Have you been thinking about visiting Arches National Park? We definitely recommend that you do! So we put together a quick guide to help you decide how you want to plan your trip.
About the Park
The purpose of Arches National Park is to protect extraordinary examples of geologic features including arches, natural bridges, windows, spires, and balanced rocks, as well as other features of geologic, historic, and scientific interest, and to provide opportunities to experience these resources and their associated values in their majestic natural settings.
(As stated in the foundation document for the park in the NPS Website)
Park Overview
Arches National Park is one of Utah’s Mighty Five, located near Moab on the eastern side of the state. The park contains over 2,000 natural sandstone arches in an area that is just shy of 120 sq. miles. The iconic Delicate Arch, pictured above, is a famous symbol of Utah (it’s even on their license plate!) and a top destination for travelers. As such, in recent years this park has been averaging almost 1.5 million visitors each year, with most of those coming in May through October. Surprisingly, this is middle of the pack for Utah’s parks, with Zion and Bryce Canyon having the most annual visitors, Capitol Reef being slightly less than Arches, and Canyonlands coming in with the least.
Things to See & Do
There is an abundance of recreational activities to do and wildlife and plant species to see in addition to the park’s arches, stone pillars, rocks, and more. Approved recreational activities include hiking, biking, camping (at designated campsites), backpacking (with approved permits), canyoneering (with approved permits), and rock climbing (with approved permits). NPS also provides ranger led programs like talks, evening programs, guided hikes, stargazing, and art projects.The wildlife that calls the park home include mule deer, bobcats, coyotes, porcupines, desert cottontails, black-tail jackrabbits, owls, bats, foxes, mountain lions, a variety of desert rodents, skunks, squirrels, chipmunks, lizards, snakes, hawks, and eagles. If plants are more your thing, you can find prickly pear cactus, Indian ricegrass, Utah juniper, blackbrush, yucca, pinyon pine, and evening primrose, just to name a few.
Land Acknowledgement
Humans have occupied this land since the last ice age, over 10,000 years ago. As noted in the official Arches NPS Website, “The NPS acknowledges, with respect, that Native people have been successful stewards of the land within the park since time immemorial. The NPS understands that the park is located within the ancestral and traditional homeland of the Hopi Tribe, Las Vegas Tribe of Paiute Indians of the Las Vegas Indian Colony, Moapa Band of Paiute Indians of the Moapa River Reservation, Navajo Nation, Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Sioux Reservation, Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Ute Indian Tribe of Uintah and Ouray Reservation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, White Mesa Ute, and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation.”
Arches was first established as a National Monument in April 1929 by President Herbert Hoover, then established as the 34th U.S. National Park in November 1971 by President Richard Nixon.
Quick Facts
- Private Vehicle Fee: $30.00
- Motorcycle Fee: $25.00
- Per Person (no auto) Fee: $15.00
- Park Hours: 24/7
- Visitor Center: hours vary, but open daily except for Christmas
- Pets: if leashed, allowed ONLY along established roads, parking areas, campgrounds, and picnic areas
- Campgrounds: 1 (Devil’s Garden)
- Timed entry permits are required from April 1 – July 6 and August 28 – October 31. They can be purchased on recreation.gov. It costs $2.00 per permit (non-refundable).
- Devil’s Garden Campground is first-come, first-served from Nov-Feb, and by reservation from Mar-Oct (can reserve up to 6 months in advance)
Seasonal considerations
What time of year you decide to visit Arches National Park will have the biggest impact on your experience.
| Avg High Temp (F) | Avg Low Temp (F) | Avg Precipitation (in) | Avg Visitation (2022-2024) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| APRIL | 71 | 42 | 0.75 | 152,316 |
| MAY | 82 | 51 | 0.72 | 185,256 |
| Avg High Temp (F) | Avg Low Temp (F) | Avg Precipitation (in) | Avg Visitation (2022-2024) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JUNE | 93 | 60 | 0.39 | 177,735 |
| JULY | 100 | 67 | 0.91 | 160,216 |
| AUGUST | 97 | 66 | 0.99 | 143,532 |
| Avg High Temp (F) | Avg Low Temp (F) | Avg Precipitation (in) | Avg Visitation (2022-2024) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEPTEMBER | 88 | 55 | 0.89 | 160,589 |
| OCTOBER | 74 | 42 | 1.18 | 140,987 |
| Avg High Temp (F) | Avg Low Temp (F) | Avg Precipitation (in) | Avg Visitation (2022-2024) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOVEMBER | 56 | 30 | 0.60 | 81,826 |
| DECEMBER | 45 | 23 | 0.53 | 46,614 |
| JANUARY | 44 | 22 | 0.56 | 33,379 |
| FEBRUARY | 52 | 28 | 0.47 | 48,114 |
| MARCH | 64 | 35 | 0.68 | 139,178 |
top things to do
1. delicate arch
What’s a visit to Arches without seeing the iconic Delicate Arch? This hike is 3.2 miles and 629′ elevation gain.
