Camille's Arches

My favorite rocks are the ones with holes in them! My love for arches began during the two and a half years that our family lived in Moab, Utah. We spent many hours every week hiking to arches and other beautiful sites in this red-rock wonderland. Whenever I visit Moab now, I always feel like I'm coming home. This website is a collection of arches that I have visited from all over the world. View this site as a webpage to see the full list of arches in the sidebar!

Sunday, September 27, 2026

Eye of the Sinks Arch

Lander, Wyoming

Eye of the Sinks Arch, September 2026

Quick Stats:

.43 miles each way from Sinks Canyon Road

about .5 miles each way from Heather Lane

372 foot elevation gain from Sinks Canyon Road

7,211 maximum elevation from Sinks Canyon Road

google maps location of parking lot: Trailhead parking lot

google maps location of the arch: Eye of the Sinks Arch

Some time in the summer of 2026 a friend of mine asked if I'd seen the arch up Sinks Canyon. I had lived in Lander, Wyoming for 23 years and no one had ever told me there was an arch up Sinks Canyon! I had driven Sinks Canyon Road thousands of times and had never noticed it there. But there it is, right in plain sight if you're looking for it!

One day in late September I talked my husband into going exploring with me to see how close we could get to the arch. I had seen it once on my drive up the canyon, but hadn't remembered exactly where it was. We drove up as far as Bruce's parking lot and then turned around because we hadn't seen it yet. Then we called our friend and he gave much more specific directions. Drive up Sinks Canyon Road until you are almost at the cattle guard, where the state park changes to national forest land. There is a pull-out and a trailhead there. We parked in the pull-out and started on the trail. We could easily see the arch from the parking lot. We decided to call it "Eye of the Sinks Arch" until we find out its official name. You can watch a video of our visit to the arch here: Eye of the Sinks Arch

This is where we parked:

The google maps location of the parking lot: Parking Area and Trailhead

These are the coordinates of where we parked:

42°44'21.2"N 108°49'48.8"W

My GPS app

This is the view from the parking lot and the trailhead.

That's our car in the parking lot with a view up Sinks Canyon Road

If you reach this sign on the left as you're headed up Sinks Canyon Road, you've gone too far

If you reach the cattle guard as you're headed up Sinks Canyon Road, you've gone too far.

Eye of the Sinks Arch

All of these photos were taken from the parking lot before we started hiking. Some were taken with my zoom lens. Obviously I didn't clean off my lens after our adventure to Bear Pass Arch in Dubois a couple weeks ago, so sorry about the smudge on my lens in some of these photos!

If you zoom into this photo you will see the arch in the little "V" area of the skyline

The arch is almost in the center along the sky-line of this photo

The arch is along the sky-line in the very center of this photo

This is to the left of the route to the arch. A lot of people climb here.

Starting on the trail

This is posted in the parking lot. You can see the arch in this photo, in the center along the skyline

This is where we parked. Again, you can see the arch in this photo if you zoom in

the parking area

Sign at the trailhead

the trailhead and parking lot

I watched for snakes but didn't see any

the beginning of the trail

view of the arch from the established trail - this was taken with my zoom lens

We left the trail soon after this sign. We only followed the trail for a very short time. There are a lot of game trails on the mountain, which we were able to follow quite a bit of the time, but sometimes they were too steep.

The arch is in the center of this photo along the sky-line

the trail, which runs parallel with the road

Veering off the trail

We only followed the established trail for a very short time, because it was running parallel with Sinks Canyon Road, and we needed to head towards the cliffs. So pretty soon we left the trail and headed through the brush.

view of the arch once we veered off the trail. Some of these photos were taken with my zoom lens

Unique rock amidst the brush

view of where we are headed. The arch is in the center of this photo along the sky-line

There's another opening farther up along the cliffs, but it isn't an arch -- it's a ledge, with a rock under it

the arch is in the "V" of the photo along the sky-line. This is what our cross-country route looked like

at this point the opening in the arch was still visible, but pretty soon the opening disappeared as we got closer to the arch. The best views of the arch opening are right next to the arch, and at the very beginning of the hike. Most of the middle of the hike the arch is not visible.

