Arches National Park in … a day

WOW what an amazing place!!! 😍

The park consists of 76,679 acres of high desert located on the Colorado Plateau and has over 2,000 natural stone arches, hundreds of soaring pinnacles, massive fins and giant balanced rocks.The highest elevation in the park is 5,653 feet (1,723 m) at Elephant Butte, and the lowest elevation is 4,085 feet (1,245 m) at the visitor center.

Arches is in Utah close to the Colorado border. It’s located just north of the beautiful town of Moab also worth a visit.

The best time to visit is April/May & September/October when temperatures are milder. We visited in May 2019 and temperature was already around 30°C ( 86°F ). Make sure you have lots of water with you especially if you do long walks.

You will receive the visitor guide & map when you enter the park but if you prefer you can download it from the National park website and print it. Print the map (page 5) in A3 format. ( A4 for us was too small to read 😁) https://www.nps.gov/arch/learn/news/upload/ARCHnews2019v1_web2.pdf

The park is very popular so be prepared to queue to enter the park. Try to arrive before 8 am to avoid long queues.

The best way to enjoy the park is to do some of the hikes but even if you can’t walk for very long, the drive around the park is really good and there are plenty of viewing points where you can see arches, windows & pinnacles.

There are lots of easy and short trails. Start with the longest/most challenging walks earlier in the morning as there is no shades and it gets very hot during the day.

We visited:

  • Delicate Arch (at Wolfe Ranch): length 3miles/4.8km roundrip (2/3 hours) Difficult walk. Trail climbs 480ft/ 146m up a steep slickrock slope. Avoid during midday summer heat as there is no shade. Take plenty of water with you. Delicate Arch is probably the most famous and the walk is very popular however we were able to take pictures of the Arch with us and on its own as people very politely were queuing to take photos 👌
  • Delicate Arch Viewpoint If you can’t do the long walk you can still see the arch from this viewpoint. A flat accessible trail leads to the lower viewpoint. A longer, moderately strenuous trail climbs steeply 0.5 mile(0.8 km) to the upper viewpoint. The arch is on the other side of the canyon and will look very small as you can see from the photo. If you are fit go to the actual Arch. The reward of seeing the Arch will be worth the effort 😎
  • Park Avenue : length 2miles/3.2km roundtrip (1 hour) Moderate walk . The trail descends steeply into a spectacular canyon and continues to Courthouse Towers. View in the photo is visible from the car park.
  • Balanced rock : length 0.3miles/0.5km roundtrip . Easy walk. This is a loop trail at the base of a picturesque rock formation. Part of the trail is paved. You can see it from the car park.

  • The windows: length 1mile/1.6km roundtrip. Easy walk. A gentle climb up a gravel trail leads to the massive North and South windows, and Turret Arch. You can return via the same trail, or take the slightly longer Primitive trail around the back of the Windows from South Window viewpoint. You can see it from the car park

  • Double Arch at The Windows : length 0.5miles/0.8km roundtrip. Easy walk. A relatively flat trail leads to the base of two giant arch spans that are joined at one end. You can see it from the car park

  • Landscape Arch :Length 1.6miles/2.6km roundrip. Easy walk.A relatively flat, hard packed trail leads to a spectacular ribbon of rock. The trail beyond Landscape Arch becomes difficult, with rock scrambling, narrow ledges, and exposure to heights.
  • On the way to Landscape Arch you can see also Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch. If you don’t have time or any energy left to go to Landscape Arch they are worth and quick to reach.

  • Sunset in Arches. Try to spend at least one night in Moab so you can spend the evening in Arches and admire the beautiful sunset.
  • Other stunning views from the road
  • Three Gossips & Sheep Rock
  • Parade of Elephants
  • Fiery Furnace
  • The Organ & Tower of Babel

As we were there only for one day we did not have time to do them.

Skyline Arch : Length 0.4miles/0.6km roundtrip. Easy walk A short, out-and-back hike on a flat, well-defined trail leads to an arch in a high wall.

Sand Dune Arch: length 0.3miles/0.5km roundtrip Easy walk. Hike through deep sand to a secluded arch tucked among sandstone fins

Broken Arch: length 1.3miles/2.3Km roundtrip Easy walk.The trail crosses a large meadow to the arch. Extend the hike to 2 miles (3.2 km) roundtrip by hiking through the arch, past Tapestry Arch, and through the campground. Part of the longer loop includes some moderate scrambling.

Tower Arch at Klondike Bluffs:length 3.4miles/5.5Km roundtrip. Difficult walk. The trail climbs a steep, short rock wall, cuts across a valley, and then meanders through sandstone fins and sand dunes.

Double O Arch at Devils Garden: length 4.2miles/6.8Km roundtrip.The trail beyond Landscape Arch climbs steeply over sandstone slabs. There are uneven surfaces and narrow ledges with steep drop-offs. Dark Angel is 0.5 miles (0.8 km) beyond Double O Arch.

Primitive Trail at Devils Garden: length 7.2miles/11.6Km roundtp. It is a challenging alternative route to or from Double O Arch. It involves narrow ledges, steep exposures, uneven surfaces, rock scrambling, and route finding.

  • Useful information:

Shops -> After the visitor center, there are no shops in the park so make sure you bring with you plenty of water & food. There is a water fountain at Devil garden trailhead car park.

Entrance fee:

Private Vehicle Fee valid for 7 days – $30.00 car and passengers

Annual Pass valid to all NPS parks – $80.00 for the car and passengers. If during your trip you are planning to visit 3 or more NPS parks is probably worth buying the Annual pass. Check out the entrance fees for the parks you are planning to visit. If you are not sure how many you are going to visit, keep the receipts for the ones you have already visited as if you decide to buy the annual pass they will discount the price of the parks already visited from the $80.

  • ACCOMODATION

We stayed at the Homewood Suites by Hilton in Moab. Lovely hotel walking distance to the town centre.

https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/cnymohw-homewood-suites-moab/?SEO_id=GMB-HW-CNYMOHW

  • DINNER

We had a fantastic dinner at La Sal House located in a beautiful mudbrick building with a roof terrace (11 East 100 North). Currently the restaurant is closed due to Covid but I am really hoping they will be able to open again https://lasalhouse.com/

Enjoy Arches National Park 😊

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