When people learn that I've been visiting national parks, they often ask, "Do you have a favorite?" Yes. Yes I do. My favorite is Arches National Park in Utah.
Of course there's a longer answer to that question. One that includes a conversation about moods and timing and weather and companionship and beauty and the many other elements that make up an outdoor leisure experience. Humans are capricious creatures who caper to conclusions about affection for a place based on the most fickle and feckless of factors. (They are also prone to alliteration sometimes for no reason.)
But the shorter answer is Arches. If there was only one national park that I could go back to ...only one I could take friends and family to see... only one to give me that rush upon seeing it for the first time all over again... it would be Arches.
I traveled to Arches National Park on April 22, 2023 with my friend Gina. She flew in to Las Vegas International Airport, where I picked her up with a Subaru full of camping equipment. We visited Zion, Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks, and then, on our fourth day together, we spent the whole day at Arches. She is largely the reason Arches was such a joy and why our sojourn was so well documented. She took most of the pictures from our trip with the help of a long selfie stick.
(If not for Gina, the photos would have all turned out like this...)
But I'm jumping ahead...let's go back to the beginning:
Ticket:
Arches has a new system to deal with overcrowding. In peak season, April 1 to October 31, visitors are required to have a timed entry ticket to enter the park. We had not bought our ticket in advance. Why not? Well, one loophole is that you can enter the park without a timed entry pass as long as you enter before 7am or after 4:30 pm. Since we are both early risers, our plan was to enter at 6:30 a.m.
However - Gina found another solution on the Arches website: "A limited number of tickets will be available for purchase one day prior to entry at 7 p.m. MDT through Recreation.gov."
So 7 p.m. the night before our visit we both logged into Recreation.gov to snag a last minute ticket. Gina got in first and booked 8 a.m. Done! Now we could sleep in a bit longer and take advantage of the free donuts in the lobby of the motel. (Let's call it carbo loading!)
Planned itinerary:
There wasn't one.
What we did:
7:50 a.m.
We started our day taking goofy photos at the entry sign. (As one does when on a sugar high from the free donuts in the lobby of the motel.)
8:00 a.m.
We stopped at the Visitors Center to talk to rangers for their recommendations.
8:15 a.m.
We begin driving into the park. The next half hour is absolutely unreal...and it's my favorite part.
When driving across America, I have experienced certain moments that outshine all other moments. I call them "Jesus! Fucking! God!" moments. I apologize if that offends anyone. It's literally the words that came out of my mouth once - unbidden, unintended and blurted at high volume - when I came over a hill in northeast Iowa and experienced an unexpected and astonishing view. I heard myself yell "Jesus! Fucking! God!" as if the words were burst out of a bubble in my chest. I pulled over, laughed at myself and stayed atop that hill until the sun set and I recovered my senses.
I've seen a lot of American landscapes since, but those "JFG" moments are few and far between. Arches was one of these moments. Only Gina can tell you if I uttered those words again. I was transported to another plane of existence. Every part of that drive - from the Visitor's Center for the next half hour - is mind-blowing. I'll include pictures, but just know in advance... they are NOT going to do it justice.
We took our time, stopping often to appreciate the views. Some of the geologic formations in this section have fun names, including Sausage Rock, Park Avenue, Courthouse Towers, Three Gossips, Sheep Rock, and The Phallus. (I was going to Google who named that last one, but decided - I think wisely - against.)
At the Park Avenue Trailhead we paused and chatted with a hiker - a photographer with experience in the park. On his advice we opted not to hike that trail, but instead to go deeper into the park to avoid crowds of people soon to be entering on our heels. It was the right choice, and we lucked out for the rest of the morning, often having trails and arches to ourselves.
8:45 a.m.
Windows Viewpoint and Trail - 1 mile roundtrip
An easy trail leading to three spectacular arches - this was the perfect start to our day.
9:45 a.m.
Double Arch Trail - 0.5 mile roundtrip
Without having to move the car, we had access to a second spectacular trail. Double Arch Trail leads past the Parade of Elephants rock formation and directly to beautiful Double Arch.
10:45ish
Snacking/driving. Apples and jerky and trail mix, oh my.
11:00ish
Delicate Arch Viewpoint Trails - 200 feet (lower viewpoint), 1 mile roundtrip (upper viewpoint)
Delicate Arch is the busiest destination at Arches. We had read and heard that tourists regularly wait in line for an hour to have their photo taken at Delicate Arch. We were not interested in being in a crowd, (never our style) so we opted for these hikes instead...which gave us distant views of the iconic arch.
12:00ish
Fiery Furnace Viewpoint
Fiery Furnace is an iconic part of Arches National Park. Hiking in Fiery Furnace is grueling and requires signing up for a ranger-led tour or purchasing an individual permit. Visitors must climb on irregular surfaces, scuttle along narrow ledges, spider-crawl in crevices and jump across chasms.
We did not do that.
Instead we went to the Fiery Furnace Viewpoint to get a good look from above. We successfully avoided injury and learned more about the geology of the park - win win. A trip into the Fiery Furnace may be in the future, but it wasn't right for this sojourn.
12:30 p.m.
Sand Dune Arch - 0.4 mile roundtrip
We loved this short, aptly named hike! A well-marked trail leads through sandstone fins to a secluded arch. It feels like you're a little kid getting to play inside a castle and go on a treasure hunt in a sandy playground. We both kept thinking of kids in our lives who would love it here.
12:50 p.m.
Hike to Broken Arch - 1.4 miles roundtrip
The trailhead for this trail is located near the same parking lot as the trailhead to Sand Dune Arch. The brochure accurately describes it as "An easy trail across open grassland", but fails to mention what a spectacular arch it is to visit...mainly because the arch is gigantic and fun to scramble around in.
When we arrived at the arch, a nice couple from Michigan was just leaving - Steve and Sherry. They were RVers with years of experience on the road, and they stopped and shared a few tips. (If you look closely at the photo below, you'll see me writing down their advice on the Notes app on my phone.)
When Steve and Sherry left we had Broken Arch to ourselves. We climbed and slid and scrambled and crawled all over the arch and took lots of pictures. May have had a meditative moment or two.
2:30 p.m.
Last hike - to Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch - 1 mile roundtrip
Finally we drove to the last stop on the road, farthest north - Devil's Garden Trailhead. I estimate we hiked about a half mile out and a half mile back on a hard-packed, gently sloped trail with amazing vistas.
Along the way we took side trails to see Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch.
I don't quite remember, but the photos would indicate that we decided to call it a day at Pine Tree Arch.
By 3:30 pm we exited the park, headed for an early dinner in Moab. All in all, it was a thoroughly magnificent day in the universe, on planet Earth, in the state of Utah, within the singularity that is... Arches National Park.
Sojourn on!