Arches National Park, Utah

June 4, 2026

Since our retirement, several people have insisted that we "had to go to Arches". It's not that we were actively avoiding going, but we just hadn't gotten around to it until this year. (So many places to see and so little time!) Then again, maybe we were simply saving the best for last!

We opted not to take the more expedient interstate route to Arches National Park and instead decided upon a lesser-traveled and much more scenic way. Upon turning off of the main thoroughfare, however, we did wonder if we had made the right decision. Immediately, we were accosted with signs warning of limited services, rough road, "eagles on road", and...cows.

This road doesn't look so bad in the picture, but it jostled us quite a bit!

They were definitely right about the rough road--our poor trailer was shaken fairly violently, although there was fortunately no damage to anything (that we could find). We had a mostly full tank of gas, so limited services didn't concern us. We weren't afraid of cows, as they are not the type of creatures who suddenly dart in front of you out of nowhere. As for the eagles on the road--we came up with a theory about that a couple of states back...We noticed that whenever there are signs about "eagles on road", there tend to be prairie dog towns by the side of the road. We figured that the increase of roadkill must attract the eagles (and presumable other scavenger birds that nobody seems to care much about.) Sure enough, we saw several prairie dogs darting to and fro across the road. We also saw a couple of crows and vultures feeding on fresh roadkill. No eagles, though.

After a few miles, we turned onto a much better road, and with the better road came better scenery.

The road followed the Colorado River fairly closely much of the time.

A scenic lunch spot

Our first glimpse of the La Salle Mountains

This portion of the drive reminded us of a mini Monument Valley

We arrived at Arches National Park in the early afternoon. We were surprised that there was no line to get in to the park, but we figured that the main rush at this time of year is probably in the mornings before it gets too hot. When we went through the gate, it was in the upper 80's and didn't feel too bad. The rest of our 4-night stay was forecasted to slowly creep up each day, topping out at the mid 90s on our last day. Since we were not going to have an electric hookup, we were counting on the famous "but it's a dry heat" quality of the desert to make things feel not so bad.

It didn't take long after entering the park before the scenery started in earnest

At least our campground was more than 1000 feet higher up (and hopefully a little cooler) than Moab!

First arch sighting!

We were fortunate enough to have snagged a campsite right in the park and very close to lots of good hiking!

Not a bad view!

While this was probably one of the top 10 campgrounds in terms of scenery, our campsite faced west. The good thing is we had a fabulous view of the sunsets each night. The bad thing is the sun really beat down on the deck in the late afternoons. We put up our Reflectix panels and our shade screens, but it still got pretty toasty for a few hours a day!

Sunset right off our deck was gorgeous every night!

We set an alarm for 6:30 the next morning so that we could start the Devil's Garden hike before the heat kicked in. (Yet another hike named after the devil!).

Morning view across the street from our campsite

The Devil's Garden trail

Landscape Arch

A better view of Landscape Arch

Going up a fairly steep portion of the trail

Looking backward

We decided to take the spurs to Navajo and Partition Arches. We're very glad we did because Navajo was empty when we arrived, and we had it all to ourselves for a little while 🙂.

Navajo Arch up ahead

The other side of Navajo Arch

Partition Arch (front...)

(...and back)

It was fun walking on the top of a "fin"

A view of several "fins"

Double O Arch

A closer view of Double O

It was at this point in the hike that we were debating whether or not to continue on to the "Primitive" section of the hike, or go back the way we came. The day was only getting hotter, and going the primitive way would be longer. While we were sitting there debating, a guy from Colorado named Brian convinced us to do the longer route (even though he had never done it himself). Actually, he mostly just convinced Julie--Rick already had it in mind to do the whole loop from the beginning.

Since the primitive loop was supposedly not very well marked (according to Brian who had never been on the trail), we invited him to join us (and our GPS) for the rest of the journey. It turned out to be a great decision, and we are glad that we did it!

Fortunately for us, it was neither wet nor icy.

Random arch/hole in the rock --they are a dime a dozen around here!

This was Private Arch. It cost about an extra half mile or so of our energy. A young family told us it was "definitely worth it". It was just "ok" as far as arches go, and it wasn't as private as we hoped.

