Pononay Arch

I found Pononay Arch on Google Maps and planned to find it on our next trip to Saint George.  I couldn't find any photos online or directions about how to reach the arch.  I think that if you look for Pononay Arch on google maps and follow the directions, it might take you to the arch.  But this is how we found it when we visited in May of 2026:

We started by visiting Bloomington Petroglyph Park, which is a small park with a few large rocks that have petroglyphs in them.  It's in a residential neighborhood and has fences surrounding the rocks so that people can't climb on them.  It is located here:  Petroglyph Park

From the Petroglyph Park, follow Navajo Dr. even after it turns into West Apex Mine Road.  Starting from the sign that says "Red Desert , parking for the arch is exactly 4.15 miles away.  From the point where the pavement ends, parking for the arch is 3.93 miles away.  There will be 2 left turns that you'll take on the dirt road to reach parking for the arch.  

The first left turn is where you see a "share the road" sign.  This first left turn is 1.75 miles into the drive.  From this first left turn, parking for the arch is 2.40 miles away.  The next left turn will be .55 miles after the first left turn.  If you see a sign that says "Saint George Public Lands," the left turn is right before this sign.  If you drive past this sign then you have gone too far.  You drive through a fenced area and over a cattle guard.  From the final left turn to the arch, parking for the arch is 1.85 miles away.  

The road to the arch is a dirt road with small rocks.  We drove it in our expedition with good tires and were totally fine.  I think a 2-wheel drive car could make it fine as long as you have good tires so that you don't end up with a flat from the rocks, but there are a few very steep parts of the road that a 2-wheel drive car might slide on.  If you follow google maps, there is a point where the dirt road ends and it becomes a jeeping trail.  This is where you should park for the arch.  The road becomes considerably worse at this point.  We had the location of the arch on our phone, so we got out of the car and walked the rest of the way.  

Follow this road down the hill until you see a spot on the left side of the road that is flat, and walk out towards the edge.  You will be able to see the top of the arch.  It is level with the ground with a crack behind it.  The walk from our car to stand down below the arch was only .28 miles.  

The arch appears to have been visited quite a bit, as there was old cigarettes, soda cans, and other garbage on the ground near the top of the arch, as well as even pushed down inside the crack between the arch and the cliff edge.  I was pretty disappointed that people don't take better care of the earth near beautiful places like this arch.

Standing near the top of the arch is a beautiful view of the Virgin River.  The arch is located inside a bend in the river, so the view is so nice from above the arch.  I would not recommend standing on top of this arch, although you very easily could since it is completely level with the ground.  Once you get down below to have a look at the arch you'll see how fragile it is.  It is broken into several different pieces that look like they might fall at any moment.  Walking across the arch might be just the amount of pressure that would shift the large rocks enough to force the arch to collapse.  

We followed the ledge to the right until we found a spot that we could climb down into the wash below and walk over to the arch.  We probably could have climbed up the rocks and sand underneath the arch to stand directly below it, but my husband was seriously worried that the arch would fall on top of us.  We were able to admire it from the bottom of the hill just above the wash.  I am not sure if you'd be able to see the arch from across the Virgin River, because of the vegetation next to the river.

We climbed back up to the top of the arch and then walked back up to our car.  The location of Pononay Arch is here: Pononay Arch  You can see a video of the arch from above here:  Pononay Arch

Here are step by step photos of our trip to the arch in May 2026:

Petroglyph Park

We started by visiting the Petroglyph Park at the corner of Navajo and Geromino.  The exact address is 1460 W Navajo Drive.  It's worth a few minutes to stop and check out the petroglyphs.

Heading to Pononay Arch

From the Petroglyph Park, head down Navajo Road until it turns into West Apex Mine Road

You'll enter Red Cliffs Desert Reserve

You could pull up the location of Pononay Arch and follow the roads on google maps as you get closer to the location

drive past the bike park

this is how the road looks at the beginning

When you see this sign you are nearing the first left turn of the trip

turn left after this sign

if you're following your dot on google maps, watch for the first left turn and take it.  You'll need to be zoomed in enough on google maps to see the dirt roads

keep left here

The second & final left turn is right before this sign.  Don't go past this sign or you've gone too far

This is the final left turn.  Go through this gate

If you're following google maps, take the next left turn

you'll continue to follow this road until you park for the arch

When your dot reaches the end of the road on google maps, park your car.  The road does continue, but it gets much rougher past that point.  There is some space for parking or turning around.

you can see civilization from the trail, it's actually not that far from town

this is where to park and get out

This is where we got out and walked

beautiful views of the Virgin River

James is standing right next to the arch

You can see the crack where the arch is in this photo

a cigarette on the ground near the arch

some of the garbage on the ground near the arch

Pononay Arch is level with the ground

there's trash in the crack of the arch

the arch is right by the river

From above you can't tell how fragile the arch is beneath

we walked along the ledge towards the right until we found a spot that we could climb down

climbing down to the lower level

looking back up on where we climbed down

just hike in the wash back in the direction of the arch

our first view of Pononay Arch from below

from below you can see how fragile it is

it looks like several of those pieces could fall at any moment

Me at the bottom of the wash.  We could have climbed up under the arch, but my husband was afraid it would fall on us at any second

Me above the arch

me on top on the other side

starting the drive back

back to the gate where we had taken our last left turn - see the public lands sign

exiting the gate

back to where the trail started on the dirt road

going past the bike park again

the edge of the Red Cliffs Desert reserve

The drive from the petroglyph park to where we parked for the arch

This is a map of our hike from where we parked our car until we reached the arch underneath

Total hike from where we parked until we were underneath the arch