Monday, July 13, 2026

Natural Rock Arch in Oregon

Quick Facts:

.78 miles total out-and-back

extremely steep and slippery

Parking available

We visited Portland, Oregon in June of 2026. We wanted to go arch hunting near Portland, and one of the arches I found online was Natural Rock Arch in Gates, Oregon. It is a beautiful drive to reach the trailhead. The highway is surrounded by tall trees. In fact, we drove through what we compared to the Tree Tunnel on Kauai, Hawaii. The trees on either side of the road created a canopy. When we turned off the highway onto Niagara Heights Road, which is a dirt and gravel road, we had 6 miles until the trailhead. We drove it in a Ford Eco Sport and it did just fine. It is a very steep and narrow road with lots of switchbacks. It is very well marked. There are several "Trailhead" signs that keep you from veering off on a wrong road. You should also enter it into your GPS before leaving. Here is the google maps location of the trailhead: Natural Arch Trailhead

Here is a video of our visit to Natural Rock Arch: Natural Rock Arch in Gates, Oregon

There is plenty of parking at the trailhead. We were the only ones there the whole time. We passed a couple of trucks driving down when we were driving up Niagara Heights Road, but we only passed a sheriff's truck driving up as we were coming down after our hike.

The trailhead is well marked, as is the parking lot. This hike is very steep and has loose rocks throughout the entire hike. We hiked it in pouring rain and it was very slippery. It would have been slippery even without the rain because of the loose rocks. It was a lot harder to get down than to get back up because of how steep it was. I fell while hiking in Austria, and ever since then I've been ultra cautious when hiking because I don't want to fall again. So I hiked down the steep terrain very, very slowly. I did slip on some rocks and almost fall once, but the rest of the time I was ok just going slow. There are a few places where large rocks have been added to the trail, creating man-made stairs along the trail. The trail is very obvious and easy to follow, just extremely steep. You can see the arch come into view when you have about 3 switchbacks left, but we hiked it on a very cloudy, rainy day, so I wonder if with better visibility you would be able to see the arch come into view sooner. The last little switchback before reaching the arch is the very most slippery, so be careful! Luckily I had my husband to help me the whole time. There are a couple of stairs made of wood at the very end of the trail that help you climb underneath the arch. The arch is located here: Natural Rock Arch

The arch is about 50 feet tall, which is about the same height as the famous Delicate Arch in Moab, Utah. It is a natural sandstone arch. The hike from the trailhead to the arch is only .41 miles. I measured it at .78 round-trip from the trailhead to the arch and back to the trailhead. Hiking back up the steep trail gives your calves a work-out, but it was much easier for me to go up than to go down because I wasn't nearly as worried about slipping and falling when hiking back up.

The arch is beautiful and magnificent. There is a large rock that looks like it may fall out of the arch at any moment. You can stand underneath the arch and enjoy the view on both sides. It is hard to get a good photo of the arch from the front because you can't stand level with the bottom of the arch more than a couple feet away before the ground drops off. You can take a photo from the back of the arch by walking through it and walking several feet away from it. There is a small cave behind the arch that is a very short climb to get inside of. Someone has painted graffiti inside it, which made me very sad.

There are climbing anchors permanently affixed to the arch for those brave enough to climb on top of the arch. I will stay safely on the ground and admire the arch from below. We enjoyed our time at the arch and then headed back up the very steep, slippery trail, to our car and drove slowly down Niagara Heights Road to the highway.

Natural Rock Arch is only 2 miles as the crow flies from Phantom Natural Bridge. You can't get between the two by hiking, as far as I can tell. We attempted to drive from the Natural Rock Arch trailhead to the Phantom Bridge Trailhead, which takes you back down Niagara Heights Road and onto the highway for about 13 miles and then up French Creek Road to the trailhead, but at this point along the road: FS 2207, google maps wanted us to turn onto a road that was closed, supposedly only about 5 miles before we reached the trailhead. We gave up and turned around, thinking the road to the trailhead was closed due to fire damage like many other surrounding roads. When I got back to the hotel, however, I studied the roads and discovered that google maps was trying to send us on the wrong road -- even if that road had been open, we never would have reached the trailhead going that way. We should have continued on French Creek Road (FS 2223) all the way to the trailhead. Since we didn't make it all the way, I don't know what condition the road would have been in. A sign said that the pavement was ending right before Google Maps tried to get us to take the wrong turn, but we didn't ever drive on the unpaved road. One of the reviews on the All Trails app said that it's possible to drive within a quarter mile of the natural bridge if you have an SUV. Without an SUV, I am guessing that you could drive to the trailhead and hike the 1.3 miles each way to the natural bridge. I was very disappointed not to be able to see the Phantom Natural Bridge also, but I guess I'll just have to go back to Oregon! Phantom Natural Bridge Trailhead is located here: Phantom Bridge Trailhead and the natural bridge is located here: Phantom Natural Bridge The distance between the two trailheads (Natural Rock Arch and Phantom Natural Bridge) is only 28.4 miles, but it takes over an hour to drive between the two, mostly because of the steep, windy dirt road coming from Natural Rock Arch Trailhead.

