Highlights:
– Iconic arches
– Lovely campground
– Proximity to Moab
I lumped these two parks together because they are basically next door neighbors, and we actually visited Canyonlands as a day trip from Arches. We spent three nights in the area (two in Arches National Park and one in Moab), but with all the adventure sports in the Moab area, you could definitely stay longer and not get bored.
We drove from Capitol Reef to Arches (once again, a 2 hour drive) early in the morning in order to secure a spot in the campground, which is first-come-first serve in the off season. We were quite panicked that we wouldn’t find a spot, as the parking lot at the visitor’s center was quite full and there were plenty of other visitors driving towards the campground. We didn’t stop at any of the many sites in the park on the way to the campground, but were able to secure a lovely spot for two nights without a problem (there were actually plenty of spots available). Having set up our tent and settled in, we returned to the heart of the park to explore. Our favorite hike was the entire Devils Garden trail (12.7 km), which can be shortened if needed, and includes Landscape Arch, Double O Arch, Dark Angel, and the primitive trail. The trail was relatively flat, but included some parts where we needed to climb up or down sandstone slabs (super fun!), so make sure to wear appropriate shoes. This hike is an excellent way to see many of the most famous arches in the park, and I would absolutely recommend it if you only have time for one hike in the park.
The rest of our time in the park was spent visiting each of the famous arches and sites, most of which don’t require much hiking—you can either bike or drive to a parking lot, walk for ten minutes, and see the attraction. The only other exceptions to this were Tower Arch (14 km of unpaved road and 4.2 km hike), which was completely empty when we went for sunset, and Delicate Arch (4.8 km), which is the most famous hike/arch in the park. We were kind of underwhelmed by Delicate Arch to be honest, especially considering how many other beautiful arches we had already seen, but it is an icon of Utah, so it might still be worth seeing.
On one of our days in the Moab area, we drove to Canyonlands National Park for a quick day trip. We drove to some of the most iconic sites, namely Mesa Arch, but didn’t really spend as much time as we could have in this park. The park is divided into four distinct regions, Island in the Sky, The Needles, The Maze, and the rivers that separate the regions, and I think we should return here to explore more in the future. One thing we noticed on the way to the park were the huge number of mountain bikers; if you have mountain bikes with you, it seemed like this was the place to use them!
Finally, we spent one night in the town of Moab itself at Adventure Inn Moab, which was cheap but comfortable (and had free breakfast!). There was lots to explore in Moab, and we enjoyed dinner at Antica Forma after a long day of hiking.