Home to more arches than you’ll be able to make time to see in a week, this national park is a museum of some of Mother Nature’s most artistic creations. Arches are nature’s doorways, so get ready to walk through a bunch of them into another dimension. Perhaps the most famous of all is Delicate Arch, an absolute icon, and the inspiration for Utah’s uniquely beautiful (and award winning) vehicle license plate design.
But soon you will see that there’s a lot more to this place than just arches.
From its entrance just outside Moab, Utah, visitors can take the Main Park Road and witness many of its attractions from a distance without even exiting the car. Services within the park are limited to its sole Visitor Center and restrooms at the major trailheads. Reception is relatively good near the entrance of the park, but spotty and unreliable the further in you go and carrying a map (offered complimentary with your entrance fee) is highly recommended. If you go without a specific plan, make your first stop to the only Visitor Center in Arches National Park during operating hours and talk to a park ranger about your options. They are there to help you make your adventure the best they can, but be mindful as to not take up too much of their time so they can help other people, too!
When to go and how long
Allot yourself at least a half day to see the park if you’re only driving and checking out the viewpoints. If you really want to explore and hike to some of the arches, you would be happy spending a couple days here, or more depending on how much you like cool geologic formations.
The desert can be blazing hot in the summertime, but this place is always packed with crowds most likely due to school not being in session. I would not recommend strenuous activity (like long hikes) on the hottest days unless you embark before or around sunrise. Bring plenty of water! May and June are preferable to July, August and September. Spring and fall are far more enjoyable because temps are more mild. Winter can be very cold and windy. While it is cold enough for it, this area rarely receives snow, and it doesn’t really get much precipitation at any time during the year. There is little vegetation in the area, so seasonal changes to the landscape are minimal (but still beautiful). Spring and summer can be pretty green, fall usually has some golds and winter is mostly barren.
Timed Entry Reservations
Depending on the time of year, trailhead parking is extremely limited and like many national parks, it gets overcrowded due to the explosion in popularity over the past decade. The solution they have implemented is a timed entry reservation system to cope with this problem, and reservations during the most popular times of day from April to October are required in advance! They do also offer a limited number of day-before entry reservations which come available daily at 7p MDT (19:00) for the following day and are usually swiped up pretty quick during the peak of the season.
However, you can still enter the park before the ticket booth opens if you are an early bird or after-hours (for those who enjoy astrophotography) during those months if you are unable to get a reservation.
During the winter, there seems to be no issues with crowds and there is plenty of available parking at most trailheads and outlooks.
Where to stay
There is one major place to camp within the park called Devil’s Garden Campground. Reservations can be made online for its 51 available sites and they are usually fully booked long in advance. With that said, there are plenty of other campsites just outside the park along the Colorado River which runs along its eastern border, and lodging in the city of Moab, which is only a few miles south of the park entrance. (Check out my post on Moab here if you’re looking to stay in the city.)
If you don’t mind a longer 45-minute commute, you can also look into staying in the city of Green River which is closer to the neighboring Canyonlands National Park.
If you are interested in backpacking inside the park, there are some backcountry camping spots available but you must first obtain a permit. Permits are available by walk-in from the park office just south near the city of Moab. Check the website for specific details on backcountry permits and where exactly you can camp in Arches National Park’s wilderness.
How to get around
You are most likely driving here. The Main Park Road goes all the way from the Visitor Center at its southern border through and up to the northern end of the park, ending at the Devil’s Garden area. It is an incredibly scenic drive. Bicyclists also commonly use this road, so be sure to watch out for them, too!
There are no shuttles nor public transportation options inside the park, although for a price you can find private tours departing from Moab where your transportation would be part of the deal. This is a good option for those who don’t have a car and just want to relax and sightsee. Private tours handle everything for you and bring you to a lot of the best spots!
Food and money
Aside from paying for park admission, campsites and permits, there really isn’t anywhere for you to spend your money inside the park aside from the gift shop.
Any private tour company will on average charge a couple hundred dollars for a half-day of touring this area, or close to double that for a full-day. There are a plenty of different companies with offerings to choose from.
There is no food for sale in the park! The nearest restaurants and grocery options are located in Moab, a short 10-minute drive south of the park entrance. If you have an early timed reservation, you can leave the park and come back during that same day, which makes for a nice little break if you want to go grab lunch in the city. If you don’t want to deal with the back and forth, you can always pack a lunch and snacks for the day. (Private tours may include this for you.) Keep in mind that if you choose to exit in the middle of the day, depending how far deep you are in the park and how busy it is, it could be up to an hour before you make it back to Moab.
