Introduction

Arches National Park spans 76,000 acres and holds over 2,000 natural stone arches—the most anywhere on Earth—including Landscape Arch, the longest in the U.S. With 1.7 million visitors a year, it’s no wonder this place feels otherworldly. And it’s just five miles from Moab.

This driving tour takes 2 to 6 hours, with at least 90 minutes of drive time plus plenty of stops to explore. With 18 stops and 46 stories along the way, you won’t miss a thing. We recommend starting early to avoid the crowds.

The park is open 24/7 but the Visitor Center’s hours vary depending on the season. Check the NPS website for hours. 

Important Information

You can begin your tour of Arches National Park on Utah State Highway 191 a half mile north or south of the park entrance. 

Parking fills up the fastest at Delicate Arch and Devils Garden so, if you plan to hike or visit these stops, consider using the Reverse tour. 

REVERSE Arches National Park Itinerary

You’ll still visit all the same stops as our Classic Arches tour, just in a different order. Skip the early stops, beat the crowds, then visit the rest on your way back.

Start by 8:00 AM. From April to October, lines build fast, and rangers may close the gates once the park hits capacity.

1. Visitor Center

Rayne Warne

• Approximate Time: 10 minutes

The Visitor Center has necessities like water, snacks, and restrooms. This is a good place to fill up your water and purchase a few snacks. There is no other place in the park that sells food and the only other place that has drinking water is all the way at the end of the road at Devils Garden.

2. The Moab Fault

Rayne Warne

• Approximate Time: 5 minutes

At the Moab Fault viewpoint, you can see the result of enormous pressure that separated the area of the viewpoint from the cliff wall on the other side of the canyon.

3. Petrified Dunes

Rayne Warne

• Approximate Time: 5 minutes

This is a vast landscape of these sorts of lumpy rock formations. It may not look like it at first, but they are actually sand dunes, like on the Sahara. More specifically though, these are petrified sand dunes, meaning that the sand actually solidified into rock around 200 million years ago.

4. Delicate Arch Trail

• Approximate Time: 1.75 hours

This is probably the most famous Arch in Arches National Park. In fact, it’s on the Utah state license plate! While Delicate Arch is certainly not one of the tallest in the park, this iconic formation has a special charm that has attracted people from all over the world.

5. Delicate Arch Viewpoints

• Approximate Time: 15 minutes

If you don’t have time or don’t have a reservation to make the three-mile hike to Delicate Arch, you can still see the arch from two viewpoints. The trail to the lower viewpoint is just a short 100-foot walk from the parking lot. The second trail is to the upper viewpoint, about a half-mile round trip.

6. Salt Valley Overlook

• Approximate Time: 5 minutes

The Salt Valley was once called the paradox formation because early geologists couldn’t determine how it was created. It’s a good thing you’ve got Shaka Guide to make everything clear.

7. Fiery Furnace

• Approximate Time: 1 hour

This place got its name because the rocks here glow as if they're on fire when the sun is at the right angle. There is a permit-only hike through the Fiery Furnace but permits are limited and must be reserved online. We don’t recommend the hike on our tour due to its difficulty, but if you really want to hike it, you can make a reservation here. 

8. Sand Dune Arch, Broken Arch, & Tower Arch

Alex Proimos

• Approximate Time: 1 hour

Here you can walk a short distance to visit Sand Dune Arch, which includes a sort of sand pit that children of all ages like to play in. There’s a two-mile hike to Broken Arch and a rough road that will take you further to Tower Arch.

9. Skyline Arch

Farragutful

• Approximate Time: 20 minutes

This large arch sits just above the horizon framing the sky as a wonderful window arch. No hiking is required, but if you want, just 10 minutes on foot will get you up close to the arch.

10. Devils Garden

• Approximate Time: 1 hour

At Devils Garden, miles of trail systems connect seven arches and numerous fins, spires, and other formations. We recommend you set aside some time to park here, walk around, and check out the arches. The hike is short - about two miles - and it's well worth it. You'll also find picnic tables and a restroom if you want to relax for a while. ​​The most famous formation at the Devil's Garden Trail is definitely the Landscape Arch, the longest arch in North America.

11. Park Avenue

• Approximate Time: 1 hour

City folks say you get the same feeling standing among the rock formations in Park Avenue that you do standing next to the towering skyscrapers in New York City. 

12. La Sal Mountains Viewpoint

• Approximate Time: 5 minutes

La Sal means the salt in Spanish. The mountains got their name in 1776 when Spanish explorers thought the snowy peaks looked like giant piles of salt. The highest peak, Mount Peale, is over 12,000 feet and around 3,600 meters high

13. Courthouse Towers

• Approximate Time: 5 minutes

Here you’ll find a series of huge sandstone rock formations like the Three Gossips, The Organ, and Sheep Rock. 

14. Balanced Rock

Thomas Wolf

• Approximate Time: 5 minutes

Balanced Rock stands over 120 feet or 11 stories tall. This giant Hoodoo has a ball on top that appears to be perfectly balanced on the spire below.

15. The Windows & Double Arch

• Approximate Time: 1 hour

This area features more than 30 different magnificent arches including The Windows, Turret Arch, and Double Arch, which was featured in the opening scenes of Indian Jones and the Last Crusade.

16. Garden of Eden

Christian Mehlführer

• Approximate Time: 15 minutes

The Garden of Eden is a great place to wander around. This is an open terrain dotted with fins, windows, and miniature arches, or even arches still being formed. There's no designated trail so be sure you watch your step for any biocrust. You can find the owl rock just a short distance from the parking lot. 

17. Pothole Arch

• Approximate Time: 5 minutes

The Pothole Arch is unlike the rest of the arches you’ll see on the tour because, while those arches are vertical, this arch is horizontal.   

18. Panorama Point

• Approximate Time: 5 minutes

From this high vantage point, you can see for miles and miles in several directions. To the north is Devil's Garden and the Fiery Furnace. To the south, you can see Elephant Butte, the highest point in the park at 5,600 feet.

19. End of Tour - Moab

So, are you ready for your Arches National Park adventure? Check out our Know Before You Go article, with all the travel tips you’ll need to plan your day on Shaka Guide’s Arches National Park Tour. 

Take the Reverse Arches National Park Audio Tour with Shaka Guide and explore at your own pace with stories, directions, and must-see stops along the way.

Still planning? Check out our Reverse Arches Know Before You Go guide to prep for an epic day.

Need help? Email us anytime at aloha@shakaguide.com!