Essays

13 articles, newest first.

  1. Arch Etiquette and Naming Arches

    Nearly every day there are new arches being documented in Kentucky. Ninety nine times out of one hundred when someone ‘discovers’ an arch someone else has ‘discovered’ it before them. This is commonly referred to as…

  2. Arch Awareness Month 2023

    Bill Fultz made it possible that we had an update to the database back in January before Arch Awareness Month. If you are not familiar with that, you can check below for some features to highlight the arches that have…

  3. What makes it an arch?

    What does it require to be an official arch? This is a much-debated topic. A natural arch is a rock exposure that has a hole completely through it formed by the natural, selective removal of rock, leaving a relatively…

  4. NABS & Kentucky

    The Natural Arch & Bridge Society (commonly referred to as NABS) is a national organization that was founded in 1988 whose mission is to gather information on arches, educate the public about arches, and to protect…

  5. Mantle Rock History

    With Kentucky having the highest concentration of Natural Arches other than Utah, it would only make sense that Kentucky also has the largest arch East of the Mississippi River. Located a little less than an hour…

  6. History of Arch Hunters in the RRG

    The Red River Gorge has become quite possibly the most popular place in the state for outdoor recreation and is world famous for its beautiful arches. At this time there are 1,157 confirmed arches in the region. Though…

  7. Fire Rings Under Arches

    A common assumption when camping in the Daniel Boone Forest is that it is legal to build a fire and camp under an arch. This is a big NO. In the National Forest it is illegal to camp within 100 feet of a cliff line…

  8. Natural Bridge or an Arch?

    Is it an arch or a natural bridge? As many of you are aware we talk a lot about arches in this group, but we have never really discussed the difference between a natural arch and a natural bridge. A little bit of…

  9. Arch Hunters

    Something we are adding this year, which was a recommendation to us by Todd Fife, was to document the history of arch hunting in Kentucky. Specifically the arch hunters that have been tromping through the forest and…

  10. Abused Arches

    As we kick off Arch Awareness Month, we always highlight arches that have been abused around Kentucky. This can vary wildly, but generally includes either spray painting on the arch or carving into the rock of the arch…

  11. Arch Awareness Month 2022

    Welcome to Arch Awareness Month. It is where we highlight the damage done to arches, documenting arches, and just trying to explain how awesome these natural wonders are. They come in all types, shapes, sizes and…

  12. Photographer's Ephemeris

    All the arches now have a link to the Photographer's Ephemeris at the bottom of their pages. The link will take you to their desktop version and put you right at the coordinates that are listed for the said arch. It…

  13. Welcome

    This is the future database for the Kentucky Arches Database, similar to the Kentucky Waterfall Database. Kentucky is said to rank 2nd or 3rd in the United States for arches. There are currently around 1500 documented…

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