Arches National Park is located in eastern Utah, about a four hour drive south from Salt Lake City. The closest city is Moab, located right outside of Arches. What used to be a quaint town has grown into a decent size with lots of offerings as Arches has continued to grow in popularity over the years. Arches NP is an incredible collection of over 2,000 natural stone arch formations in addition to a stunning desert landscape unlike anything I had seen before.
I think two days was a good amount of time to see a lot of what the park has to offer (not everything though!), but if you have more time, I would recommend also visiting Canyonlands national park which is about 30 minutes from Arches. If you have even more time, I would recommend doing a road trip to see more of the national parks in Utah. I talk about our experience seeing 4 of Utah’s national parks in 5 days in a previous post (although I’d recommend taking more time at each).
Where to stay
Moab is the closest city to the park, which has many accommodation options. We stayed at Hyatt Place and loved our stay there! They offered a really good to-go breakfast and it was in a great location not too far from the park entrance.
Where to eat
There are many places to eat in Moab. Here are some options that we tried and enjoyed. Keep in mind, there are no food options inside the park, so if you don’t want to leave the park in the middle of the day to eat you’ll have to take food with you!
Moab Diner – Amazing breakfast food! We came here after our hike to Delicate Arch and it was just what we needed to reload after a hard hike.
The Broken Oar – Relaxed atmosphere with an amazing dinner.
The Spoke – Really good burgers and a fun atmosphere.
Moab Brewery – Really popular spot! They had great local beer options. It was fun to come here after a day of hiking or just to take a break.
Travel Tips
Always visit the park website for up-to-date alerts and advisories as well as more information about the park itself.
Pack snacks! This itinerary has lots of hiking and with no food options available inside the park, it’s nice to have snacks of your own handy in case you get hungry.
Make sure you have plenty of water! There are water fountains at the visitor center and Devil’s Garden Campground but that’s all, so bring some of your own, and check water levels before going on any hikes, especially if you’re hiking in the heat of the day.
Itinerary
Disclaimer: this isn’t exactly the itinerary we had (we had 2 half days and one full day), but what I would do if I had 2 full days.
Parking lots fill up early in the day, so starting early is key! Even the entrance gets backed up for hours sometimes.
Day 1
Stop at the visitor center for park info, maps, and water –
It’s always best to be prepared.
Drive the Main Park Road to the Devil’s Garden area –
Honestly just driving through the park is spectacular!
Hike to Landscape Arch –
1.9 miles out and back
252 ft. elevation gain
Takes about an hour to complete
Trail info here.
This is one of the areas that gets filled up quickly so get here early. To get to Landscape arch is a pretty easy hike with lots of rock formations and interesting vegetation. You’ll see below that I didn’t include a picture of Landscape arch, this is because we did not go early and there was lots of people there, so learn from our mistakes! On the way back you can also stop at Pine Tree arch and Tunnel arch – it adds on an extra mile. It’s just an offshoot of the mail trail.
The hike to Landscape arch is the first part of the larger Devil’s Garden loop. We did not do that while we were there, but from what I’ve heard about it, I highly recommend it. It’s a 7.9 mile loop, a bit challenging, and takes about 4 hours to complete. There are lots of arches on this trail and I’ve heard from many people that it’s their favorite hike in the park. It would be the perfect way to start out your first day in Arches! If you didn’t want to do the full loop, you can always hike part of it and turn back.
Hike to Sand Dune Arch –
0.3 miles out and back
108 ft. elevation gain
Takes about 12 minutes to complete
Trail info here.
This is a very very easy walk to an arch that has a lot of sand surrounding it. This is a great place for kids, in fact we saw some kids playing in the sand while we were there. It’s also a great place in the heat of the day because it’s shaded. So while this hike isn’t one of the more exciting options, it’s a nice add-on if you have the time but not the energy to do a harder hike.
