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Tucked away in southeastern Utah among jaw dropping canyons, you’ll find Arches National Park.
Made up of fiery rocks, gravity defying arches, and picture perfect views reminiscent of the old west, Arches does not disappoint.
The park is small but mighty. You’ll find over 2,000 arches, miles of hiking trails, and a landscape that will take your breath away.
Arches was the first stop on our Utah Mighty 5 road trip, and our favorite park of the five. Even if you only have one day in Arches National Park, you can still enjoy the best of what the park has to offer.
I’ve put together an Arches National Park itinerary with a one day and two day option for your trip.
Basic Information
- Location: Located right outside of Moab, Utah
- Entrance Fee: $30 per vehicle, valid for 7 days
One Day in Arches National Park
While I recommend you spend at least two days exploring the park, you can still see a lot on a day trip to Arches.
The park has one main road, and you’ll find that it’s pretty easy to get to most attractions.
Here’s the short version of the Arches itinerary, assuming you start at sunrise!
Arches National Park Itinerary: Short Version
- Start by hiking Delicate Arch
- Head over to the end of the park road and do the short version of the Devils Garden trail;
- Have a picnic lunch inside the park;
- See more arches along the way back on the park road;
- Explore the Windows section of the park;
- Catch the sunset
I’ve included all the details you’ll want to know in order to plan your Arches National Park itinerary!
Sunrise: Hike Delicate Arch
- Length: 3 miles roundtrip
- Difficulty: moderate to difficult
- Approximate Time: 2 – 3 hours
- Drive Time from Entrance Station: 30-35 minutes
If you only have one day in Arches National Park, plan to start your day bright and early!
And what better way to start your morning than with a hike?
Perhaps no structure in the park is more iconic than Delicate Arch, and the hike to view it up close does not disappoint.
This 3 mile round trip hike starts at the Wolfe Ranch parking lot, and climbs about 480 feet through red, slippery slickrock.
Most of the elevation gain happens when you come to the hill of slickrock, but you’ll be rewarded with beautiful views every step of the way.
The last 200 yards of the trail are on a narrow ledge, which finally gives way to Delicate Arch. While the hike here can be challenging, the beauty of the arch makes it well worth it.
Bonus: doing this hike at sunrise means you’ll avoid the blazing sun, heat, and large crowds.
Tip: Dress in layers, pack a hiking hat, and bring plenty of water. If you prefer to hike Delicate Arch for sunset, you can hike the Devil’s Garden in the morning instead.
See 3 Arches in One Easy Trail
- Length: 1.8 miles roundtrip
- Difficulty: easy
- Approximate Time: 30 minutes – 1.5 hour
After your sunrise hike, drive to the end of the park road to continue exploring even more arches.
The Devils Garden trailhead is the starting point to your arch-viewing adventure. While this trail quickly becomes difficult past Landscape Arch, the beginning of it is fairly easy, and rewarding.
As you start your hike, you’ll very quickly come to a short, spur trail taking you to Pine Arch and Tunnel Arch. Both of these are pretty cool, but Tunnel Arch was my favorite.
Back on the main trail, you’ll see cool rock formations illuminated in the morning light. The views here are pretty, and worth the hike.
Eventually, you’ll come to the signs for Landscape Arch, the largest arch in the world. This thin ribbon of rock is unlike any other, and made the trek well worth it.
You can continue beyond Landscape Arch, but the trail quickly becomes very difficult. I recommend turning around here.
Don’t worry though, the views on the way back are equally stunning!
Tip: the parking lot for the Devils Garden trailhead fills up QUICK, so grab the first spot you see.
Where to Eat Lunch
To make the most of your time in the park, you’ll want to pack your lunch as there’s no restaurants in the park.
There’s a picnic area right outside the Devils Garden campground, which is perfect for stopping at right after your hike to Landscape Arch.
If you don’t want to bring your lunch or forget, you’ll have to go all the way down to the town of Moab for lunch options.
You should be aware that the rangers will sometimes shut down the park right around lunchtime and won’t let any cars in.
Be prepared to be out for a few hours before you’re allowed to return to the park!
After Lunch, Check Out Skyline Arch
- Length: 0.4 miles roundtrip
- Difficulty: easy
- Approximate Time: 10 – 20 minutes
One of my favorite things about Arches is how easy it is to see some pretty cool arches.
After picnicking at Devils Garden, you’ll want to check out Skyline Arch. This is a super easy and short hike, less than half a mile round trip!
The arch sits right on the skyline, and makes for a really pretty view.
While most people access the arch from the main park road, I found the view prettier when you view the arch from the Devils Garden campground amphitheater.
