Arches National Park

Arches National Park protects the greatest concentration of natural stone arches on Earth — more than 2,000 of them — in a surreal red-rock wonderland of fins, spires, balanced rocks and soaring sandstone arches near Moab in southeastern Utah. Set on the high desert of the Colorado Plateau, the park is a fantastical landscape where erosion has sculpted the rust-red Entrada sandstone into an astonishing array of delicate windows and immense spans, glowing vividly against the deep blue desert sky.

The park’s icon is Delicate Arch, a freestanding span of red rock framing the snow-capped La Sal Mountains beyond — one of the most recognized landmarks in the world and a symbol of Utah itself. Other wonders abound: the immense Landscape Arch, one of the longest natural spans on Earth; the precariously perched Balanced Rock; and the soaring fins and windows of the Fiery Furnace and Devils Garden. Visitors drive the scenic road, hike to the arches, and watch the rock blaze at sunrise and sunset. Surreal, iconic and endlessly photogenic, Arches is a treasured crown jewel of the American Southwest.

Arches National Park offers spectacular recreation — hiking to its famous arches (the iconic Delicate Arch, the immense Landscape Arch, the Windows, Double Arch and the fins of Devils Garden), driving the scenic park road past balanced rocks and formations, exploring the labyrinthine Fiery Furnace (by permit or ranger tour), rock climbing and canyoneering, photography of the glowing red rock, and stargazing under dark skies. Hiking to the arches and marveling at the formations are the signature draws. The combination of the world’s greatest concentration of arches, the surreal red-rock scenery and the iconic Delicate Arch makes the park a premier destination.

Spring and fall are ideal, with the most comfortable temperatures for hiking the exposed desert trails, while summer is brutally hot (often over 100°F, dangerous for hiking) and winter cold but beautiful, with possible snow dusting the red rock. A timed-entry reservation is required in the busy season. Sunrise and sunset set the arches and rock glowing, the best times for photography (Delicate Arch is famous at sunset), and the dark skies are superb for stars. Spring and fall offer the best hiking weather; avoid midday summer heat, reserve timed entry, and start early.

The Arches region was used by Native peoples for thousands of years, including the ancestral Puebloans and Fremont, who left rock art, and later the Ute, with Spanish explorers and Mormon pioneers passing through. The area’s surreal beauty drew early advocates, and it was protected as a national monument in 1929 and a national park in 1971. The writer Edward Abbey, a seasonal ranger here, immortalized the park in his classic ‘Desert Solitaire.’ Arches preserves the world’s greatest collection of natural arches and the surrounding red-rock desert, a treasured landscape of southeastern Utah.

Arches’ thousands of stone arches were created by a remarkable combination of geology: a thick layer of Entrada sandstone, underlain by an ancient salt bed that shifted and bulged, cracked the rock into long parallel fins; then erosion — water freezing in cracks, dissolving the rock, and wind — wore through the fins to open windows that grew into arches. Soft and hard rock layers, the cross-bedded sandstone’s patterns, and the relentless erosion sculpted the arches, balanced rocks and spires. The arches are still forming and falling (Landscape Arch has shed slabs). The salt-cracked sandstone and the erosion created this unmatched arch landscape.

The desert of Arches National Park hosts mule deer, desert bighorn sheep, kit foxes, coyotes, jackrabbits, kangaroo rats, and a community of birds, including ravens, raptors and the occasional condor, along with lizards, snakes and the specialized creatures of the high desert, many active at night to escape the heat. The arid Colorado Plateau supports wildlife adapted to the dry, hot conditions. The park is a place for wildlife watching, especially in the cooler hours, with the desert bighorn, the nocturnal creatures and the desert birds among the wildlife of this red-rock landscape.

