A Quick Guide to Arches National Park
Arches National Park is famous for having hundreds of arches, and if you make the trip out there, you’ll soon see how it got its name. It’s a huge park and people can spend many days exploring it and hiking to all the best viewpoints. But what if you’re short on time and you just want to see some of the highlights of Arches? This post is for you!
A view of Double Arch at Arches National Park
A quick guide to Arches National Park when you’re (very) short on time!
Planning your time
When you’re short on time, it’s surprisingly important to plan your trip well. Arches is a very popular park and as such, it can be incredibly busy. So much so, that they will even close the park to tourists if too many people try to enter. Is there anything worse than showing up to a destination only to find that they aren’t allowing new entries? There is: spending half your day waiting in a line until they reopen the park. That’s a horrible use of your hard-earned vacation time, so plan ahead and you can hopefully avoid it.
Karin and Jeremy at the entrance to Arches National Park
The busiest times to enter the park are between 9am and 2pm. If you can only spend a few hours in Arches National Park, try to arrive as early as possible. You should be able to beat the crowds if you go early in the morning. But if you just keep hitting snooze on your alarm, the hotel breakfast is too good to skip, or your family is really dragging their feet and slowing things down, don’t worry! You can still have a great time in Arches National Park. Even if you show up during the busiest time of day, you might still get into the park - it’s always worth it to check.
But if they’ve closed the main gate and are turning people away, we recommend finding something else to do for a few hours. Canyonlands National Park is very close and sees significantly fewer crowds than Arches, so it would make for a great place to spend a couple hours (check out our blog post in the link). There’s also Dead Horse Point State Park. Don’t let the name put you off, it’s a fun place to explore and has some great scenery!
Pick A Hike
Once you’re inside Arches National Park, it’s time to pick something to do. If you’re short on time, make a list of the top things you hope to see and do. Arches National Park has many famous arches, some are much easier to access than others. Be aware that parking lots at different viewpoints can fill up quickly, so if there’s one thing you’re really hoping to see, go there first to make sure you can get a spot in the lot. On our visit, our priority was seeing Delicate Arch.
Overlooking Delicate Arch at Arches National Park
Delicate Arch
The hike to Delicate Arch isn’t the easiest - in fact, it can be quite challenging. It’s a 3.2 mile round trip hike and you’re going to have to hike to the very end to get a view of Delicate Arch. It’s not one of those hikes where you get great views the entire time and you can quit whenever you like. No. This hike is challenging and you don’t get a view of the famous arch until the very end.
There’s 480 feet of elevation gained during the hike (that’s roughly 146 meters) and it’s pretty much all exposed. You’re hiking on slickrock - smooth weathered stone. It’s one big solid rock and nothing really grows on it, so there are no trees and no shade.
Tip: Be sure to pack sunscreen and bring lots of water when hiking to Delicate Arch. It’s an exposed hike with no shade and no water sources on the hike.
While you’re hiking, it may seem endless, but time (and distance) go by pretty fast and before you know it, you’ll be at Delicate Arch, enjoying the famous view that made it onto Utah’s license plate. It’s so worth it in the end!
We made it to the overlook for Delicate Arch!
Double Arch
After your hike to Delicate Arch, consider taking a scenic drive to some of the other famous spots in Arches National Park. Our next stop: Double Arch!
Enjoying the views of Double Arch at Arches National Park
Double Arch has a decently sized parking lot, and the trail to get to the arch is only about 1/4 mile. It’s mostly flat, with a little elevation near the end if you want to go closer to the arch. It’s a great quick stop and it makes a big impact with very little effort on your part.
Fun Fact: Double Arch was featured in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade!
There are several other arches and hikes near Double Arch, such as the Window Arches, which can be reached from the same parking lot.
Scenic views in Arches National Park
Balanced Rock
Another great (and quick) stop is Balanced Rock. Balanced Rock is 128 feet tall (39 meters) and the boulder on top weighs a staggering 3,600 tons (that’s roughly 4 million kg)! You can get a great view of this formation right from the parking lot. If you’ve got a bit more time on your hands, you can certainly hike closer to it and get an up close view.
The view of Balanced Rock from the nearby parking lot at Arches National Park
Arches National Park Scenic Drive
If you’re low on time and low on energy, we have the perfect thing for you: just take a scenic drive through Arches National Park. It’s quick, easy, and exceedingly convenient. You’ll see so many rock formations and beautiful vistas and it’s the perfect activity if you don’t have much time to spare. We enjoyed a very scenic drive on our way out of the park around sunset and the views were spectacular!
Interesting desert landscapes abound at Arches National Park
Enjoying the sunset colors of Arches National Park
What are your top recommendations for visiting Arches National Park?
If you like this post, watch our video on YouTube for more!