2. Devil’s garden
This trail gives a well-rounded experience of the park, with several arch viewpoints (including Landscape Arch), expansive desert and mountain views, and a mix of maintained and primitive trails. This hike is 8.0 miles and 1,158′ elevation gain.
3. double arch trail
This is a quick stop but well worth it! At just 0.6 miles with 95′ elevation gain, it’s an easier hike but it brings you right up to the base of these arches! There is an optional scramble at the end to get up close and personal.
4. arches scenic drive
This is the one road that runs through the park, spanning 19 miles one-way and ending at the Devil’s Garden Trailhead. It takes roughly an hour and a half to drive the total distance, but you will want to plan for more time for all the viewpoints!
5. astro-photography
Arches is a designated Dark Sky Park, so get your cameras (and blankets) ready to head out late in the evening to capture some beautiful photos of the night sky!
6. fiery furnace
This hike is a maze-like area of sandstone canyons, slot canyons, and fins that requires a permit or ranger-guided tour to explore due to its complex, unmarked trails, steep climbs, and potential for disorientation. This is a 2.1 mile hike with 508′ elevation gain.
7. park avenue
This hike is a short and sweet one, bringing hikers past formations like The Three Gossips and The Court House Towers.This is a 1.8 mile hike with 308′ elevation gain.
NOTE: This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the things to do in this park! These are just the things that caught our attention and came up often when researching our trip.
Our Adventures
We visited Arches National Park during our road trip to Moab in February 2024. Though we only spent one day at the park, we felt like we were able to see everything we wanted to! We would never pass up an opportunity to visit again, of course, and we’re hopeful that our next trek out there will include hiking Fiery Furnace.
We spent about 13 hours in the park completing this itinerary:
- Devil’s Garden Trail (6.1 miles, 919 ft elevation gain, 3.5 hours total)
- Windows Loop Trail (0.7 miles, 177 ft elevation gain, 23 min total)
- Double Arch Trail (0.9 miles, 197 ft elevation gain, 32 min total)
- Delicate Arch Trail (3.2 miles, 620 ft elevation gain, 2.25 hours total)
- Arches Scenic Drive
- Astrophotography at Double Arch area
Because we visited in the off-season (even though it was a holiday weekend), we did not have to deal with timed entry, large crowds, or a lack of parking. In fact, we started our day at Devil’s Garden Trail and saw maybe two other groups the entire time! We feel that this played a huge part in being able to see as much as we did.
If you want to read more about our visit to Arches National Park (along with our stops at Canyonlands, Dead Horse Point, Moab, and Rifle Falls, check out our Winter Itinerary for Moab post!
Our Tips for visiting
Define Your Priorities
When you’re planning your trip to Arches National Park, make sure you really take into consideration what your priorities are for your itinerary! Do you want to do a greatest hits tour or do you want to get out in the backcountry (or both)? Are ranger programs super important to you? Do you prefer flexibility in your day or can you keep a strict schedule? Do you mind crowds or are you indifferent? How many days do you have to explore? The recommended amount of time to fully explore this park is 2-3 days, but it is very possible to see the top spots in just one day in the off season.
It’s questions like these that will help push you in the right direction when it comes to planning your trip. As noted above, summer is peak season, with long daylight hours for full days of exploring and full services from the NPS. The trade off to this, though, is timed entry, peak crowds, and extreme heat. Winter is the least crowded season with the opportunity to see more with less traffic (and no timed entry!), but the trade off here is colder weather, potential icy conditions to plan for, and limited NPS services.
We chose this trip based on proximity to home for a winter road trip, and we are extremely grateful that we came when we did! Dealing with the cold and some ice was worth having the freedom to do as many hikes as we could without needing to hideout midday to avoid extreme heat or plan accordingly to avoid crowds.
Come Prepared!
Regardless of what time of year you decide to go and what you decide to do, it is so important that you come fully prepared with proper gear, plenty of water, and whatever permits or reservations you may need for your activities. It’s always a good idea to also download offline maps; we typically create an offline map on Google Maps for the area we are traveling to as well as download maps on AllTrails for all of the hikes we plan to do. If time allows, making the Visitor Center one of your first stops of the day is helpful if you are unsure about any road or trail conditions, hiking ability, weather, etc. The rangers are all super kind and are there to help you make the most of your day while keeping everyone safe!
Finally, always follow the Leave No Trace principles to ensure that you recreate responsibly and help to protect these beautiful spaces we love to visit!
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