Arches National Park protects a high-desert Colorado Plateau ecosystem, where the red-rock formations, the sparse pinyon-juniper and desert-shrub vegetation, the fragile cryptobiotic soil crusts (living communities of cyanobacteria, lichens and mosses that hold the desert soil together), and scattered oases support life adapted to the harsh, dry conditions. The cryptobiotic soil is especially fragile and slow to recover, easily destroyed by a single footstep. Protecting the formations, the cryptobiotic soil, the sparse vegetation and the desert wildlife sustains both the ecology and the surreal scenery of this treasured arch landscape.

Arches National Park, with the iconic Delicate Arch a symbol of Utah and one of the most recognized landmarks on Earth, holds a treasured place among America’s natural wonders, beloved for its surreal red-rock beauty and its unmatched collection of natural arches. Immortalized by Edward Abbey’s ‘Desert Solitaire’ and photographed the world over, the park embodies the stark, sculpted beauty of the desert Southwest. Arches is a cherished icon of the Colorado Plateau and the American West, a landscape of fantastical stone that draws wonder from all who see it.

Arches National Park is in southeastern Utah just north of Moab, off US-191, about four hours from Salt Lake City and 1.5 hours from Canyonlands’ Island in the Sky. An entrance fee applies, and a timed-entry reservation is required in the busy season (spring through fall) — book in advance. The park offers the scenic park road, trailheads to the arches, a visitor center, and a campground (Devils Garden). The Fiery Furnace requires a permit or ranger tour. The desert is hot and exposed. Check the National Park Service for timed-entry reservations, conditions and access before visiting.

The National Park Service protects the arches, the red-rock formations, the fragile cryptobiotic soil and the desert wildlife of Arches National Park. Visitors help by staying strictly on trails and slickrock (never stepping on the fragile cryptobiotic soil crusts, which take decades to recover), not climbing on the named arches, protecting water sources and wildlife, packing out everything, preserving the dark skies, and following Leave No Trace and timed-entry rules. Protecting the arches, the cryptobiotic soil, the sparse vegetation and the wildlife sustains both the ecology and the surreal scenery of this treasured and fragile desert landscape.

The desert heat at Arches is the top hazard — summer temperatures often exceed 100°F, and the exposed, shadeless trails can be deadly, so carry far more water than you think you need (a gallon per person per day), hike in the cooler morning or evening, and avoid strenuous trails like Delicate Arch in midday summer heat. Watch footing on slickrock and near drop-offs (keep back from arch and cliff edges), beware of flash floods in washes after rain, and watch for lightning on exposed terrain. Wear sun protection, supervise children, and respect the heat, the exposure and the drop-offs.

An entrance fee applies; a timed-entry reservation is required in the busy season. Stay strictly on trails and slickrock — never step on the fragile cryptobiotic soil crusts. Do not climb on the named arches. The Fiery Furnace requires a permit or ranger tour. Camp only in the designated campground or with a backcountry permit. Pets are restricted (not allowed on trails). Drones are prohibited. Collecting is prohibited. Pack out all trash; preserve the dark skies. Check the National Park Service for timed entry and current rules before visiting.

The adventure town of Moab, the gateway to the region, lies just south, with Canyonlands National Park (Island in the Sky about 40 minutes away), Dead Horse Point State Park, the Colorado River, and world-renowned mountain biking and off-roading nearby, and the La Sal Mountains rising beyond. The red-rock canyon country of the Colorado Plateau defines the region. Arches anchors, with nearby Canyonlands, a spectacular red-rock region of southeastern Utah, a centerpiece of a Moab and Mighty 5 adventure of arches, canyons and desert.

Reserve a timed-entry permit in advance for the busy season, and hike to the iconic Delicate Arch (best at sunset, when it and the rock glow) and the immense Landscape Arch in Devils Garden, plus the easy Windows and Double Arch. Carry plenty of water (a gallon per person), hike in the cooler morning or evening to beat the deadly summer heat, and stay strictly on trails and slickrock to protect the fragile cryptobiotic soil. Watch the glowing rock at sunrise and sunset, stargaze under dark skies, and base in Moab with nearby Canyonlands.