Arches National Park is located in Moab, Utah and is a great place for hikers, off roading thrill seekers, and families. There are several hikes and stunning views that will leave you in awe of the power of nature. We spent a day and a half in Arches National Park. We probably could have spent a full 2-3 days here, as there are a lot of different things to do such as jeep tours, hikes, and guided tours. However, we only had 8 days for our entire Grand Loop, so we did as much as we could in a day and half!
Tips
Start early! We slept in and didn't head out to Arches until about 9AM. The line to get in the park was about a 30-40 minute wait. If you want to avoid the hassle of a line, go around 8AM.
Bring sunscreen! There is very little shade in the middle of the desert! Sunscreen is a must!
Dress in layers. We started off our day in shorts and quickly realized the wind made the temperature feel a few degrees colder and we decided pants or capris were a better option.
It is very windy. A wind jacket is a must!
Bring a lot of water! It is very dry in Arches and even if you are not doing a lot of hiking, you will get thirsty!
Download the gypsy app for $5.00. It is a great app that runs off of GPS, so even if you don't have service it still works. This app is like having a tour guide in your backseat. He tells you the history behind the park and different rock formations. He tells you the science behind how certain rocks were formed and he gives you suggestions on what hikes are worth doing and what hikes you can skip. This app is VERY helpful and informative! Highly suggest downloading it. It is worth the money!
Bring your own food for lunch/snacks. There are no places to eat located in the park. If you plan on spending all day hiking and you don't want to leave the park, you need to bring your own food.
Check out our Arches video to see if it is worth a visit! Spoiler Alert- It's worth it! 😁 ↓↓↓
Delicate Arch
***Highly recommend
Delicate Arch is a very popular hike! It is on every poster and magnet and is what everyone thinks of when they think of Arches National Park. So naturally going into this hike we wondered if it would live up to all the hype, and let me tell you it sure did! Even after seeing it in dozens of pictures I was still amazed and in awe of this beautiful natural arch. If you only have time for 1 hike, this is the hike you should do!
Things to know:
The hike out to Delicate Arch is 3 miles round trip and fairy easy. It does go uphill and can be tiring but nothing too strenuous.
There is no shade so prepare for warm temperatures! Bring water and sunscreen!
It starts at the Wolfe Ranch parking lot and takes about 2-3 hours.
This is a very popular hike so go early! We started this hike around 10AM and it wasn't overcrowded, but still had a decent amount of people there. If you are looking to enjoy the arch by yourself definitely go at sundown or sunrise.
Usually there is a line to get your picture taken under the arch. We had a nice guy take our picture in return for us taking his. It is worth the awkward and annoying "can you take our picture" conversation and I was glad we did it!
Cool petroglyphs at the beginning of the hike
Mid hike views!
We made it!
Delicate Arch
Devils Garden Primitive Loop
***Highly Recommend
Devils Garden is a 9 mile loop hike, however you can make it as long or as short as you want. There are a total of 9 arches you can see on this hike but we chose to shorten it and just see 4 arches. The trails to 3 of the 9 arches are well maintained and easy to hike. The rest are on what is called the "primitive trail" which is trickier terrain and not for those who are deathly afraid of heights. As mentioned previously, I am not a huge fan of heights but I still found the hike doable. The hardest part was the beginning of the primitive trail in which you have to climb up a slick rock with drop offs on either side. I will admit it took me a good 10 minutes to muster up the courage to do this, but I didn't have any trouble with the rest of the hike! Devils Garden was my FAVORITE hike in Arches! The views were just incredible and the hike was anything but boring! We LOVED it! Below are the 9 arches you can see in order and some tips for this hike as a whole!
Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch
Pine Tree and Tunnel Arch are quick side trails you can do on your way to Landscape Arch. They are only .9 miles on a well maintained trail. You can walk right under both arches and enjoy the views on either side. They are both pretty ordinary arches, but worth the easy hike to get a few note worthy pictures! I recommend it since it is on the way to Landscape Arch anyways!