Tip: if you camp at Devils Garden, head over to Skyline Arch from the amphitheater for a really pretty view of the sunset.
Squeeze Through to Sand Dune Arch
- Length: 0.3 miles roundtrip
- Difficulty: easy
- Approximate Time: 15 – 30 minutes
Continuing back on the road towards the park entrance you’ll come across the trail for Sand Dune Arch.
The trail is fairly short, but having to go through the short, narrow slot canyon walls to get to the arch made this pretty fun!
The arch itself sits hidden in the among red fins, surrounded by a soft and sandy bottom.
San Dune Arch sits in the shade most of the day, and you can walk directly underneath. It was fun to see the arch from different angles.
Overall, I think Sand Dune Arch is worth the walk.
Optional Addition: Broken Arch & Tapestry Arch
Explore the Windows
- Length: 1 mile roundtrip
- Difficulty: easy
- Approximate Time: 30 – 90 minutes
Second only to Delicate Arch, the Windows were one of my favorite things to see in Arches National Park!
This section of the park is stunning, and is home to some beautiful arches and rock formations.
A short hiking trail will take you to the North and South Window, as well as Turret Arch.
The first arch you’ll see on your left is the North Window. The trail will take you directly under the arch, giving you panoramic views in either direction, as well as some much needed shade!
Continuing along, you get closer to Turret Arch, and continue to the South Window viewpoint.
Both the North and South Window look similar, so it took us a second to realize when we got to the South Window viewpoint!
Tip: If you continue along the backside of the windows on the primitive trail, you’ll be able to see both windows at once, cleverly named “The Spectacles”.
Hike to Double Arch
- Length: 0.5 mile roundtrip
- Difficulty: easy
- Approximate Time: 15-30 minutes
Located in the Windows area, Double Arch is pretty cool, and much different than most of the arches you will have seen by now.
The hike to the arch is easy and flat. You get good views of the arch from the trail, and there’s many opportunities to stop and get a photo.
We chose to continue to hike a bit up the arch itself. You have to scramble up the rocks, but we found a shady spot to hang out in and take in the view.
The view underneath the arch is spectacular, and absolutely worth the trip.
Tip: Double Arch shares a parking lot with The Windows. The parking lot fills up fast, and you may have to circle around several times before you get a spot. Note that the rangers usually don’t let you stop and get for a spot, so you have to have patience and get lucky.
Photograph Balanced Rock
- Length: 0.3 mile roundtrip
- Difficulty: easy
- Approximate Time: 15-30 minutes
Balanced Rock is a pretty cool rock formation that towers above the landscape. The rock looks, well, balanced!
You can photograph the rock without doing the walk, but you’ll want to get close to appreciate the sheer size of it.
Like a lot of places in Arches, Balanced Rock takes on a fiery appearance as the setting sun illuminates it.
Overall, this is an easy stop to make at Arches, and worth the pretty photos you’ll come home with!
Watch the Colors at Sunset
While I loved Arches in the early light of dawn, the park is truly at its best when the sun starts to go down.
The setting sun sets the park ablaze in vibrant hues of fiery red. The fins, rocks and arches in the park are stunning, and are gorgeous to photograph with the setting sun.
Pick a viewpoint along the scenic road to admire the colors in the park when the sun starts setting, you won’t be disappointed.
Arches National Park Two Day Itinerary
While you can explore a lot of what the park has to offer, I strongly recommend you spend at least two days in Arches.
Not only will you be able to see more, but you won’t be rushing from one attraction to another, especially if something goes wrong.
True story: I twisted my ankle after my hike to Delicate Arch (which was the first hike of my trip!) Having more than one day planned in Arches allowed me room to recover and still see most of what I wanted to.
Traveling more slowly allows you to enjoy the natural beauty of the park, and gives you room for some spontaneous fun.
2 Days in Arches National Park Itinerary
For your second day in the park, plan to complete any of the hikes from Day 1 if you ran out of time, and add the following:
Stargazing
If you have two days or more in Arches National Park you absolutely need to spend some time in the park after dark!
You’ll be rewarded with breathtaking, starry skies, and views of the Milky Way!
We were at Arches with an almost full moon and the light of our campfire and still were able to see the Milky Way, that’s how dark these skies truly are.
We stargazed from the Devils Garden campground, but anywhere in the park would give you great views.
Hike Park Avenue
- Length: 2 miles roundtrip
- Difficulty: moderate
- Approximate Time: 1.5 hours
One of the first things you’ll notice when you drive into Arches are the towering rock formations welcoming you as you ascend into the park.
