Hell's Half Acre Arch

Natural Arch in Hell's Half Acre

Location of Hell's Half Acre:  Google Maps Location

I have probably driven past Hell's Half Acre on Wyoming's Highway 26 a thousand times, but I never stopped to look at it until September of 2025.  I had heard rumors about an arch in Hell's Half Acre, but there is very little about it online.  We pulled into the first part of Hell's Half Acre Road (heading from Lander toward Casper) and parked close to the fence.  The gravel parking lot is currently gated off for construction.  The city of Casper is planning to re-open Hell's Half Acre to the public so that tourists can enjoy it.  Years ago there was a restaurant here, but it's since been removed and the site has been fenced off.  I look forward to them opening back up to the public so that we can hike all throughout Hell's Half Acre.

When you park and look out at Hell's Half Acre, many others stopped and taking photos, you have no idea that you're literally only feet away from an arch.  You can't see the arch until you go through the fence and stand on the edge.  Then look down and the arch is right in front of you, down in the valley below.

My husband and I climbed through the fence and walked to the right along the edge to a wash that took us straight down into the canyon.  It only took a few minutes from the time we started heading down until we were standing under the arch.  It is pretty steep, but luckily it's tall grass rather than loose rocks that you're climbing down.  Wear long pants, though.  I had shorts on at first and went back to the car to put on my pants because the grass would have really irritated my legs as I was hiking through it.  The grass was also really hot from the sun.  I had read that there were snakes at Hell's Half Acre, but we didn't see any while we were there.

I suppose it would be possible to get on top of the arch, but honestly it seems like it could crumble to the earth at any moment.  It appears to be made of mud - I believe it's made out of sandstone.  It seems like it could easily wash away in the rain, or it could be easily chipped away.  I was afraid to even touch it when I was under it, it seems so fragile.  I guess I am just very used to the harder-rock arches and have never seen an arch quite like this one.

Be careful when you're inside the arch because there are a lot of holes around it, and I'm not sure how deep they are or what is inside them.  It is easy to climb through the arch and hike around behind it.  We didn't have time to explore any further, but hope to go back after the construction is complete and it is all open to the public again.  

One movie was filmed inside Hell's Half Acre.  It's called Starship Troopers and was released in 1997.

Heading towards Casper on Highway 26, just before you reach the tiny town of Powder River, watch for this sign on the right side of the road for Hell's Half Acre.  Then pull into the first pull-in of Hell's Half Acre Road.

Currently there's not much there -- this is the view we were met with when we arrived in September of 2025.

This sign will greet you as you arrive.  Park right next to this sign.

The parking areas are gated off while it's under construction.  The city is planning to pave this parking area.  Once it's open you'll be able to go see where the Native Americans used to chase buffalos off the edge of the cliff to slaughter them.  

We climbed through the fence and headed straight for the arch.

"The Gate" cave

the top of the arch is visible in this photo

The arch opening starts to become visible

The arch is fully visible in this photo

The arch is in the center of this photo

The arch

The view as we were climbing down the grassy wash

Hell's Half Acre is full of interesting formations

My husband under the arch

Notice lots of other tiny arches

Me under the arch

Underneath the arch

Selfie under the arch, showing this small hole in the top

View from under the arch - that edge is where the parking lot is

looking out the back of the arch at the view behind it

this is what the rock looks like underneath the arch

view out the front of the arch

view out the back of the arch

It is easy to walk out the back of the arch

Once I climbed through the arch, this is the view back at the back of the arch opening

The back of the arch

The back of the arch

The view after I'd stepped just a few steps out of the back of the arch

There are a lot of hoodoos in Hell's Half Acre

Me inside the arch, from the back

Another small arch with a very tiny window on top

The view back up the grassy wash that we climbed back out of

The view of the valley from the grassy wash

green dot is where we parked, and the middle of the squiggly marks on the left is where the arch is

We drove around the road to the other side, where the red dot is.  The green dot is where we parked.  The red on the bottom left is where the arch is.  It is not actually .34  miles - it is literally steps away from the parking lot.  The .34 miles included our driving distance when we drove to the other side.

There was not much of an elevation difference from the parking lot down to the arch, although I know that if we had climbed all the way down into Hell's Half Acre and explored around, there would have been a large elevation difference.

That is as zoomed in on the arch area as I could get.

That is where the arch is compared to the road

The location of Hell's Half Acre:  Google Maps Location