February 27, 2025 • 25 mins
Have only ONE ☝️ day at Arches National Park?
Check out the show notes for more resources 👉 here
Arches National Park offers breathtaking landscapes filled with iconic natural arches and incredible hiking opportunities.
🏜️With a carefully planned one-day itinerary, visitors can maximize their experience by prioritizing sunrise hikes, key attractions, and stargazing, leaving them with unforgettable memories.
Listen to this episode of Tick It Before You Kick It for...
• Prioritizing sunrise and peak visit timing is essential
• Delicate Arch is a must; consider Mesa Arch as an alternative
• Balanced Rock offers an easy, picturesque photo opportunity
• The windows section is a great loop for capturing multiple arches
• The Devil's Garden area presents less crowded hiking adventures
• Sunset at Courthouse Towers provides stunning views
• Stargazing opportunities await in the park's dark skies
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alexandra@thebucketlistmermaid.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Alexandra (00:00):
Were you on Earth and you're like, hmm, why don't you
take a guess?
And you're like, hmm, not sure,because I'm still not convinced
that this place is Earth.
Hey, adventurers, welcome backto Take it Before you Kick it.
The podcast, that's all abouthelping you check off your
adventure bucket list before.
Well, you know, I'm Alexandra,your guide to all things epic,
and today we are talking aboutArches National Park.
But with a little bit of atwist, you've only got one day
(00:27):
to experience this jaw-droppingMars-like landscape.
Can it be done?
Absolutely?
Will it be forgettable?
Oh, you bet your sweet hikingboots it will be.
Now I have been dedicating a lotof time and when I mean a lot,
I mean a lot of time creatingall of these guides to Arches
National Park, because I love itand I think it's such an
adventurous place to go, and Iwant you to check it off your
bucket list too, and I am hereto help you.
(00:47):
So grab your day pack, slap onthat SPF and let's get into the
ultimate one-day itinerary forarches National Park.
Now, why am I doing one day?
And it is because I have seen alot of people who are simply
driving through the Moab Canyonlands, arches National Park area
and they want to know what todo with Arches National Park in
one day.
So we are going to talk aboutit.
(01:08):
We're going to talk about thebest things if you are only
driving through, if you onlyhave one day here, and then
maybe we can go into moreadventure ideas if you want to
stay for a couple more days.
Now just some backstory.
I am a mermaid.
I run a blog called the BucketList Mermaid and I travel
everywhere in my massive RV as amermaid.
I know you're just likequestioning all of this right
(01:29):
now, but trust me, it's a thing.
Go check it out.
Funny story I wasn't actuallysupposed to be going to Arches
National Park.
We were going to Yosemite andwe were looking for different
ways to get there, easier waysto get there, and we decided to
go through the Grand Junctionroute all the way on I-70 and
then through Moab.
This was a fluke that we wereeven here to begin with and
(01:52):
obviously, like you hear ArchesNational Park and it seems cool
and I was like, oh, I bet theyhave wait for it arches.
However, I just don't thinkthat I was quite prepared, so I
ended up spending about a weekhere to do Moab Canyonlands and
Arches.
It was definitely one of themost rushed national parks that
we do.
If you have listened to previousepisodes, you know that I
(02:13):
normally like to stay as long asI can in these national parks
so that I can bring you the mostinformation that we can.
However, this one was a littlebit rushed and I think that,
compared to other national parks, it is smaller, so I think you
could do it in a day, which iswhy I am doing this podcast.
However, you need to prioritizeyour time because, although it
(02:38):
is smaller than, let's say,yosemite, there is still a lot
to do in this national park.
So, again, I am just going tobe going through my main
itinerary.
If I had to do it again Fulldisclaimer I did do it in about
four days.
Let's just try to cram it intoone day and do our best here.
So it is sunrise Now.
You might not know this, youmight know this, but sunrises at
(03:01):
Arches National Park areabsolutely incredible.
One of the things that, if youhave time if you do, if you have
time that I would suggest doingright at sunrise is the iconic
Delicate Arch, which I have alove-hate relationship for this
arch because this arch is sopopular that it's even on their
(03:24):
license plate.
