Here is chapter 3 from our trip to Southern Utah last month. If you missed the other chapters, read them here and here.
Arches National Park is located just outside Moab, UT. It has become a ‘timed entry permit required’ park. Like so many national parks, it became overrun and extremely busy and they implemented timed-entry. I will say it made it for an extremely pleasant visit.
We had 7AM permits and drove in about 7:50am. (You have an hour to enter with your permit – if your permit is 2PM, you will have from 2-2:59PM to enter the park.) We were able to enter quickly, stop at the visitor center and fill up with water and use bathrooms.
We then headed into the park and stopped at:
Windows Arch
We headed into the first stop having by-passed a couple of turnoffs. The Windows Arch is actually several arches all in a small area and you can do about a mile walk if you want to do it. (North Window, South Window and Turret Arch.)
Some of our friends saw a snake, so there are definitely rattlesnakes in the area, but I (thankfully) didn’t see or hear any!
We walked around the corner to see South Window Arch and then over to Turret Arch. All of these are within the same parking lot. Enjoy the beauty!
Double Arch
Across the parking lot, down a short trail past the toilets, is another short trail to see Double Arch.
We climbed up in there and explored around. The rocks look steep but are easy to climb if you have decent traction on your shoes.
We then drove down the road to Delicate Arch!
Delicate Arch
This is a tough 3ish mile hike up to see this arch. There are viewpoints down below that you can drive to, but we didn’t go to those. As tough as it was to get to, it was worth the effort. I struggled because it was day 8 of a hiking trip and my stamina was waning by that point.
You may recognize this arch if you’ve ever seen a UT license plate. This is the arch featured for the state. It’s pretty iconic!!
Most of the trail up was on slickrock (which isn’t slick when dry!!) and easy to walk around. If you’re afraid of heights, this may be a decent test of your resolve.
This trail is very exposed, so make sure you have water with you and are wearing proper sun gear.
Final stop on this day was at the end of the road. The group went out to Landscape Arch, but I stayed in the car and snoozed. I was exhausted by this point. Mr. LSH & I plan to go back to this area in the future, so I know I’ll get to see Landscape Arch another time.
Fiery Furnace
The next day, we went back to the Fiery Furnace. Permits are required. Permits are available at 8AM MT the week prior to going. If you intend to go on Wednesday, then log into the recreation.gov site early the Wednesday prior to get permits.
We picked up the permits the day before at the visitor center and watched the required video. We spoke with the ranger before heading who had some really great information. They allow 75 people total per day which makes it a wonderful experience to be able to explore without constantly running into masses of people.
The Fiery Furnace is a rock playground. You’re allowed to explore anywhere in this area as long as you stay in a sandy wash or on rock. There are delicate areas that you aren’t allowed to step, but there is plenty of ways around these areas to explore.
Again, the slickrock is easy to walk around and maneuver on with decent traction on your shoes.
The park has small signs with arrows posted pointing to the loop that help to keep you moving in the right direction. There are plenty of side trails (or ‘routes’ as trails are a relative term when you’re on sand or rocks) to explore. We found the Kissing Turtle Arch and Surprise Arch, crawled into a cave, found a huge hole in a rock formation that was similar to the Golden Cathedral and saw plenty of lizards.
After many days of direct sun, I relished the shade that these rock formations created. In spite of its name, it was cool and shady and comfortable to be able to spend hours exploring.
Stay tuned for the last installment of this Southern Utah “Away From Home” series which will feature Canyonlands National Park.
Looks like a beautiful area