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Experiencing Arches National Park hikes in a single day is ambitious, but not impossible. It’s true that you could spend multiple days in the park and still not see everything. But if you have a coveted early timed entry ticket, or are an early riser hitting the gate before 7am, when a timed ticket isn’t required, there is a lot of ground you can cover in a single day.
Multiple Arches National Park hikes await, plus a spectacular scenic drive through the park. The red rock cliff switchbacks past the Moab entry gate will leave you gasping at the beauty, magnitude, and extreme conditions that sculpted the scenery in this park. And that’s before you hit the top of the mesa plane, where the real show begins.
I’ve hiked and explored in all five Utah National Parks – Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capital Reef and Arches, plus the Grand Canyon in nearby Arizona. Each park commands its own special place in my heart for distinct features and beauty. But the one thing that they all share is stirring a feeling of awe.
How on earth was this outer worldly place created?
Geology of the Arches
Water, ice, extreme temperatures and underground salt movement are responsible for the unique formation of rock in Arches National Park. Yes, you read that correctly – salt. At one time the area was covered by sea water!
It is hard to imagine the violent forces of 100 million years of erosion that created the world’s most dense representation of natural arches. The park has catalogued over 2,000 arches which compete for your attention with pinnacles, towering spires and balanced rocks – perched atop inadequate bases. Arguably arches are the primary spectacle in a land called Arches National Park, but there is no shortage of jaw dropping, OMG, and photo snapping opportunities.
The best way to truly appreciate all this beauty is to immerse yourself in it, on one of Arches National Park hikes. We’ve got the run down for you, plus all the tips to make the most of your Arches National Park hikes day.
Arches National Park Hikes Tip: Start early
If you’re going to see multiple sites and hike multiple trails in a single day, you will need an early start. We suggest staying in nearby Moab (see accommodation recommendations and map at end of article), which is a short 10 minute drive to the park gate north of town. While timed entry is a new hurdle to clear, it has made for a much more enjoyable experience for visitors. A heads up if you have arrived from Nevada, as I had driving in from Las Vegas the previous day. Moab, UT is on Mountain Time, so be sure to allow for the extra hour earlier wake-up call, compared to the Pacific Time Zone.
Timed entry
From April 1 – July 6, and August 28 – October 31, Arches National Park requires a pre-booked timed entry ticket. The reservation is only $2 and charged in addition to the park entry fee, but you can’t get in without one during these dates. LINK HERE to book your day and time. This change was introduced post-pandemic to deal with the increased pressure of crowds in the park, and to ease visitor enjoyment at popular sites. Timed entry runs from 7am to 4pm daily, but those without a ticket may enter the park before 7am or after 4pm. Since the park is open 24/7, there are a number of options to get an early start, which I would recommend.
For those entering at 7am or earlier, bear in mind that the visitor center will not be open yet. But you will receive a National Parks Service brochure and newsprint visitors guide from the park ranger after paying your entrance fee. These, offer some basic educational background on the park’s geological features and history, plus offer a good rundown on hikes, descriptions and distances, plus a basic map. The map is of the whole park though, to help you place various viewpoints and hikes in context. It is not suitable for more detailed navigation on trails.
If you drive the full distance of the “Desert Drive” you will hit all the major viewpoints and stops:
- Park Avenue
- Balanced Rock
- The Windows
- Fiery Furnace (closed)
- Devil’s Garden
- Delicate Arch
This handy listing of hikes provides some basic criteria on what to expect, and who the trail is appropriate for. But keep reading for my personal take on most of these.
Park Avenue Viewpoint and Trailhead
Park Avenue viewpoint is a good stop to get oriented to the park. It offers a great overview of the landmarks and sites, which can be seen at a distance. Park interpretive signs are great for helping to identify the various arches, rocks, spires and pinnacles you’ll be viewing up close later.
Just a heads up it it’s your first time to Arches, petrified dunes and rock pinnacles will leave you pulling over to snap photos at every turn on the way to Balanced Rock.
Think of it like your first encounter with bison in Yellowstone Park. You’re gobsmacked initially, snapping photos right and center. Then you realize there will be hundreds more as you drive through the park!
Balanced Rock
Balanced Rock is just that – a 3,600 ton boulder that appears to teeter on a spindly pedestal shooting up from the ground. You can view it right before the turn that takes you to the Windows section.
The Windows
The Windows Section is a great area to get up close to some arches, and for many visitors it is their first real hiking spot. There is a 1-mile loop via the Windows Primitive Loop that allows you to see the North Window, the South Window and Double Arch all in one viewing. It’s hard to grasp the immensity of these massive photogenic arches until you’re beside or under them.
Windows Primitive Loop
The Windows Trail is one of the busiest in the park, but if you visit early and return on the Windows Primitive Loop as suggested, you’ll leave some of the crowds behind, since the primitive trail is less obvious, and doesn’t have as many trail markers.
