Arches National Park

Arches sits on a bed of soft red Entrada sandstone, and that soft stone is the whole secret. Long ago a thick layer of salt buried deep underground began to shift and buckle, cracking the rock above it into long parallel walls called fins. Water then went to work on those fins, seeping into cracks, freezing and thawing winter after winter, prying the stone apart grain by grain. Where a thin fin was worn clean through, an arch was born. That slow patient carving is still going on today, which is why the park holds more than 2,000 arches and keeps making new ones while old ones fall.

The famous shapes are scattered across an easy park road and a handful of short trails. Delicate Arch stands alone above a sweeping bowl of slickrock, 65 feet tall and framing the mountains beyond. Balanced Rock is a boulder the size of three school buses perched on a narrowing stone pedestal that looks ready to topple at any moment. The Windows section gathers several giant arches in one short walk, and Devils Garden strings together a whole trail of them, ending at slender Landscape Arch, one of the longest natural arches in the world.

Between the big attractions the park spreads out into red desert: petrified sand dunes, balanced boulders, twisting fins, and wide views toward the snow-capped La Sal Mountains. It is high desert country, hot and dry in summer and cold in winter, with almost no shade anywhere. The reward for that open sky is color. At sunrise and sunset the rock turns a burning orange-red, and after dark the desert delivers some of the clearest, darkest star-filled skies in the country.

• Main Entrance, off US-191 just north of Moab, is the only way in for vehicles and is open year-round. The entrance station and the Arches Visitor Center sit right at the gate, and a single scenic park road climbs from there into the heart of the arches.
• Most visitors reach the park from Moab, about 5 miles to the south, which has full services. From farther away, Interstate 70 crosses northern Utah; from the I-70 town of Crescent Junction, US-191 runs south about 30 miles to Moab and the park gate.

• The Delicate Arch Trail is the park's signature hike, a 3-mile round trip with about 480 feet of climbing across open slickrock to the base of the famous arch. There is no shade, so it is best in cooler hours with plenty of water.
• Landscape Arch is reached by an easy walk of about 0.8 miles each way along the Devils Garden Trail, ending under one of the longest natural stone arches in the world, a ribbon of rock roughly 290 feet across.
• Balanced Rock is a short 0.3-mile paved loop around a 3,600-ton boulder that sits on a slowly eroding pedestal, one of the easiest and most striking stops in the park.
• Double Arch, in the Windows section, is a 0.5-mile round trip to two giant arches that spring from the same base of sandstone, tall enough to walk beneath.

People have known this red-rock country for thousands of years. Ancestral Puebloan and Fremont peoples lived and traveled across these lands long ago, leaving rock art and traces of their passing on the canyon walls nearby. In more recent centuries the Ute and Paiute peoples made the region around Moab their home, following the seasons across the desert and the mountains. Their long connection to this landscape came first, and it deserves to be remembered whenever we walk among these arches.

Newcomers were slow to grasp what was here. In the early 1900s a Hungarian-born prospector named Alexander Ringhoffer explored the fins and arches and began writing letters urging that the area be protected. His campaign, joined by railroad officials and local boosters, finally reached Washington. On April 12, 1929, President Herbert Hoover set the land aside as Arches National Monument.

In the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps built early roads and trails that opened the arches to visitors for the first time. The writer Edward Abbey spent seasons here as a park ranger in the late 1950s and turned his time into the book Desert Solitaire, one of the most beloved pieces of American nature writing, which drew wider attention to this quiet corner of Utah.

The monument grew over the years, and on November 12, 1971, Congress and President Richard Nixon gave it full national park status. Today Arches is one of the most visited parks in the country, and its careful management, including a seasonal timed-entry system, tries to protect both the fragile rock and the experience of standing beneath it in something close to silence.

