Arches National Park
WHO
Our family of four visited Arches National Park when Averhy was 16 and Eden was 13 years old. The hikes we did were really easy and we all enjoyed them.
WHAT
For our day exploring Arches National Park, we took a small daypack with water, granola bars, trail mix, and beef jerky. You can see our entire road trip packing list in the full Utah Road Trip post here. Temperatures were cool with a mix of sunshine and clouds, so we were comfortable in hiking pants, jackets and sweatshirts.
WHEN
We took this trip in March 2020 during the girls’ spring break. This was a great time to visit Arches National Park because the temperatures were mild (around 55*) and the park was not crowded. Timed entry reservations are now required between April 1 and October 31. You can make those reservations at Recreation.gov
WHERE
We stayed at the Homewood Suites by Hilton in Moab for 2 nights. It was a great location, close to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, as well as the downtown area of Moab.
We went to the following viewpoints/hikes while we were in Arches National Park (yellow stars on the map).
WHY
This was a great trip because it is an iconic National Park in Utah, and the variety of arches is really impressive. We liked that it had something to offer for everyone, because several arches were very close to the road while others required more time hiking. If you have young kids or mobility issues, you can still enjoy a lot of this National Park.
HOW
Moab is just a few miles away from the park entrance, so we were able to get an early start. We were considering visiting both Arches and Canyonlands National Park in one day (which we did decide to do mid-afternoon) and since they are so close together, we enjoyed the highlights without feeling rushed.
Our first stop was at a viewpoint along Park Avenue, with this iconic view of the 3 Gossips and Sheep Rock.
The next stop was at the North and South Window Arches, Turret Arch, and Double Arch. All four of these arch formations share a parking lot area, which would definitely get full quickly in the busy summer months. When we were there, we got one of the last parking spaces in the upper lot, and there were not a lot of people on the trails.
It’s possible to climb on the Turret Arch and the rocks surrounding it, though there were some people climbing higher than I would be comfortable going!
This spot where Sky is standing is easy to get to, and gives some neat views - it’s cool to see these huge rock arches from the underside.
Next, we walked to the other side of the parking area to Double Arch, which was my favorite. There were more people here, climbing and exploring the arch, but it was a little more difficult than other arch areas.
All smiles at Double Arch! We were thankful for the cloudless blue sky and warm sunshine.
Next we drove toward Delicate Arch. There are three viewpoints, and we originally planned to hike all the way out to the arch itself (a 3 mile hike). However, after we viewed it from the Upper Viewpoint, we saw that there were quite a few people there already… and clouds were starting to roll in behind us.
The parking lot at Devil’s Garden Trailhead is slightly larger than the one at Double Arch, but it was still mostly full when we were there - and it would definitely fill up quickly in the summer months. The hike to Landscape Arch was easy, and had several side trails to other arches as well.
Final Tips
Cell service is limited inside the park, so you might want to put your phone on airplane mode.
Although we only spent about 6 hours in the park, we felt like we were able to enjoy the highlights. If the weather was better and we weren’t wanting to visit Canyonlands in the same day, we could have easily spent an entire day or more hiking additional trails here.
