To bring awareness to the abuses that face arches in Kentucky, every year we start off Arch Awareness Month with Apex Arch. Located outside a corn field in Christain County, everything, and I mean everything is covered in spray paint. The cliffs, the trees, the rocks and the arch have been an unfortunate canvas for local partiers. Then there’s the trash. It is as if folks carry in coolers of beverages, most of which are not alcoholic, and toss the cans and plastic bottles all around. After our first post about Apex Arch three years ago, KWAL member Wendy Hargrove contacted me to see what she could do to help. I gave her the coordinates to the arch and she said she would get back to me, which she did. She was able to clean up some of the graffiti and cleaned up the trash only to return to find new graffiti and trash. There was also difficulty contacting the land owner. It appears that the landowner doesn’t care what happens to this arch and that is really sad, because from a geological standpoint, it's one of the state’s most beautiful. In better condition it would be in my top 10 for most beautiful. We could talk all day about trail cameras, prosecution, and other deterrents but in reality this is a place that is a lost cause. The only hope would be unless, by some unlikely chance, the Nature Conservancy or a state office were to step in and purchase the property. Then work to protect it. This is the worst abuse we have ever seen at an arch.
Spray paint both damages arches and contaminates the environment. Litter also contaminates the environment. This is the only earth we have, let us get everyone to help take care of it.
Check out Apex Arch in the database.
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