Visiting Arches National Park

When we realized Arches National Park in Utah was just about 100 miles away from where we were staying on our Grand Junction road trip we knew we had to add it to our itinerary. Carly and I crossed Utah off last June on our visit to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park but Keith checked off a new state on this trip!

This park reminded me a llittle of Bryce Canyon in that I definitely think you can see the majority of the sites and only dedicate one day for it on your itinerary. From April to October, you must sign up for an entrance time but it’s not hard to grab one. Each evening at 6pm time slots open for the next day and it is only $2 to reserve. We did see people being turned away at the gate so they do take this seriously.

Here are a few tips:

• Pick the earliest time possible! It heats up really fast in the summer and the earlier you get into the park the more time you will have to explore before the heat sets in
• Drive straight through the park to the top first and park at the Devils Garden Trail head. So many arches to see at this location and hikes from easy to moderate
• Take lots of water!
• Enjoy the drive back through the park and stop at the various viewpoints and hikes along the way

The Devils Garden trail was our first hike of the day which led us to see the Pine Tree Arch above and the Landscape Arch below. Getting to these two was about a mile and a half and on a decent trail. Venturing on past the Landscape Arch the sand becomes thick for a bit and then there is a little rock climbing to move on further. The trail is also not marked super well and we had to pay attention to signs we were headed in the right direction.

It was well worth it as the views were amazing! We could see for miles and the sky was the bluest of blues. We did not hike all the way to dark angel and instead turned around once we made it to the Double O Arch. On our way back we took the .3 mile detour to see Navajo Arch before heading back to the car for our picnic lunch.

Not going to lie, I have big regrets that we did not do the long hike up to delicate arch. The hike to the arch is listed as difficult and is 3 miles roundtrip and we had a whiny teenager with us who had just about had it with all our hiking adventures! Plus it was already so hot so we opted instead for the quick .5 mile in and out viewpoint.

The Windows, Turret Arch and the Double Arch are all easy in and out hikes. You can also see the parade of elephants rock formation from thiis viewpoint and also pass by the Garden of Eden on the drive to this parking area.

I did not take enough pictures of the Great Wall and Courthouse section of the drive through the park but iti is definitey something to see. The judges rock formation above I really loved and managed to grab a shot of. There are some videos from this trip saved to the “arches” highlight on Instagram if you want a better visual.

These adventures all amaze me and I’m already itching to plan what’s next!