What to do
Arches National Park is pretty small compared to its next-door neighbor Canyonlands National Park to the east. While many of the arches can be seen from the road or various roadside pullouts, you will have to walk out to the designated viewpoints or hike through the desert to get up close.
The configuration of the park is simple, and consists of one road (literally called Main Park Road) that begins at the park entrance in the south and winds through the park to Devil’s Garden Campground and Trailhead at its northern end. All other viewpoints, trailheads, and landmarks branch off from this road.
The Devil’s Garden area is home to the park’s only major campground and a picnic area. The trailhead there is the access point for several popular landmarks, including Tunnel Arch, Pine Tree Arch, Landscape Arch, Double O Arch, Dark Angel, and a several others. It is one giant loop trail totaling roughly 10 miles. The trail to the Landscape Arch is short and mostly flat, which is a main attraction here as it is said to be one of the longest sandstone arches in the world.
Just south of the campground is another loop (accessible from the Sand Dune Arch Trailhead) which leads to Broken Arch, Sand Dune Arch, and Tapestry Arch. Expect this entire area to be packed with people both on and off the trails during the busiest times of the day and season. While this parking area is massive, you may still be waiting for a parking spot during the busiest times of day.
To the west of the campground, the unpaved Salt Valley Road leads through a sandy wash to Tower Arch and Marching Man trailheads.
Halfway through the park there are two other paved roads that branch off to the east: Delicate Arch Road and Windows Road. Both lead to arches of the same name, along with several others, only without a road named after them.
Delicate Arch is the most famous arch here, and perhaps in all of Utah. Down this road you will find several ways to view this iconic arch. Expect the 3-mile round trip hiking trail to the arch itself to be packed (although the views are worth it). Here you can also find a panel of rock markings left by the people native to this area long ago. Just past the trailhead at the end of the road are two additional viewpoints to see the Delicate Arch from a further distance, which are great options for anyone who doesn’t have the desire or opportunity to hike there. The Lower Viewpoint is a quick walk from the parking lot, but you might want to bring some binoculars!
Windows Road has a high concentration of arches, and many are visible from the road itself. Branching off just north from the Main Park Road at Balanced Rock (which is circled by a small 0.3-mile loop trail), visitors pass by the Garden of Eden (parking pullout) and a bunch of cool rocks speckled with small arches. At the end of the road is an area with a bunch of shorter intertwining trails that lead to a few larger arches, like the Double Arch (one of my personal favorites), Turret Arch and the Windows.
Stuff you can do that isn’t hiking
From southernmost to northernmost, some viewpoints that you can enjoy from the comfort of your car as you drive through the park along the Main Park Road include:
- Park Avenue
- La Sal Mountains
- Courthouse Towers
- Petrified Dunes
- Balanced Rock
- Salt Valley Overlook
- Fiery Furnace
…and more, there’s simply too many things to list. Stop at as many of the viewpoints with parking pullouts as you want, snap a couple photos, relax and enjoy the moment. *Do not block the roads.* There are plenty of designated parking areas throughout the park, and if you can’t find a spot, you can always try again on your way back when you are returning from the other direction.
Most park roads are 2WD accessible, although there are a couple where high-clearance is required. *Recreational off-roading is prohibited in this park,* and if you’re looking for that type of adventure, Moab is surrounded by rough backroads, and the nearby Canyonlands National Park may be a better suited option for you. (Check out my post on Canyonlands here if you plan to visit that park, too!)
Check in at the visitor center to see if there are any guided walking tours available on the day of your visit. Park rangers often offer *free* classes, presentations, and tours depending on the park’s schedule.
Some other popular activities you can participate in within the park aside from hiking, biking and driving include canyoneering, rock-climbing, photography, and horseback riding. Check out the NPS website for specific permits for engaging in these activities. If you are staying after dark, you can also enjoy some really amazing stargazing on a clear night.
My thoughts
This is a very family-friendly park with lots of opportunities to see and experience the wilderness in a controlled way. Despite going to this park several times, there are still so many arches I have yet to see which remain on my bucket list. So far, my top three favorites are the Double Arch, Delicate Arch, and Landscape Arch, although the Pine Tree Arch and Windows are pretty dang cool, too.
There are so many other arches scattered all around the city of Moab, I feel like I get a similar, less crowded experience hiking to some of those other ones. The trails in this park are a too crowded for my liking. Delicate Arch will always be a great hike though, and I would absolutely recommend both hiking directly to it and checking it out from a distance at one of the viewpoints if you ever have the opportunity to visit.
Have you been to Arches National Park before? What was your favorite arch? What did I miss? Let me know in the comments below!
Happy traveling! 😊
And always remember to follow #leavenotrace principles!
❤️
(this post was last edited and updated on February 7, 2025)
Laura the explora: the blog 
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