another unique rock along the trail

The arch goes out of view as we continue our climb

The mountain was quite steep, so it was very hard not to slip or slide as we climbed. The grass was actually the most slippery part of the climb, so we avoided hiking through the grass as much as possible. There were also a lot of loose rocks -- whole sections of loose rocks -- and sometimes we had no choice but to hike through them. Both of us slid pretty often. James helped me quite a bit as we climbed, and I also found a short stick that I used as a walking stick once it got very steep. If you attempt this climb, bring hiking poles and wear gloves. Also, wear hiking pants rather than shorts or your legs will get pretty scratched up. I wore hiking pants and my legs still got scraped up!

The arch went out of view as we got closer to it. The other opening higher up is visible in this photo -- a ledge with a rock under it

These are all zoomed-in photos as we were climbing. The arch is not in view

I kept taking zoomed-in photos of our goal destination, but could not see the arch until we were only feet away from it

view back down at Sinks Canyon Road from our hike up the mountain

continuing up

beautiful views along the hike up

continuing to climb

This gives you an idea of what the loose rocks sections were like, which was probably about half of the hike. It was challenging to climb through them without starting a rock slide, but we also couldn't completely avoid them to be able to reach the arch. I wouldn't recommend climbing this with several people, as one might start a rock slide and several others might get hurt. James and I were very cautious while climbing through the rocks, and tried to stay parallel with each other rather than in front of or behind each other. We also only hiked through these rock sections when we absolutely had to. They were less slippery than hiking through the grass.

more of the terrain as we climbed

This electrical wire was mixed in with the brush along the route up the mountain. This was our only human sign as we were climbing the mountain. There was no trash, no foot prints, nothing to indicate that humans had ever climbed the mountain (although I'm sure they had). I appreciated how natural the hike was, but at the same time I wouldn't mind it if an established trail was created someday so that others could more easily enjoy this arch. I love preserving and respecting nature, but I also love having access to beautiful nature like this.

This gives you an idea of how steep it was. James guessed that it was about a 75 - 80% grade. It would have been easier to avoid the rock sections if the grassy sections hadn't been so much more slippery.

These are some of the photos James took with his phone as we hiked. He took them before the arch disappeared from view along the hike.

Climbing over the ledge

We continued to climb towards the arch, and we had in our view a rock ledge that we knew we were going to need to climb over. It didn't look like it would be too challenging, until we got right up next to it and realized just how high and how steep it was.

This is the ledge that we climbed up. It was a lot more difficult once we got close to it, than it had appeared as we were approaching it. There were a lot of loose rocks and it was quite a bit steeper, especially at the beginning, than we had been able to see from far away.

This is a close-up of the ledge that I took right before James helped me climb up it. We did make it, but I was determined to find a different way down on our hike back (and we did). We would have just slid down the whole thing and maybe taken a nasty fall off the edge of the ledge because of all the loose rocks and how steep it was.

view back down to the valley

view up the mountain

the view down to the road was getting farther and farther away

looking up towards our goal

The last of the ascent

The last part of the climb was the very most difficult - the most steep and the worst terrain

still, there were signs of game trails that we were often able to follow -- although they were definitely much more sure-footed on the steep mountain than we were! We tried to follow the game trails as much as we could, because theoretically they should have been the best way up and down the mountain.

view over to the right near the very end of our ascent

view back down

that burnt log was one of very few signs of fire that we saw on the hike

unique tree near the end of the hike

view down when we were almost done with the climb

the arch was just about to come back into view! We had to go around that one last rock outcropping that was blocking our view of the arch -- you can just barely see the arch opening beginning to appear in this photo!

The arch in view -- finally!

The arch didn't finally come back into view until we were only feet away from it. The reward at the very end! James and I guess that the arch is about 2 feet wide and maybe 3 or 4 feet high. We were both surprised once we were standing so close to it that it wasn't bigger than it is. Our view from the road made us think it would be about 6 feet tall, but it is actually pretty small. It became too steep for us to get right under it, and there doesn't appear to be any way to climb inside it. I was able to get within a few yards of the arch and take photos.