So if you see Arches NationalPark nine times out of 10,
you're going to see DelicateArch and it is beautiful.
However, it is popular for areason.
So therefore, it is very hardto get parking.
It is crowded, it is chaotic.
I tried to go, I couldn't evenfind parking, so therefore I had
to like go down to a littleviewpoint area and see it and it
(03:46):
was like so tiny.
So, anyway, I have a love haterelationship with this arch.
Everybody, all the guides thatthey say, they say where should
you go?
First, delicate arch, and Ithink that that is totally
correct.
But you need to time itcorrectly.
And if you can't go at sunrise,I'm going to say something so
controversial here and you cancome after me, but I would
(04:07):
almost skip it.
If you can't do it duringsunrise, you would need to get
there at a perfect, pristinetime.
And even if you did manage tofind a parking spot let's say
you were there like duringmidday it's going to be so
crowded and you're going to getthere and it's beautiful, do not
get me wrong.
Like you have, like this, lasEl Mountains in the background
and it's absolutely stunning.
However, after doing this entirepark, I just think that there
(04:31):
are arches more deserving ofyour love and praise than the
Delicate Arch.
Now, if you are here at sunrise, this is the only time when it
is pretty much worth it.
Now, if you're looking forsomething a little different and
by by different I mean I'mgoing to cheat a little bit,
because this really isn't inArches National Park.
However, one of the bestsunrise spots in this area is
(04:52):
actually in Canyonlands, in theMesa Arch.
It's like a portal of puremagic.
It's only about a half a mileround trip hike but, trust me,
oh, it's so worth the detour ifyou have time and you don't want
to do all of the crowds atsunrise.
So those are two options onefor a little less popularity and
one if you really just reallywant to see that delicate arch.
(05:14):
Go at sunrise.
Now a little bit more aboutthat delicate arch hike.
Just keep in mind that it is a3.2 mile round trip hike.
It is pretty moderate, but itis doable if you pace yourself
and bring plenty of water andagain, if you do want to try to
check this off.
I also did Devil's Garden atsunrise and this was another
amazing way.
(05:35):
Personally, honestly again, I'msaying these controversial
things because I'm giving youthese insider tips I loved what
was called the partition archand this is a little bit of a
ways into that devil's gardenloop.
But, oh my gosh, I lookedthrough and there was just the
entire valley of Arches NationalPark through an arch.
(05:56):
There was nobody there, becauseno one goes there, so hot take.
I think that was my favoriteoption.
But you need to pick whichoption you're going to do for
sunrise.
Sunrise is peak time to go toarches, so that is the one time
where you need to be very, verypicky with your time and you
need to prioritize what you want.
Okay, so now that it is mid dayand I might be talking to you
(06:18):
people who are just drivingthrough, I'm going to tell you
what I did, which, again, iskind of different from what
other people did, but I reallyliked it.
So what I ended up doing is Iended up going to Arches
National Park and I ended uptaking an audio tour.
I am going to link it in theshow notes if you want to take a
look at it.
It was really cheap.
It was way cheaper than aguided tour I got to go at my
(06:41):
own pace and basically everytime that I would stop or hit a
point, a story would tell.
It's like a story of who livedthere first or a you know
geological, scientific, you knoweducation about the rock
formations or that kind of thing.
And what I also liked aboutthis is that it also told me
where all the hikes were.
So I just kind of jotted themdown so if I did have extra time
(07:04):
later I could go back.
Now some of the things that Idid on this audio tour which you
cannot miss is number onebalanced rock.
It's super easy, it's reallyjust a marvel to look at, and if
you don't believe me, head tothose show notes where you can
see the picture of it.
But basically it's like thisrock that really shouldn't be
(07:25):
there and it's kind of justbalancing Fun story.
The ranger told me this, butthere's this little tiny white
band around it.
That's something about thesediment, but some dude thought
that it was cemented on thereand went over and tried to push
it.
Why would you do that?
So as you go down this mainstunning road of Arches National
(07:45):
Park it's about 18 miles longtotal you will have several
pullouts, maybe some parkinglots and some viewpoints.
For example, I really likedlooking over the Petrified Dunes
and then we also saw, like theThree Sisters one that looked
like a penguin and thecourthouse.