Like most Utah rocky trails, piled stones are the way trails are marked. There certainly aren’t any trees to hang ribbon flags from in this unforgiving terrain.
Double Arch is the tallest in the park at 112ft.
Tips from Jill
It was while hiking around the Windows that I met Jill, a nomad originally from south Chicago, traveling and car/tent camping with her Subaru. She was a wealth of knowledge about the area, and suggested I circle back to Delicate Arch later, and head straight to Devil’s Garden, because the parking lot fills in quickly, and that is where the best hiking was to be found. It was about 10am on a shoulder season April morning, so I took her advice and suggestion to hike the whole Primitive Trail Loop at Devil’s Garden. I became the highlight of my day!
Plan for that post hiking cold beer back in Moab!
Before Jill and I parted though, she offered a few other suggestions as hot tips. I learned that Proper Brewing, on the edge of town in Moab, is a great place to secure a cold beer on the way home. “Czech Your Head” Czech pilsner was my choice in case you’re curious. She promised the bartender Zak, sporting hippy hair and duds, would make me feel like a local, and he did. Jill also suggested I check out Woody’s World Famous Tavern, which she affectionately called “Woody’s dive bar”. Having sized up my ready spirit for adventure, she assured me it’s where all the locals hang out on the weekend. And it was. I’d recommend a Woody’s experience on your visit to Moab, if you’re up for more adventure!
Get a sense of Arches National Park hikes and sites in this short video!
Now back to Devil’s Garden – the place you need to hit early in the day…
Devil’s Garden
Devil’s Garden trailhead is 19 miles from the visitor center, so if you happen to get a later start or are visiting the park during peak season, I would suggest heading here first, and then circling back for the other sites later. The reason to get to Devil’s Garden early is two-fold. While there seems to be a lot of parking, it does fill in quickly, and hiking Devil’s Garden is largely through exposed areas, so in the heat of the day it can get pretty intense.
Most people only go the 1.3 miles to Landscape Arch, a gravity defying 306ft long arch, which is the longest in North America. But venturing further along the trail is absolutely worthwhile, since it becomes less crowded as the terrain grows rougher and steeper.
To do the whole Primitive Trail Loop took me 3.5 hours with sites and a lunch stop along the way, to cover 8 miles. The trail head map suggests allowing 3-5 hours. Obviously much of this will depend on your fitness, and the weather conditions. Be sure to pack water. The trail can be strenuous in places, and the combination of sun, wind and heat can be really depleting.
Primitive Trail loop
Jill had encouraged me to do the entire Primitive Loop, and it became the highlight of Arches National Park hikes. There was some rock scrambling involved to be sure, and a few areas where the trail required hikers to walk along a narrow path at elevation. So if you have a fear of heights, that might be something to be mindful of.
But other than that, the valleys and amongst the rocks and cliffs were very doable if you’re a seasoned hiker and in reasonably good shape. I did see some hikers with poles, but they seemed more in the way than not in climbing over rocks. So if you are a poles person, you might want to ensure they’re collapsible for stowing in your pack.
From the Devils Garden Trailhead, the route passes through rock fins before an offshoot trail heads to Tunnel Arch and Pinetree Arch. The main trail then continues to Landscape Arch, the terminus for many. Beyond Landscape Arch the trail becomes more difficult, requiring route finding and the occasional scramble.
There is a side route up to the Navajo Arch, as well as the Partition Arch. I took all the detours, without regret. When in Arches National Park, why not try to see as many as possible?
Continuing along the rocky climb eventually leads to Double O Arch, where a much larger arch sits atop a smaller one. Seemingly to keep all the arches on their toes, Dark Angel is a 150ft rock column standing on its own, accessible as a side route trail.
Wayfinding
The remainder of the Primitive Trail wiggles through fins, scales a few rocks, and is marked by cairns rock piles, to assist with navigation. If you’re used to following flagged trees, it might take some getting used to to spot cairns. But they’re usually set so the next one can be viewed from the current position. If in doubt, return to your cairn and survey the land.
If you’re confident in your wayfinding skills, it’s a great adventure that allows you to complete the circle route which is the Primitive Trail. The predominant way to do the trail is clockwise, but I did meet a few people hiking it counter clockwise. To be honest, I was grateful for them, since they solidified the route, which can be at times confusing to navigate through rock piled wayfinding. The trail eventually reconnects back with the main trail close to Landscape Arch, which leads you back to the trailhead and the parking lot. Since internet service can be sketchy, or frankly not available in most of the park, it is advisable to download maps ahead of time, or have a paper version with you.
The day I hiked the Primitive Trail there were only a few doing the whole back side of the loop, so confidence in wayfinding was absolutely critical. It also wasn’t particularly hot, since it was a spring day, but I can well imagine how intense the heat would be if it was a hot summer day. There is no shade, so be sure to bring ample water.
