you can see the opening a little better of the lower arch.

and this one you can barely see the sky through the upper arch, which I suspect is the Devils Canyon overlook arch, or Hidden Arch as I've seen some people refer to it.

this one also you can see the sky through the higher arch

this photo the lower arch looks like just a cave with the lack of light shining through.  You can see the sky through the upper arch though.

and this one is a better view of the lower arch

you can see the lower arch quite well in this photo, which was taken earlier in the day on our way up the canyon.

as we drove through the canyon the view behind the lower arch changed.

the upper one you can't even tell is an arch in this photo, but the lower one the light behind it is much more noticeable in this photo.

the two arches labeled

This arch near mile 14 is the most intriguing to me.  I wonder if it is accessible from up top.  It appears to be a pretty big arch.

later in the day the rock appeared darker

This arch was on the west side of the canyon instead of the east side where I found most of the other arches.  It was near mile 29

This arch is my daughter Lizzie's favorite Yellowtail arch because of the tiny baby arch right above it.  This arch is near mile marker 31 on the water

This arch near mile marker 33 is one that I remember seeing in years past.

on the way back down the canyon, with the sun in a much different spot

There are a lot of small arches or windows - small openings like this one all along the route.  Probably a couple dozen of them!

another small window -- although I bet up close it wouldn't seem so small

This arch is a unique one - definitely freestanding.  I didn't write down which mile marker it was near, but I think it is around mile 30.

another one of many tiny windows

and another

this one is a long arch

and another very long arch

This one I wondered if was possible to hike to, although we didn't get out of the boat

another small arch opening

one tiny arch on the edge of the cliff

I am excited to go back to Bighorn Recreation Area and do a little hiking and exploring before we boat the canyon again.  Surely at least some of these arches must be accessible from above!