Arches National Park

Visited on May 16, 2026

Background For The Trip

We went a little crazy at Canyonlands on the same day that we visited Arches, and found that we had some extra time in the day and decided to put it towards Arches rather than explore lesser regarded trails / sections of the Canyonlands park.

After leaving Canyonlands, we basically drove straight to Arches, and checked in with the rangers at the station about what we might be able to squeeze in with the rest of the day. They informed us that there were thunderstorms forecasted for the next day, which might make it too dangerous to really do anything safely, so we had a fire under us to see it all that day.

We probably spent 6 hours in the park and by the end of the day we were totally wiped out.

Park Enterance

The start of the park road has some nice views to get you in the spirit

Balanced Rock

This was actually a surprising highlight of the park for us. We had fun taking those stupic tourist pictures pretending to hold it up. And they look a little suggestive which we got a kick out of.

We also learned that the balanced rock used to have a partner balanced rock that fell at some point, woulda been cool to see them together!

Assorted Other Arches

Turret Arch

There was a couple taking engagement photos here, so we didn't stick around for too long.

North Window

Delicate Arch

Petroglyphs

These were a fun surprise. They're at the bottom of the trail to the Delicate Arch and were super well preserved. Definitely worth the super short detour

Delicate Arch Trail

We spent the most time here by far. The sun was just starting to set when we made it to the top. It wasn't all that busy, shockingly we got a few pictures of the arch without anyone in it. There were maybe ~50 people in total up there. Folks really nicely queue for the arch to take a picture close up. We decided to skip and head back before it got too dark.

Right before the top, there's a really cool bowl in the mountain with sand and little patches of plans and rocks sticking up, kinda like a little sand ocean with islands. It was super cool and like a little natural landscaped garden.

In the above picture, we saw more of that blue salty rock that we saw so much of at the canyonlands park.

Devils Garden

We drove out to this end of the park, trying to see some of it before it got too dark, but didn't quite make it. It looks pretty striking, and we walked into it a little bit. But, in the dark the walls felt pretty claustrophobic and we got a little nervous and called it a day. This is my one regret at the park, I wish we had a chance to see more of this, and some of the 'fiery furnace'. Maybe next time

National Parks Log

• ✓Zion National Park(Utah)
  Rank #3
• ✓Arches National Park(Utah)You are here
  Rank #4
• ✓Rocky Mountain National Park(Colorado)
  Rank #5
• ✓Capitol Reef National Park(Utah)
  Rank #11
• ✓Canyonlands National Park(Utah)
  Rank #13

Remaining Bucket List

• ○Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park(Colorado)
• ○Bryce Canyon National Park(Utah)
• ○Glacier National Park(Montana)
• ○Grand Teton National Park(Wyoming)
• ○Great Sand Dunes National Park(Colorado)
• Show All Remaining Parks (2 hidden)▼