NABSQNO 13S-323394-4169873
Rhoda's Arch, Mineral County, Colorado
Drawing by Frederic M. Endlich, 1875, public domain
NABSQNO 13S-323394-4169873. Rhoda's Arch is a shelter natural arch eroded through a narrow ridge of trachyte. It is located on private property above the eastern bank of Red Mountain Creek (once named South River) about 15 miles southwest of Creede, Colorado. Access at this time is not practical. Claims that this arch was located in the Wheeler Geologic Area (also located in Mineral County) and collapsed several years ago are not correct.
Rhoda's Arch gets its name from Franklin Rhoda, a topographer who accompanied the 1875 Hayden expedition to explore Colorado for the US Government. Rhoda is also renowned in mountain climbing circles for having been the first to scale several Colorado peaks. His account of his visit to this arch is quoted below from page 312 of Ninth Annual Report of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, Colorado and Parts of Adjacent Territories: Being a Report of Progress of the Exploration for the Year 1875, F. V. Hayden, Government Printing Office, 1877.
"Several of the walls had large and very regular arches worn through them. From some views these arches appear as perfect in form and proportion as if built by the hand of a mason. I succeeded by climbing along the wall on a very narrow ledge to get into one of these, and found it remarkably perfect on a near view also. It was about 50 feet span, with an altitude of 20 to 30 feet, the base being somewhat uneven, and the wall about 40 feet thick. This would seem to be a pretty large arch, but looking at it from the outside it is dwarfed into insignificance by the size of the massive walls through which it forms a gateway. This arch was situated about 100 feet above the foot of the wall, and about 200 below the summit. Looking out of it on either side you could see an inclosure formed by the walls on the sides."
Based on this entry in Rhoda's journal, there may be several other smaller arches in this area. The Endlich drawing above is also copied from the Hayden report.
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