This hike had non-stop scenery the entire way!

A long-nosed leopard lizard!

We finished the hike before noon and before it got too hot. We were pretty beat afterwards, so we just crashed on the deck the rest of the afternoon. By evening, we got a second wind, and we visited Skyline Arch (which was practically next door to our campsite) and scrambled among the rocks behind our campsite.

The view across the street from our campsite in the evening

Skyline Arch--nobody here!

The view from under the arch--a big dropoff on the other side!

Our campground

Can't believe this was our yard for a few days!

Rick is standing in the middle. In the warm, waning sunlight, he kind of blends in.

Fellow campers enjoying the show

The next morning, we set the alarm again to do the obligatory Delicate Arch hike. It's a good thing we didn't know how punishing the uphill grind in full sun would be; otherwise, we would have been tempted to just skip it. But, it's so iconic, and it is The Thing to do when you are in Arches!

The altitude graph tells the story

Looking back toward the parking lot (can't even see it) after maybe 2/3 of the way to Delicate Arch. The slog up was kind of punishing, and there really wasn't much to look at.

At least now there was something fairly interesting to look at.

Almost there!

The big long line to get your selfie with Delicate.

We opted not to get in line for the selfie shot, but we did discover that having the line meant that there was usually a brief period of time between selfie-seekers where the arch was empty and you could grab a shot with no one in it!

A shot of Delicate Arch with no people in it!

Going back down was much more pleasant.

Next stop was Double Arch, a short drive away.

Heading toward Double Arch

Looks a little like a giant monster waiting to gobble people up

Lots of people to gobble up!

A brave (or stupid) guy standing on the precipice. Rick went up there, but he would only sit. We didn't see anyone else who dared to stand up there.

Double Arch

These arches are known as the Windows. We were too tired to get a closer look.

Heading home for the day.

Another afternoon was spent vegging out on the deck. Rick decided to scramble on the rocks a bit after dinner, but Julie was happy to stay put on said deck. She did get up once to take a sunset picture even though it was probably identical to the one she took the previous night.

Another early-ish morning was on the docket for the following day, although this time we didn't set an alarm. Having a hiking loop with three more arches right off our campground was something we just couldn't say no to, so we dragged our butts out for another hike before it got hot.

Every morning brought us clear blue skies.

Not many flowers seem to thrive in these parts, but we did find a few.

This tree just looks like it has had a hard life.

Broken Arch (with people)

Broken Arch (after the people moved on)

While Broken Arch isn't really "broken", it does have a rather nasty crack at the top that likely foreshadows its ultimate destiny.

Basically same shot, but slightly different. (Julie couldn't decide which to keep 😉)

This formation probably has a name, but we don't know what it is. Then again, the park is so filled with formations that many of them are probably unnamed.

A little slot canyon on the way to Sand Dune Arch, featuring random people we don't know

Many more random people we don't know

We inadvertently timed our arrival with a rather large group of "Content Creators" who were doing a video shoot for some kind of perfume.

Since the content creators scared everyone else away, Julie was able to get a quick shot of Sand Dune Arch after they left

Another same but different shot 🙃

We had to cross the Serengeti to continue on our trail. It was getting pretty warm!

Fortunately, we found another short slot canyon to cool off in.

The campground is in sight!

The rest of the day was another lather, rinse repeat of our now well-established routine: back to the shady deck to veg for the afternoon and enjoy the spectacular sunset in the evening!

Landscape Arch was pretty close to our campsite

A bunch of boy scouts from the neighboring group campsite were having fun on the rocks.

We found our stay at Arches to be definitely more in "vacation mode" than we usually are. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed the endless scenery, although Julie was more into the red rock vibe than Rick. After a while, though, even Julie started taking the dramatic rock formations for granted. What--another arch? Yawn. That is most likely a testament to the shear quantity of scenery that assaulted the senses every day. Anyway, it's safe to say that all the hype we heard prior to coming here was well-earned.

As for the "dry heat"? All we can say is that sitting in the shade in 90+ degree "dry heat" with the frequent gentle breezes that we had was far more pleasant than the windy 105 degree furnace we experienced in Texas a few weeks ago.

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