Visit the Fiery Furnace –
This section of the park is it’s own little world. You need a permit to do the fiery furnace hike, so we did not get the chance to hike it, but I’ve heard it’s a really fun hike. We just stopped at this parking lot and took pictures from the outside, which is still really cool! One of my favorite travel couples (Matt and Karen Smith) has a podcast episode all about their experience on this hike – listen here. They definitely inspired me to put this on my bucket list.
Hike Park Avenue –
1.8 miles out and back
298 ft. elevation gain
Takes about an hour to complete.
Trail info here.
We hiked this late in the day. It’s a nice, easy hike that starts by descending a bunch of stairs to what seems to be a dried up riverbed. You follow the riverbed for about a mile with large canyon walls and mesas surrounding you. It’s a beautiful hike, one that’s definitely family friendly as well!
Get some rest before an early day tomorrow!
Day 2
Watch the sunrise at The Windows and Turret Arch –
1.2 mile loop
154 ft. elevation gain
Takes about 35 minutes to complete.
Trail info here.
I know it’s hard to get up when it’s still dark but it is so so worth it! We set off to the park early in the morning to get to The Windows section of the park before sunrise and started the really short walk (headlamps are a must to do this!). We were one of the only people there – it was so quiet and peaceful! The sun coming over the horizon brought the most wonderful glow throughout the whole area – you can see pretty far from this area of the park! There’s plenty of space to walk around and enjoy the morning – you can even go “inside” the windows.
Hike to Double Arch –
0.6 mile out and back
95 ft. elevation gain
Takes about 18 minutes to complete
Trail info here.
Right down the road from The Windows is the majestic Double Arch. This is a VERY popular area, probably because it’s one of the most accessible places. So if you’d like to enjoy this without having to watch people climb up the sides of the arch with their children following them (yes, this was an actual situation we saw), get there early! Plus your photos won’t have as many people in them and you can enjoy this amazing rock formation – because it truly is incredible!
Hike to Delicate Arch –
3.2 mile out and back
629 ft. elevation gain
Takes about 1 hr 45 min to complete.
Trail info here.
Ok, I feel like a broken record, but seriously do this hike early. We got up there by about 8am and it was perfect. The weather was comfortable to hike (uphill) in and we didn’t have to wait in line to take our picture under the arch (which definitely happens later in the day).
Make sure you’re properly prepared for hikes. We didn’t know much about this trail other than Delicate Arch was the most popular arch probably of all time, so we knew we had to do it, but we didn’t look at anything but the distance. This hike is basically straight up for 1.5 miles and you’re walking on this steep slab of rock for a good portion of it. There isn’t much shade until you get closer to the arch so it would be very hot in the heat of the day (another reason to go early or late in the day). This trail is a bit primitive in nature, which basically means it’s not always super clear where the trail is. This was the one time we were glad there were some other hikers around so we could follow them. We hadn’t eaten much before we did this hike since we got up for sunrise that morning and by the time we made it up to Delicate Arch, I was in dire need of some protein (there was a moment I was scared I would fall into the bowl to the right of the arch). So, just a reminder to do your research before departing and to always carry water and snacks with you!
Truthfully though, Delicate Arch is fantastic. It comes out of nowhere and the area surrounding it is just as breathtakingly gorgeous.
Spend some time exploring Moab –
There are lots of cute shops to get souvenirs or you could rent bikes and explore the surrounding area. We opted to take a break from hiking at the busiest time of the day in the park to enjoy our hotel’s pool!
Stargaze at Panorama Point –
With the right conditions, you can see the Milky Way in the park at night! That’s why the National Park Service says that “half the park is after dark.” To see the most stars, you need to be here in the wee hours of the morning (i.e. 2-3am), but you can still see a lot before midnight, which is how long we stayed. Panorama Point is a great spot for this because it’s high up, and you get unobstructed views of the sky. This is definitely a magical way to end your time at Arches.
Great recommendations! Thanks so much for sharing!