Our trip to Natural Rock Arch:

On the way to Natural Rock Arch, we went through this Tree Tunnel, very similar to one that we drove through on Kauai in Hawaii. We were coming from the direction of Eugene, Oregon

We turned off of interstate 5 onto highway 20 and then only highway 22

turning onto highway 22 towards Mill City

We went through Lyons, Oregon

When we reached Niagara, we turned left onto Niagara Heights Road

Niagara Heights Road

There are plenty of signs directing towards the Natural Rock Arch Trailhead

It was raining pretty steadily, thus the misty windshield photos

reaching the parking area

This sign is at the trailhead

The parking lot has plenty of room for several cars. We were completely alone on the hike.

The beginning of the trailhead

the sign at the parking lot

The trail is very easy to follow, although very slippery and steep with lots of loose rocks

There were beautiful flowers along the trail

There were also raspberries along the trail

Some stone steps had been placed to make it easier to navigate the slippery steep trail

This was our first view of the arch through the foggy mist -- I wonder how much more quickly we would have been able to see it if it had been a clear day

This is the last turn before reaching the arch

These wooden stairs were built to make it easier to get under the arch

Heading under the arch

My husband and I at the arch

It's hard to get a photo of the arch from the front because the terrain drops off so quickly in front of the arch. You can get a photo from behind.

View from behind the arch

view looking out while standing under the arch

under the arch

This boulder looks like it's about to fall at any second

inside the arch

looking up at the arch

inside the arch

Behind the arch is a small cave

the back of the arch

Inside the small cave - someone painted graffiti in it

standing under the arch

view of the arch from the cave

one of the slugs we saw on the trail

Me inside the arch

view from inside the arch

looking up at the arch

under the arch

My husband and I under the arch

My last look at the arch before we started back on the trail

looking back for one last look at the arch as we hiked back up

back on the very slippery trail

another slug joining us on the trail

back at the beginning of the trailhead

beautiful drive back to the beginning of Niagara Heights Road

The beginning of Niagara Heights Road

Here are our stats from the hike:

This is my All Trails route

This is the round trip distance on my Map my Run app

Map My Run route from the arch up to the trailhead

Map My Run stats

One way is .41 miles

Next we attempted to head to Phantom Natural Bridge

We turned left onto highway 22 to head towards the road leading to Phantom Natural Bridge.

We drove past Big Cliff Dam on highway 22. We also drove past Detroit Dam

We turned onto French Creek Road, which is paved

This is where google maps tried to get us to turn, onto 2207. Don't take that turn -- continue following 2223

Road 2207 was closed. If we'd continued on 2223 we would have come to the Phantom Natural Bridge trailhead. Google Maps was incorrect.

Arches in the Portland Area:

Natural Rock Arch

Phantom Natural Bridge

Arch Cape Arch

Sea Lion Arch

Twin Rocks Arch

Three Arch Rocks

Catherine Creek Arch

Places to Stay in Portland

We stayed at the Fairfield by Marriott located in Lake Oswego, which is located here: Fairfield Inn because it was centrally located to everywhere we wanted to go. There is not a hot tub, but there is a heated pool and there is a pretty good hot breakfast, which included sausage patties, scrambled eggs, spinach quiche, and sometimes sausage patties or bacon. There are also waffles, oatmeal, cereal, fruit, bagels, and bread. The room was comfortable and clean and the staff was friendly. Their official website is here: Fairfield Inn & Suites

Resources to enhance your visit to Portland:

These items might make your adventure to Portland more enjoyable. Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn on qualifying purchases. This is at no additional cost to you.

Best Easy Day Hikes Portland

Columbia Women's Arcadia II Jacket (this is the rain coat that I use)

Compact Travel Umbrella

Portland Family Adventures

Portland Hiking Guide

60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Portland

Arch Cape Chronicles

Oregon Coast Travel Guide