Arches National Park

Overview

Driving through hundreds of miles of the Colorado Plateau region (the 4 corners of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico), you can’t help but contemplate how vast and beautiful it is, and how erosion has created such different terrain. There’s about 20 national parks and monuments in the Colorado Plateau preserving these natural formations.

Arches National Park is a short drive from Moab, just 30 miles from Canyonlands National Park, and 1hr from Indian Creek (Bears Ears National Monument).

You can see most of the park in 2 days assuming there aren’t hordes of people during the busy summer season. Our favorite time to visit National Parks is fall into winter, when there’s hardly anyone in the parks and the temps are perfect for hiking.

The Geology

There’s over 2000 arches, though only a handful are easily recognized from popular photography. And while the color and texture of the soft red sandstone is very reminiscent of Zion and Bryce Canyon, it creates different formations. In Arches NP, there’s a layer of softer Entrada Sandstone on top of harder Carmel Sandstone. The 8-10in of rain a year seeps through the Entrada layer, and pools on top of the Carmel layer, slowly eroding the Entrada layer from the bottom, eventually forming arches (great video).

Camping

There’s one campsite, Devil’s Garden, with 40 sites in Arches NP with water and flush toilets, but no showers. Most people camp in Moab, just 10mi from the park entrance, and make day trips in. Indian Creek, an hour away, is another option–it’s all BLM land, primitive camping with no water and only pit toilets, but very well maintained.

Amenities: Showers, Cell Service

Check out http://discovermoab.com/shower.htm to find a shower.

We got spotty cell reception in the park. We picked up Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile at various places and in some spots in the Devil’s Garden campground. The Visitors Center has free Wi-Fi.

Park Avenue Viewpoint

Delicate Arch

Our biggest surprise was Delicate Arch, perhaps the most famous and well-photographed arch. You almost always see it head-on, taking up the entire frame, and I’ve never seen photos that do justice to the surrounding landscape. I didn’t expect it to be so surreal. The arch sits at the lip of a smooth, angled sink/toilet bowl, with tall fins and canyons flanking the backside.

Double Arch

The other hotspot for arches and perhaps second well-recognized from photography is the Double Arch.

Devil’s Garden Trail

You can see most of the iconic arches from roadside overlooks and 1-3mi round trip, mostly flat walkways. The longest hike is about 7.5mi of the Devil’s Garden Trail, which as a bonus starts at the campground.

Nearby

Check out my other articles on destinations in the Moab area:

• Indian Creek (Bears Ears National Monument)
• Canyonlands National Park