[Arches National Park, May 1, 2023]

My flight out of Salt Lake City was not until 3:30 pm. Even though I had a long drive from Moab – about 3.5 hours – I was determined to squeeze in some last-minute sights in Arches in the morning.

I decided to check out Devil’s Garden. Located at the very end of the park road, this trail offers someone for everyone. If you want to take it nice and easy, you hike the well-maintained trail to Landscape Arch (2 miles each way) and can see a few other formations along the way. If you want a difficult trail with rocky footing, steep ledges with drop-offs and a little bit of scrambling, you continue to Double O Arch, another 2 miles one way. And if you want to be super adventurous, you take the alternative primitive trail to or from Double O Arch. Per the National Park Service, “the obstacles in this segment include difficult route finding, steep slopes, narrow drop-offs, and rock scrambling.” I knew for sure I wanted to make it to Landscape Arch. Continuing to Double O Arch was a maybe, and the primitive trail was a definite no, both because of the difficulty and lack of time.

Going to Devil’s garden also allowed me to experience the entire park road at sunrise with barely anyone there. I entered the park around 6 am and got to the trailhead around 6:45 am. I loved how different all the formations looked under the soft morning light. The colorful whiffs of clouds were pretty, too.

The first arch along the way was Tunnel Arch. This arch is technically still a fin, a depression on its way to becoming on arch.

Pine Tree Arch was next, and it was cool because you could get right up to it.

Both this one and Tunnel Arch were a spur off the main trail. Once I was back on the main trail, I could see Crystal Arch in the distance. There was no trail to it, so I had to admire it from afar.

Landscape Arch was definitely the most impressive one. It is the longest arch in North America with a light opening of 306 feet (93.3 meters). At it’s narrowest, it’s only 6 feet (1.8 meters) in diameter. You could get right up to the arch until Sept 1, 1991, when large segments of the arch came crashing down. There were visitors under the arch at the time. Luckily, the cracking and popping noises that preceded the crash sent them scrambling, and nobody was hurt. Since then, the trail going underneath the arch has been closed.

I wasn’t sure whether I’d have time to get to Double O Arch, but decided to see how far I could get before the trail became more challenging. For better or worse, that did not take but a minute. At the first sight of challenging terrain and scrambling, I realized I’m not physically or mentally up to the task, so I turned around.

Olivia and May did not like the fact that I managed to squeeze in a hike without them, so I guess for their sake and mine we will have to come back and complete this trail together. Regardless, I had a blast for my 3 days in Moab and this trip cemented my love of Utah and all of its desert beauty.