Fiery Furnace
I had passed through Fiery Furnace on the way to Devils Garden to secure parking for the hike. They call it Fiery Furnace because the giant fins of Entrada sandstone resemble flames in a furnace at sunset. Fiery Furnace is currently closed (April 2025). When open, the narrow sandstone maze is accessible to hikers by permit only because of the extreme wayfinding required with high canyon walls and the need to jump across ledges or shimmy through crevices.
Delicate Arch
For many, Delicate Arch is one of the parks major attractions. It’s certainly the most well known. Even visitors who have never been to the park have seen Delicate Arch if they have viewed a Utah license plate. When you first see Delicate Arch you’ll recognize it immediately, since it has become the unofficial state symbol of Utah, gracing pretty much every tourist brochure you might encounter.
Two view options for Delicate Arch
There are two viewpoints for Delicate Arch – you can hike to view it close up, or you can admire it from a viewpoint below. Depending on how tired you might be from the previous hikes, plus the time required, you may wish to hike the lower viewpoint as I did. The lower viewpoint is a short 200ft walk up hill, easily done in 5-15 minutes. The upper area of the viewpoint, which I would recommend is about 1 mile return, but steeply uphill, which is doable in 30-45 minutes.
This photo was taken from that viewpoint.
If you do choose to hike the trail to the base of the arch, bear in mind it is the most popular trail in Arches National Park. Allow time to complete the 3 mile return hike, which would likely take 2-3 hours. This might be one of those tradeoffs – decide to do the Delicate Arch hike, but only half of Devils Garden to Landscape Arch, or do the whole Devils Garden loop, but see Delicate Arch from a viewpoint.
Plan for one longer hike during a single day visit
Keep in mind, just like Devils Garden, there is zero shade if you choose to hike out to Delicate Arch. The rock can be a bit slippery because it is so well worn, so wear rubber-soled hiking shoes for sure and take plenty of water.
After a hiking the Windows, and then the 8-mile Devils Garden Primitive Loop, I elected to park by the Lower Delicate Arch Viewpoint, and hike the steep but relatively short climb (0.5 miles) to the Upper Delicate Arch Viewpoint. All those little ants beneath the arch? Those are people!
Arches National Park hikes weather
Always be mindful of weather while hiking, and in particular quick changes to weather. Heat can be unrelenting in the summer. And flash floods are possible. The day I visited was beautifully sunny while hiking Devils Garden, but there was a nasty front on the horizon later in the day!
Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracks
After having been reasonably efficient with my hiking times in Arches, I wanted to head off to Mill Canyon Dinosaur Track site, 17 miles from Arches entrance. If you were ever that dinosaur geek kid in elementary school like I was, this site will blow your mind. It proved to be a great end of day adventure.
This super low key interpretive site showcases 10 species of dinosaur and over 200 individual tracks, discovered in the area in 2009. Set in the mud at the time, 112 million years ago, and having turned to stone, the massive prints are visible from a boardwalk with interpretive signage.
It’s not every day that you get to walk where sickle-clawed raptors, long-necked herbivores and crocodiles frolicked. The afternoon I visited there were PhD students visiting from Arizona State.
Many of the dinosaur track sites in the Moab region are preserved in the Jurassic sandstones exposed in the area. The Mill Canyon site is the largest and most diverse track site known in the Cedar Mountain formation, and one of the most significant Early Cretaceous track sites in the world. It’s well worth the trip, and is relatively close to Moab.
Proper Brewing
Circling back to Jill’s recommendation, I hit up Proper Brewing back on the edge of town in Moab, and enjoyed a cold one with all the other outdoorsy people who seem to flock to this part of the state. It was the perfect way to end a day or adventuring.
Accommodations in Moab
Moab is a great town to base out of if you plan to visit Arches National Park or Canyonlands National Park. Both are within reasonable driving distance for day trips. Although Moab is a great little town, it is popular, so I’d recommend securing accommodation reservations early. Prices certainly vary, and can be steep during peak season, but use this map to search out and compare options.
Camping is available in Arches at the Devils Garden Campground only. The campground is usually full during peak season and requires reservations through recreation.gov March 1 – October 31. Sites are first come first served between November 1 – February 28.
I stayed at the Inca Inn, a pretty basic classic motel style place. The Inca Inn was comfortable, with a good bed, microwave, fridge, and large bathroom at a reasonable price. The Adventure Inn is their sister property just up the street. On the fringe of town, they are both priced lower than other alternatives in the heart of Moab. But for anyone who is there for hiking and has already signed up for activity, what is a 5 minute walk or quick drive further into town? As a cost saving measure no doubt, check in for the Inca Inn is at the Adventure Inn, just down the road. I suspect both properties are comparable, since they are under the same ownership and management.
Adventure Moab
Moab is full of lots of opportunities for adventure. Check out this link for trips and rentals. 4WD off road trails, river rafting, dirt bike touring, mountain biking, or guiding trips into the parks are all possible.
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