I took this photo from a rock that we sat down on, and then I decided to climb up to that other rock that is visible on the left in this photo, because I wanted to try to get a better view of the arch. To get back down from the rock I had to sit down and slide on my bum - it was that steep. Now that I'm home I wish I had crawled on my hands and knees and pulled myself up right next to the arch, but to be honest my fear of heights was definitely preventing me from doing that at the time! I knew that any mis-steps would likely result in me rolling down the mountain and probably hurting myself.

beautiful Eye of the Sinks Arch

The google maps location of the arch is here: Eye of the Sinks Arch

This is our distance and our route map from the time we started on the trailhead until we reached the arch. It is under a half mile from the parking lot.

view down from the top

my husband stayed on this rock while I tried to venture higher. He got photos of me while I got photos of him.

My husband caught this photo of the arch from the rock he was sitting on

James got this photo of me climbing to the higher rock - not very flattering, I know, but you get the idea of just how steep it was. I had to slide down on my bum because I couldn't walk back down it. I was grabbing grass, rocks -- anything I could use to pull myself up the steep mountain

He got this photo of me on the rock that I sat on a few yards from the arch

Our selfie at the arch

I took a few photos with my phone (most of the rest of my photos were taken with my camera)

my selfie at the arch

while sitting at the arch, this was the view over to the left

this was the view down the mountain into the valley

I thought this was an interesting plant, right next to the rock I was sitting on

one last view down onto Sinks Canyon Road

Next we had to figure out how we were going to get back down.

The hike back down the mountain

These photos don't really display exactly how steep the climb was. It was actually easier to climb up than it was to climb down. Every step on the way down the mountain we risked sliding. I was so tense by the time I finally got back to the car because I was preparing with every step for the possibility that I might fall or slide down the mountain. Luckily we were both safe. We just took it slow and easy. I don't have many photos from our trek back down the mountain because I put my camera away and used all of my attention to descending safely. I was really dreading the part where we might have to go down off the ledge. I was determined to find another way down because I was sure we would just slide right off the ledge and potentially injure ourselves. When we got to the ledge, which I would guess is about halfway up/down the mountain, it was even steeper than I had realized while we were coming up it. I am certain that if we had tried to climb down it, we would have slipped on all the loose rocks and slid right off the ledge, which would have only been several feet but still could have resulted in injury. Luckily James noticed a game trail that ran across above the ledge, so we followed that. It turns out animals are pretty smart, because the game trail took us to a much better place to climb down than the ledge would have been. It still required some maneuvering, and I was very grateful that James was there to help me climb/slide down it. It was a much better way to climb down than the ledge.

If you zoom in you can see two deer that made their appearance as we were descending the mountain. They were the only wildlife that we saw other than birds or an occasional spider. We did spot several hikers over on the climbing trail, probably heading back from the Zozone climbing area

I took these photos with my zoom lens after we were back to the established trail at the bottom of the mountain. The lighting was different than when we had started.

From this sign on the trail you can see the arch directly above

finishing off the trail

back to our car

one last look up at the arch

and one last look at the progress we made in reaching the arch

a selfie at the end of our hike. I'm very glad we did it, and will definitely never do it again!

Stats of the hike

Ignore the red line on the road, I forgot to turn off my Map My Run app until almost a quarter a mile or so after our hike. The green dot is where we started and finished the hike. The highest point of the red line is where the arch is.

As you can see, our hike down the mountain was a bit more direct than our switch-backs on the way up

It was definitely a very slow moving hike -- both up and down! The red line at the end is when we started to drive and I forgot to turn off my running app

This has a bit of extra distance on it, probably a third of a mile or so. The route up was .43 miles exactly. The route down was less than that because we went more straight down rather than back and forth like we did on the way up.

Looking at the location of the arch in comparison with the established roads above. I was determined to find the arch from above now that I'd reached it from below.

