A Day At Arches National Park
Although one could spend many days exploring Arches National Park, we had one and we tried to make the best of it! (Even with a pup tagging along).
Taking Turns At Arches National Park
Unfortunately Arches National Park just really isn’t a dog friendly park in the slightest. Dogs are certainly allowed in the park itself, but as far as getting them exercise on the trails…it just isn’t happening. So Deanna and I had to take turns on most of the trails in order to explore the area.
The first trail we hit up as soon as we got to the park was called Devil’s Garden Trailhead. There are a ton of arches along this trail and it didn’t take too long to get to them. Although Deanna didn’t hike to it (thus no photo above), I first hiked to Landscape Arch which is the 5th longest natural arch in the world! Crazy right?
After I came back from seeing that arch, Deanna hiked the same trail and got some sweet photos of Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch above. It is hard to believe the area has such a high concentration of natural arches (the largest in the world).
Sand Dune Arch
After taking turns at Devil’s Garden Trailhead, we headed over to much smaller parking that was close to both Sand Dune Arch and Broken Arch. We decided to leave Blaze in the truck on the very cool morning and hike this trail together.
As you can see from the photos (above), we only ended up hiking to Sand Dune Arch due to leaving Blaze alone in the truck, but this is a must see trail in my opinion. It isn’t exactly a slot canyon, but certainly gives you that feel as you hike down some narrow passages to view Sand Dune Arch.
Do keep in mind that they don’t call this Sand Dune Arch for nothing. The trail leading you back to the arch is mostly sand…so odds are you will be getting some sand in your shoes! 🙂
Fiery Furnace Viewpoint
If you want to see some views other than arches, check out Fiery Furnace Viewpoint. This viewpoint really shows how vast and beautiful the surrounding area of Arches National Park really is.
When we were visited, not many people were checking out this particular viewpoint, so it could be a great place to just sit down and enjoy the view.
Delicate Arch Viewpoint and Petroglyphs
The delicate arch and petroglyphs are probably better viewed in the video at the top of this blog post. This is a very well sought after area and the parking lot was extremely packed when we arrived. Folks were battling over spots and one person even yelled at us claiming we were about to take their spot. Intense right? haha
After we did find a spot, we once again took turns but not hiking to delicate arch itself. We LOVE seeing petroglyphs throughout all of the national parks and monuments in this part of the country. Arches is no different having a section to view these neat rock drawings.
After hitting up a short portion of this trail, we hopped back in the truck and drove to the Delicate Arch Viewpoint area. At this viewpoint area you can either just stay at the bottom (what we did) and just view the arch from afar, or you can hike up a short trail to get a better close up view of the famous arch.
Panorama Point
Although a bit busier than the Fiery Furnace Viewpoint, Panorama Point is another excellent place to view the park from an overall perspective. Not many arches within view of this area, but the different colored rocks and mountainous terrain really is breathtaking.
The Windows
After hitting up Arches National Park…I suggest trying to pick a couple areas to visit and get there EARLY. This was another parking lot where we just barely found a parking spot to explore. Even if you don’t get a chance to hike down any of the trails in this area, just driving through is also a beautiful sight as you can see many arches from the road.
Since we were able to find a parking spot, we once again took turns hiking to 3 different arches. The North Window, South Window, and also Turret Arch.
All of these arches are HUGE! Not really by width from side to side, but from top to bottom the rock is very thick. The trail getting up to these arches is fairly easy, but still not wheel chair accessible. It almost looks as if they tried to make it wheel chair accessible at one point and failed. Not sure what is going on with that middle concrete layer.
As you can see, there are many arches in the midst of being formed as well throughout the park. We obviously won’t be seeing them during our lifetimes, but will be formed for generations to come.
The windows was the last section we were able to hit up that day and this adventure really did take most of the day. So bring lots of water and try to have a game plan before you get to the national park itself. So much to see and do at Arches National Park!
OTHER “NEARBY” ADVENTURES
Great Sand Dunes National Park
Favorite Hike at Rocky Mountain National Park
Alluvial Fan Rocky Mountain National Park
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
NOTE FROM WRITER
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Also be sure to check out Deanna’s food blog, The Harvest Skillet, when you get the chance! A lot of awesome and healthy recipes to use there!
Adventure On!