Pine Tree Arch
Tunnel Arch
Landscape Arch
Landscape Arch is an easy 1.5 mile hike and is the longest arch in the park, and the 5th longest arch in the world. It is 306 feet long and an impressive sight! I highly recommend seeing this! Due to erosion, this arch may not exist in the next few hundred years so see it while you can! 😉
Partition Arch and Navajo Arch
After Landscape Arch, the primitive trail begins. Below is a picture of the "trail" or rather a variety of slick rocks you have to climb up. Partition Arch has 2 arches, a larger one you can walk through, and a smaller one too high to reach. Navajo Arch is back out to the main part of the trail and to the left. This arch looks like a doorway! We did not visit these arches but you can check them out here and learn more about them!
Black Arch Overlook
To get to Double O Arch, you take a trail that is on top of what looks like a long giant rock. It is very wide but there are drop offs on either side so you must look where you are going. It can also get very windy so bring a jacket. You take this trail until it again reaches ground level. Right before it reaches ground level, there is a stunning view of the park and if you look closely you can see what is called Black Arch (we did not get a picture of this). You are surrounded by gorgeous views every which way you look! Absolutely breathtaking!
Walking on the "long giant rock"
View directly in front of us
View to the left of us
View to the right of us
Double O Arch
After hiking over a few more steep rocks, you will get to Double O Arch. This was my favorite part of Devils Garden and definitely worth the minor panic attack it took to get here! The arches are stacked on top of each other and you can walk directly under the lower arch. Then if you continue through the arch to the other side and scramble up some tricky rocks, you are rewarded with (in my opinion) one of the best views of the entire park! We were the only ones at Double O Arch, so it was nice and private and we spent 30 minutes here snapping picture and just taking in the beauty of it all. I highly recommend hiking out to Double O Arch. While it is a little nerve wrecking to get to, it is worth every second of it!
Double O Arch from a distance
You can walk right under it!
Truly magnificent!
View from the other side of Double O Arch
Dark Angel and Private Arch
After Double O Arch, you can follow the signs for Dark Angel. This takes about 1/2 mile to get to and is not an arch but instead a pinnacle or a large rock. After Dark Angel you can retrace your steps to get back on the Devils Garden trail. The last arch you can view is Private Arch. It is another 1/2 mile trail and gets you to one of the lesser viewed arches, thus the name Private Arch. We chose to not do either of these, but you can learn more about them here!
Whether you see some of the arches or all of them, Devils Garden is an absolute must do!
Double Arch (Not to be confused with Double O Arch)
**Recommend as a quick stop
Double Arch is a quick .5 mile hike to get directly under the arches. You can also get a great view of it from the parking lot/car. We got out of our car and walked just a ways for a picture and then drove onto the next sight! Definitely worth a stop and the quick walk out to the arches! We had already had a few hikes under our belt at this point, so we were satisfied with just a picture from the parking lot!
Other Options
There are many other things you can explore in Arches National Park beyond what we did. Fiery Furnace is supposed to be an excellent tour, however you must have a guide or a permit. The tours don't start until the end of April so we were not able to do this but I read great things about it! It is a strenuous hike with some jumping, scaling, and a few tricky hiking maneuvers such as climbing through tight spaces. The guided tour is a group of 14 and takes about 3 hours. You cannot reserve this online or on the phone. You must visit the visitor center and reserve it there. But spots fill up quickly and there are only 2-3 tours a day. Usually you will book your tour the day before you actually go. If you choose to try this hike on your own, do your research! Watch youtube videos and download the AllTrails app and load it before you head out. The Fiery Furnace is known to be a very complicated maze that even guides can get lost in. So it is not recommended to go without a guide. Click here for more information if this sounds like your type of adventure!
Another popular thing to do while you are in Moab are jeep tours! We thought about booking one, however Sam really had his heart set on driving his own 4Runner so we decided to do some off roading instead (click here for more information on this)! Below are some jeep tour reviews if you think a jeep tour is up your alley!
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