This part of the park was one of my favorites, and I absolutely LOVED watching the sun playing off the rocks and bathing them in shades of orange and red.
You can get up close and personal to these stunning rock structures by hiking the Park Avenue trail.
The trail will take you down a pretty canyon and all the way to Courthouse Towers. You’ll need to double back to return to your car, or have someone pick you up to shorten the hike.
This hike was high on my list, but we ultimately ran out of time due to a twisted ankle. However, it’ll be the first one I do when I’m lucky enough to return to Arches!
See Broken Arch
- Length: 2 miles roundtrip
- Difficulty: easy
- Approximate Time: 1 hour
The loop for Broken Arch starts in the same parking lot as Sand Dune Arch. If you have the extra time, this is a fairly easy hike through a pretty meadow.
When you get to the arch itself you’ll notice that it’s not actually broken, instead there’s a crack at the top that makes it appear so.
You can combine Broken Arch with Sand Dune Arch and Tapestry Arch as well. There’s a trail from the main park road, as well as from the Devils campground.
Fiery Furnace
- Difficulty: hard
If you’re looking for an adventure, make sure you check out the Fiery Furnance.
There’s no clear trail, so you need to book a ranger-led tour or get a day permit in order to check out this network of narrow canyons.
Tours are generally available between May 1 to September 26 of every year. They book up far in advance as this is super popular, so plan properly.
Unfortunately, tours were not available when we visited, but everything we’ve read about this puts it high on our list for our next visit to Arches.
If You Have More Time
Arches National Park is just a few miles away from the town of Moab, giving you plenty of options for things to do in the area.
If you have the time, there’s a ton of hiking trails and beautiful spaces to check out. One of my favorites was Moonflower Canyon, a super short hike through a beautiful red rock canyon.
Similarly, Canyonlands National Park is super close by, and is absolutely worth the trip. You can spend half a day or more in the park, and you’ll be rewarded with stunning views.
Best Things To Do in Arches National Park
Below are some of the best things to do in Arches National Park. If you need to prioritize your time, focus on seeing and photographing there below while you’re here.
- Hike Delicate Arch
- See Landscape Arch
- Skyline Arch
- Sand Dune Arch
- Explore the Windows
- See Double Arch
- Photograph Balanced Rock
- Drive the Scenic Road
Where to Stay near Arches National Park
You’ll have plenty of options for places to stay near Arches National Park. The town of Moab has plenty of hotels, campgrounds and Airbnbs to suit your style.
If you’re able to snag a spot at Devils Garden campground inside Arches, I highly recommend it. If camping isn’t your style, check out the following hotels and Airbnbs:
- If you’re traveling by yourself or with just another person, check out this cute, small studio in Moab.
- For families, or those looking for more space, this spacious Airbnb even comes with a hot tub!
- And this is an adorable, boutique resort close to the parks.
Best Time to Visit Arches
Because Arches sits in a desert environment, summers tend to be scorching hot, and there’s almost no shade.
For the best weather, the best time to visit Arches is in the late spring and early fall months. We visited in early October and the weather was beautiful!
In the winter you’ll find snow in the park, in beautiful contrast to the red rocks. However, the hikes can be super slippery, so plan accordingly.
How Many Days in Arches National Park
I think the optimal amount of time to spend in Arches is a full two days. While you can do plenty with one day in Arches, two days will allow you to see and do more.
We felt we could have easily spent a full week in Moab, so trust me, you won’t run out of things to do!
Tips to Know in Advance
- Pack your meals, because there’s no restaurants or concessions in the park.
- It’s not uncommon for the park to close in the middle of the day due to overcrowding and lack of parking. If you leave, know that you may not be allowed back in for a few hours.
- There’s almost no shade in the park, so you’ll want to bring your own.
- If you want to camp, the Devils Garden campground is the only one in the park and books up FAR in advance.
What to Pack
There’s a couple of things you’ll want to bring to have the best Arches day trip possible. I’d highly encourage you to pack these to make your life a bit easier while you’re there!
- Reusable water bottle: this is the one I take with me everywhere. At Arches, you NEED to bring plenty of water with you.
- Sun hat: I have this affordable one, and love it. There’s no shade on the trails, so create your own!
- Hiking socks: these are incredible, come with a lifetime warranty, and kept my feet from getting blisters.
- Hiking boots: This is the pair that got me through a weeklong Mighty 5 hiking trip. I love the brand, and highly recommend it.
- Sunscreen: this brand smells like coconuts, and is super lightweight.
- Plenty of snacks: there’s no concessions in the park, so bring some yummy energy bars at the minimum.
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