This is a very zoomed-in view of the end of our hike. That's as close-up a view as I can get. I think I can see the arch opening in this zoomed-in view, but I can't really be sure.

The distance from the road above looks a little further than the distance from the Sinks Canyon Road below, although I would bet it is flat up there and not nearly as exhausting. A couple weeks after our hike up to the arch, we hiked down to the arch from the road above. The distance is about the same either way.

this distance includes about .3 miles of driving on the end when I forgot to turn off my app.

From the Top:

A couple weeks after our hike up to the arch from Sinks Canyon Road, we found some friends who have property on Lander Mountain Road and who were happy to take us to try to find the Eye of the Sinks Arch from above. Lander Mountain Road has a locked gate, so people can't access it unless they own property up there or unless they go with someone who owns property up there. We drove four wheelers on the dirt road. I had the pin for the arch pulled up on google maps, so we had an idea of where we were headed.

We followed Lander Mountain Road until it forked and then we took the option to the left to drive Heather Lane. We followed Heather Lane until it looked like we were as close to the arch as a road could possibly take us. Then we pulled the four wheelers over to the side of the road and started to walk. It was not nearly as steep as the hike up to the arch had been, but it was still a good work-out, especially on the way back.

When we first started hiking, I was eyeing an indentation that I thought housed the arch, but it turns out that this was the Zozone area and the arch was to the left of this climbing area. So our hike down to the arch ended up being longer than it would have been if we'd just gone directly to it. We hiked .55 miles from Heather Lane until we reached the arch. I would guess it would have been under half a mile if we'd hiked directly to it.

When we had the arch in view, James thought there was a good chance that we could climb inside it from the back side. I wanted a much closer view, so we hiked down the mountain towards it. The area above the arch is NOT flat, as I had thought when we hiked to the arch from below. It is very hilly, but not nearly as steep as the trek up to the arch had been. There are also not huge loose-rock sections like there is on the hike up. Still, we were careful with our footing as we climbed down to the arch. As we got closer to it, the mountain became much steeper. Finally, within a few yards of the arch (yet again), James said that we'd better stop, or else we risked rolling down the mountain. So I still didn't get to be right next to the arch, but I did get a great view of the back-side of the arch.

Hiking back from the arch was exerting, but not nearly as bad as our hike from below the arch. It's definitely an easier trip to the arch from above than from below, but both require careful footing and some physical exertion. Now that I know where it is, if I had the opportunity to go up on Lander Mountain Road again, I'd definitely visit the arch again. Here are photos from our second trip to Eye of the Sinks Arch, from above:

the gate on Lander Mountain Road. Lander Mountain Road is off of Sinks Canyon Road and is the dirt road that has "Butt Rock" on it (before the locked gate). You can only enter Lander Mountain Road if you own property up there or if you go with someone who owns property up there.

On our drive up Lander Mountain Road, we stopped at what's called the Eagles Nest. We actually stopped here on the way back down and ate dinner. What a beautiful view of Lander and the surrounding area!

James and I at the Eagles Nest

We continued on our ride up Lander Mountain Road until the road forked and we took the left onto Heather Lane. We drove until the pin for Eye of the Sinks Arch was as close as the road would take us, then we pulled over to the side of the road and started to hike. We were headed towards the mountain ledge in the center of this photo, but the arch is actually in the bump that you can barely see on the left.

We kept hiking towards the mound in the center of this photo but we should have veered to the mound on the left.

As you can seem the terrain on this end is a lot better than the terrain up to the arch from below

these blackened trees on the mountain are part of the reason that I thought we were headed towards the arch, because I'd been able to see a dead blackened tree up above the arch from our hike from below.

We were watching the pin for the arch and finally realized that we were headed to the wrong little "dip" in the skyline. So we started heading to the left.