• Arches holds the densest concentration of natural stone arches on the planet, more than 2,000 of them, all inside a park you can drive across in under an hour.
• To count as an official arch here, an opening must measure at least 3 feet across in one direction. Below that size it is called a hole or a window, not an arch.
• The arches are still changing. In 1991 a slab about the size of a bus fell from Landscape Arch while hikers watched, and rangers closed the trail directly beneath it for safety.
• Delicate Arch was once known by far plainer names, including the 'Chaps' and the 'Schoolmarm's Bloomers,' before it became the graceful icon on Utah's license plate.
• All this stone stands on a deep bed of ancient salt. As that buried salt slowly shifts and dissolves, the rock above it cracks and settles, which is what set the whole arch-making process in motion.
• The writer Edward Abbey worked here as a seasonal ranger and set his classic book Desert Solitaire in this park, back when it was a lonely monument with almost no visitors.
• The dark, dry desert air makes Arches a certified International Dark Sky Park, and on a clear moonless night the Milky Way arches right over the stone.
• Balanced Rock is not truly balanced. The huge boulder is still attached to its pedestal, but the soft neck of stone beneath it keeps eroding, so one day it will finally come down.

• An entrance fee applies (per vehicle, good for seven days), and interagency annual passes are accepted. Check the park website for current rates before you go.
• A timed-entry permit may be required to drive in during the busy season, roughly spring through fall. When it is in effect, reserve a time slot ahead through recreation.gov, and check the park website since the rules can change from year to year.
• The Arches Visitor Center at the entrance station is open year-round and is the place to get water, maps, and current trail and weather updates.
• Moab, about 5 miles south of the gate, has full services, restaurants, and gear shops. Fill up on gas, water, and supplies there, since there is none inside the park.

Yes. Arches charges a per-vehicle entrance fee that is good for seven days, and interagency annual passes such as the America the Beautiful pass are accepted. Check the National Park Service website for the current rate before you arrive.

You may. During the busy season, roughly spring through fall, Arches often uses a timed-entry permit system to control crowding, so you reserve a time slot ahead through recreation.gov. The rules can change from year to year, so check the park website before your trip. Outside the busy season no timed entry is usually needed.

The park is open year-round, and the main scenic road stays open in all seasons, though winter storms can bring temporary snow or ice closures. Summer is the hottest and most crowded time, while spring and fall are milder. Some trails and viewpoints can close briefly for maintenance or rockfall, so check current conditions at the visitor center.

Summer temperatures in the park regularly climb well over 100 degrees, and there is almost no shade anywhere. Heat is the most serious risk here. Carry more water than you think you need, drink often, wear a hat and sunscreen, and save longer hikes for early morning or evening. On the hottest days it is safest to avoid strenuous trails in the middle of the day entirely.

The Delicate Arch Trail is a 3-mile round trip with about 480 feet of climbing, most of it across open slickrock with no shade at all. It is moderate for most fit hikers but can feel much harder in summer heat. Bring plenty of water, wear good shoes with grip for the rock, and give yourself extra time. Many people time it for sunrise or sunset to avoid the worst of the sun.

The Fiery Furnace is a maze of tall narrow sandstone fins and passages, one of the most striking corners of the park. Because it is easy to get lost and the footing is tricky, it is not an ordinary marked trail. To explore it on your own you generally need a special permit, and there are also ranger-guided walks. Check the park website for current requirements before planning a visit there.

Spring and fall are the sweet spot, with comfortable temperatures for hiking and beautiful light on the rock. Summer is very hot and crowded, and winter is quiet and cold but can be stunning with a dusting of snow on the red stone. Whenever you come, early morning and the hour before sunset are the finest times to see the arches glow.

You can drive the scenic road and see several major arches, including Balanced Rock and the Windows, in a half day. To add the Delicate Arch hike and walk out to Landscape Arch in Devils Garden without rushing, plan on a full day. Sunrise and sunset are worth building your day around.

Pets are allowed in parking areas, along roads, and at pullouts, but not on any of the hiking trails or in the backcountry, so they cannot go to Delicate Arch or into Devils Garden. Never leave a pet in a vehicle in the desert heat, always bring water for them, and check the park website for the current pet rules.

There is one campground inside the park, Devils Garden, and it fills up fast, so reservations well ahead are strongly recommended. There is no lodge or hotel inside the park. Most visitors stay in Moab, about 5 miles south, which has a full range of places to stay along with restaurants, gas, and supplies.