Sometimes when traveling, you have one shot to visit a bucket list park. We were traveling as a family around Utah and were in Moab, home to Arches National Park, for just one day. It was also a day of 90ยบ temperatures! Here is what we found to do to make the most of our day and beat the heat!
5-Devil’s Garden trail and Landscape Arch
The best way to beat the heat is to start early! We arrived in the park by 8:00 am and decided the best plan would be to skip areas like the fiery furnace and the longer hike to Delicate Arch and head to the far end of the park where a short hike would take us to the longest arch in the world. The Devil’s Garden trailhead took us to 4 different arches with less than 2 miles of hiking. The first two arches, Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch, were found on a spur trail to the right, shortly after we began.
Back on the main section of the Devil’s Garden Trail, it wasn’t long before the sandy trail became peppered with boulders and Landscape Arch appeared on the left. With a light opening of 306 feet, this is the longest arch in the world! In September of 1991, a 60 foot section of the arch broke off and fell. You can no longer hike beneath it. The forces of nature that created these sandstone arches are still at work today, creating new ones as the old ones fall.
We traveled up the path a bit as it became more of a rock scramble, to see one last arch. Partition arch was almost hidden in the sandstone wall to the left side of the trail. At this point, the sun was getting hot and we retraced our steps back to the parking lot.
4-Sand Dune Arch
Driving just a short distance back down the park road, we pulled off again at the stop for Sand Dune Arch. This is a great stop for kids for several reasons. First, the trail is shaded and there is deep sand on the ground. The kids loved it. Second, it is super short, just .3 miles round trip. Third, it was secluded and less popular, we were the only ones exploring it!
3-Balanced Rock
Continuing on the park road back toward the visitor center, the next stop we made was Balanced Rock. The trail here is also just .3 miles long. It loops around this interesting and delicate rock formation with nice views of the windows in the distance.
2-Double Arch and the Windows
After seeing the array of rock formations that comprise the windows section from afar, we decided to get a little closer. By this time, it was approaching noon and getting pretty hot out. The same parking area serves both the Windows and Double Arch. We walked toward the Windows, but the trail was pretty exposed. We took a few photos from a distance then headed to the closer, shadier, Double Arch.
Double Arch was very neat to look at and you could walk right under the arches and sit in their shade. The red sandstone was in sharp contrast against the brilliant blue sky.
1-Park Avenue
At this point, no amount of cool water or snacks could keep the kids from whining. So we made one last stop at Park Avenue, primarily because the rock formations could be seen from the air conditioned car! I made a mental note to return to Arches someday to complete the hike to Delicate Arch and explore the Fiery Furnace on a ranger led tour. But for today, we marveled at one last natural phenomenon together, before heading back to the hotel to spend the afternoon swimming in the pool.