When you see this rock "tower" you know that you're headed in the right direction. This is the little valley where the arch actually is.

this is the valley that houses the arch. It got steeper the closer we got to the arch.

the rock that houses the arch is visible in the center of this photo

you can just barely see the arch opening in this photo.

a single solitary burnt tree up on the mountain near the arch

the arch opening is camouflaged in these photos because of all the brush

The brush is pretty thick near the arch

The arch appeared even smaller from this side

the river through the arch

we hiked through these dead trees to get as close as we could, but you can see the steepness of the slope that we were climbing on

me at Eye of the Sinks Arch in October of 2026

the arch looks much more delicate from this side

one last look at the arch before our hike back up to our four wheeler

my husband and I at the arch

My husband caught this photo of our friend up on top of the mountain while we were down at the arch

a look over at the slope that we first attempted for the arch

looking back at the small mound that houses the arch -- on the left, not on the right

the top of the mound where the arch is

this opening in the fence is what we should have come through

watch for the opening in the fence

We could have gone through that opening in the fence and then headed straight for the mound that houses the arch

back at the four wheelers

view from the four wheelers

one last look at the mound that houses the arch

back on the road again -- what beautiful fall colors!

back to Lander Mountain Road

Lander coming into view

The valley sure looks beautiful down there!

There is what I call a "Hobbit House" along the Lander Mountain Road. It's a very large rock with what looks like a door in it. It is located at this pin: Google Maps location of Hobbit House

Hobbit House

view of Lander from the Eagles Nest on our way back down

The arch is the green flag. the "you parked here" is where Hobbit House is.

this was the route we hiked to the arch. The arch is the red dot. Where we parked is the green dot. You can see our little detour down the wrong "canyon" before we found the arch.

You can watch a video of our visit to the back-side of Eye of the Sinks Arch here:

Eye of the Sinks Arch

Other Arches in Wyoming

Blackwater Natural Bridge (Cody, Wyoming)

Sheep Mesa Arch (Cody, Wyoming)

Warm Springs Natural Bridges (Dubois, Wyoming)

Yellowstone Natural Bridge

Clear Creek Natural Bridge (Green River)

Elephant Arch (Lander, Wyoming)

Field Station Arch (Lander, Wyoming)

Morton Arch (Morton, Wyoming)

Red Canyon Arch (Lander, Wyoming)

Indian Ridge Arch (Dubois, Wyoming)

Bear Pass Arch (Dubois, Wyoming)

Alcova Arch (Casper, Wyoming)

Hell's Half Acre Arch (Casper, Wyoming)

Ayres Natural Bridge (Douglas, Wyoming)

Teeter Arch (Thermopolis, Wyoming)

Yellowtail Arches (Lovell, Wyoming)

Tensleep Arches (Tensleep, Wyoming)

Devil's Canyon Arch (Lovell, Wyoming)

Things to do in the Lander Area:

If you want to experience some small-town life, there is no place better to try it than Lander, Wyoming! Lander is unique and iconic, and has only around 7,000 residents. Lander houses NOLS, the National Outdoor Leadership School, so there are always adventurers in town, ready to take a NOLS course. Lander is also home to the Catholic College, so students walk the streets -- especially Main Street and the surrounding streets. Lander has a friendly, home-town feel.

The Fourth of July

The most note-worthy thing about Lander is the Fourth of July. You have not really experienced the Fourth of July until you have experienced it in Lander Wyoming. The small town surges in population as people come to town to celebrate the nation's birthday with a city-wide fireworks show that is like no other.

The day begins with the Challenge for Charities race, which starts and ends at Centennial Park on Main Street. The Half Marathon is the longest distance offered in this race, with other races including a 5K and a kid's one mile race. After the racing concludes, at 10 a.m. a parade travels down Main Street starting at the high school and concluding at 1st Street. It is a typical small-town parade that ends with fire trucks soaking the remaining crowd (many seek shelter when they see the fire trucks coming). After the parade, visitors can head to City Park for the Rotary Club's annual Buffalo BBQ.

