ARCHES
MOAB, UTAH Visited: November 2020
Arches National Park was established in 1929 and is famous for it’s sandstones arches. The park is 120 square miles and is home to over 2,000 sandstones arches, the most famous being Delicate Arch, which can be seen on Utah’s license plate. There are plenty of hikes, both short and long, throughout the park.
As of 2022, the park requires reservations during peak times of the year.
DELICATE ARCH
Distance: 3.73 miles. Elevation Gain: 700 ft Estimated Time: 2 hours
The hike up to the famous Delicate Arch is much more difficult than one would guess. After about a .5 miles of walking, you begin to hike at a very extreme incline on sandstone. (This hike is not accessible while raining). It feels like most of the elevation gain happens in this half a mile uphill section. *There is a much easier “viewpoint” hike for those who need something more accessible.
Once you reach the top, there is a long flat section that looks at and leads to the arch. Don’t be startled by the amount of people at the top.
We started our hike later in the afternoon and there were about 100 people at the top by the arch. We stayed for a couple of hours. It was kind of nice because there was almost a natural “line” for people to take up close pictures at the arch. It seems very respectful. There was tons to look at around the arch since it was so high up. you got kind of a nice view of the park. It was easy to spend some time up there.
You can walk all around and under the arch, though as the name suggests, do NOT climb it.
As I mentioned, everyone was really respectful, giving people turns for pictures and enjoy the arch un-interupted. We even saw a couple get engaged and everyone watching cheered!
We decided to stay until sunset and I am so glad we did. The crowds definitely dissipated as the sun went down. It became very nice and peaceful up there before we decided it was time to leave and head back to camp.
DEVIL’S GARDEN
LANDSCAPE ARCH only
Distance: 1.8 miles roundtrip
DOUBLE “O” ARCH and LANDSCAPE ARCH
Distance: 4.0 miles roundtrip
ENTIRE DEVIL’S GARDEN
Distance: 7.5 miles Elevation Gain: 1545 ft. Estimated Time: 3 hours
LANDSCAPE ARCH
This hike is a very easy, flat hike with a paved path to the second most famous arch in the park. This arch is the longest arch in the United States, measuring almost 300ft long, hence the name, landscape arch. The trail below that arch was closed due to rock fall from the arch, but you can still view it from a far.
It started to rain while we were on this hike which made the experience unforgettable!
DOUBLE “O” ARCH
If you choose to continue passed Landscape Arch, the hike gets a bit more strenuous with rock scrambles and elevation gain. But the end of the hike will take you to the Double Arch. This structure was very unique since it was two arches right on top of each other! You are able to walk all around and under these arches. But like all arches, DO NOT CLIMB!
DEVIL’S GARDEN
From here, you can choose to turn around or continue on the loop and walk the entire Devil’s Garden. This hike is considered EXTREMELY strenuous and should only be done by those who are prepared to do rock scrambling, including some minor rock climbing.
I would definitely suggest doing the entire loop if you have the time and the strength!
Although there are no more arches, there was tons of hoodoos, slots, and different structures to see that felt unique in the park.
We did get caught in a very heavy thunderstorm during this hike which can be very dangerous due to flash flooding and sand stone. When it is raining, you should not attempt to hike on sandstone as it become slippery and is prone to unexpectedly break and shift. Luckily, we were past more of the sandstone sections and were out in the open hiking in the sand. We got VERY muddy and sandy.
DOUBLE ARCH
Distance: .6 miles roundtrip Elevation Gain: 30 ft. Estimate Time: 15-30 minutes
This hike was EXTREMELY easy and was a great hike to do on our way out of the park.
Because this hike is so easy, it was full of people. You are able to climb under these arches, but because of all the people and our already very full day, we decided to just look from afar!
CAMPING
To see where we camped, take a look at my Canyonlands post. Arches is very close to Moab which has hotels to choose from. There is camping inside the park……good luck getting those!