But the biggest event of the Fourth of July happens after dark, when the fireworks begin. You can attend the rodeo and watch fireworks there, or you can drive or walk to any other location in Lander and still be treated to a fireworks show. Be very careful, because the small town will be bursting at the seams, and that means a lot of traffic and unfortunately sometimes, traffic accidents. One of our good friends was run over by a car on the Fourth of July one year. Be aware of your surroundings while enjoying the show! My favorite viewing area is the Mount Hope Cemetery, but I also enjoy watching the fireworks on the hill near the rodeo grounds, or even just in my own front yard. I have laid on my sidewalk and looked up at the sky to watch the countless fireworks exploding above me, feeling soot land on my face the whole time. Individuals from all over the city purchase their own fireworks and set them off, creating a collective fireworks show that is city-wide and nothing short of amazing! The past couple years my family has gone on a two-mile walk through the city streets to see the fireworks from different views and experience some of the local excitement as people are setting off their own fireworks. If you do plan to visit Lander for the Fourth of July, book your hotel room very early. Or, if you can't find a place to stay, Riverton is only 30 minutes away.

The Falls

The most popular destination to visit in Lander is The Falls hike up Sinks Canyon Road. Head up Sinks Canyon and park in the Bruce's Parking lot. The hike is a little over 3 1/2 miles round-trip. The reward at the end is viewing the beautiful Popo Agie Falls, and for those who are brave enough -- sliding down the falls. This natural waterslide is quite safe, although usually VERY cold, so be prepared! People slide down the falls and hit the cold water and are quite often so shocked that they lose their personal items in the water. My son has dived down below the falls and found sunglasses, watches, and even go-pros. If you don't feel like sliding off the falls, you can dip in the cold water before hiking back down. People come from miles away to hike The Falls trail.

The Sinks & The Rise

You can visit The Rise and feed the fish up Sinks Canyon. You can read about The Sinks and The Rise on this website: Sinks Canyon State Park It is free to visit, unless you want to purchase some food for the fish at the fish food vending machine there. The google maps location of The Rise is here: The Rise and The Sinks is located here: The Sinks The reason these are such noteworthy places, is because the Popo Agie River disappears into the cave at The Sinks, travels through the rocks, and reappears a quarter mile down the highway at The Rise. But it takes 2-4 hours for it to make it there. It travels through the mountain in crevices that are too small for divers to travel through. It is a mystery that scientists studied several decades ago, dying the water as it headed into the cave, and then timing how long the dyed water traveled before it reappeared at The Rise. While visiting Sinks Canyon State Park you can walk on the nature trail, and you can walk across the swinging bridge. There are a few campgrounds up Sinks Canyon, and a fun little park at Sawmill Campground.

Hiking & Biking

There are a lot of hiking trails in the Lander area. Hiking to the Falls, as listed above, is probably the most popular. Hiking "The Bus," where Elephant Arch is located, is another local favorite. Many people enjoy hiking Brewer's Trail. You can also bike Brewer's Trail. Many people enjoy hiking or biking at Johnny Behind the Rocks.

Here are the locations of the trailheads of some of the most popular hiking & biking spots:

Johnny Behind the Rocks

The Popo Agie Falls

The Bus

Nature Trail

CWC Field Station biking area

Upper Brewers Trail

Middle Brewers Trail

The Aliens

If you want to see something truly unique, head down highway 789 between Lander and Hudson and watch for the aliens sitting on their UFO's on the left side of the road. They are located next to Elk Country Homes, right here: Lander's resident aliens Several years ago, one UFO appeared in Lander with one alien sitting on top of it. Then a few years later a second UFO appeared with a second alien sitting on top of it. Now these aliens have children as well. It is a fun, quirky, unique tidbit about Lander.

Where to Stay in Lander

There are a few small hotels in Lander, but the one I'd recommend the most is the Holiday Inn next to Safeway. It is pretty new. It is located here: Holiday Inn Lander There are also hotels such as The Inn at Lander and the Pronghorn Lodge. There are also a few Airbnb's. And a lot of people who visit Lander during the summer camp in the many campgrounds nearby.

There are a few restaurants that are quite popular in Lander -- Gannett Grill on Main Street is a favorite, as is El Sol. There is a new place called Ella's Mediterranean Cuisine that is also very good. And if you have a hard time finding somewhere to stay or somewhere to eat, Riverton is only a half hour away.