But maybe skip those for now,save those for the afternoon.
Go straight through and you'llsee Balance Rock on the right
(08:07):
and then you'll see this turnoffto the right and this turnoff
is going to be the key becauseyou can go to what's called the
Garden of Eden.
You can look over thosepetrified dunes and then it
takes you to the window and thedouble arch section.
Now, this section, honestly, islike the most bang for your
buck, like if you do not havetime and you don't have time to
hike, you are literally juststopping by driving through.
(08:29):
Go to this section, because Ifeel like it is just filled to
the brim with these epic archesand they're all relatively close
to each other and the hiking isnot bad to get to them.
So, for example, there's thewindow section, so you'll hike a
little bit to the north window.
If you've ever seen, there's avery famous photography spot
(08:49):
here where, if you look throughthe north window, you can frame
the turret arch, which isanother arch that's right there,
you can frame it within it andI've noticed that this is on a
lot of postcards.
So to all of my photographersout here, this might be a great
spot for you.
So, basically, this entirething is on a 1.2 mile loop.
So if you go past that north,that north window, you can
(09:10):
either turn left to go to thesouth window or you can go to
the turret arch.
If you have time, I wouldsuggest going to all of them.
Personally, the turret arch waskind of my favorite in this area
, just because it looked like Iwas on some Mars exploration
mission and I just couldn'tbelieve that it was real life.
You'll see what I mean.
(09:30):
As I said, if you haven't seenit again, go to those show notes
.
It doesn't really look real.
So, after you're done with thatloop and you've managed to find
a parking spot because theparking spots here can be a
little tricky, however, thereare more parking spots here
because they know that it isvery popular.
However, if you go across thestreet, you'll see this little
(09:50):
half-mile detour towards thedouble arch and again,
controversial opinion, but Iactually liked double arch more
than delicate arch, and this isbecause it was big, it was grand
, it was unique.
It basically is like two archesstacked on top of each other
and it was so, so cool and thepictures were amazing and I got
a magnet of double arch.
(10:11):
You know, like the typicaltourist that I have to be
sometimes it's fine.
So, anyway, that this entiresection is absolutely beautiful.
Long story short, if you onlyhave a specific amount of time,
I would 100% recommend seeingBalanced Rock and then coming
here and then leaving.
That's probably like the bareminimum if that's all you have
(10:31):
time for.
However, if you still do havemore time, another thing that I
would suggest stopping off on,just because it is so fun, is
the Sand Dune Arch.
This does have a loop to theBroken Arch, but you might not
have time if you're just doingit within a day.
However, the Sand Dune Arch isreally cool.
It's a very small hike and it'sreally popular with families
(10:52):
because it's basically just agiant sandbox and there's like
these really cool canyon wallsthat go above it, and I just had
a really good time there.
It was so cool.
It was like it was private andsecluded and covered, if that
makes sense.
Like all the other arches wereout in the open, but with that
one.
It felt like you were more in acanyon and you were walking on
sand.
So definitely got a littleLaura Croft Indiana Jones moment
(11:15):
at the Sand Dune Arch and would100% recommend checking it out.
If you have time and especiallyif you aren't looking to hike
as much, I think it would be agood option.
Or if you have some smallkiddos, as I said, it's really
fun for them to go play in thesand.
I stopped at the Skyline Arch,which is very poorly marked and
I wouldn't have known about itif it wasn't for this audio
(11:37):
guide.
But basically we pulled over onthe side of the road and I
walked on this unmarked trailthing and I felt like I was the
only one there and it was kindof sunset-ish afternoon-ish at
this point and this arch wasjust so cool.
After that we went intoviewpoints like the Fiery
Furnace.
I got this epic photo of theFiery Furnace with the La Salle
Mountains in the back.
(11:57):
Now, if you are wondering, ifyou do want to hike the Fiery
Furnace, you do need a permit,so you can only go to the
viewpoint, but it is still awonderful viewpoint of the
entire park.
And then basically that roadends at this place called
Devil's Garden.
Now we were kind of talkingabout that place called Devil's
Garden.
Now we were kind of talkingabout that before because
Devil's Garden is where thatpartition arch was.
(12:19):
Now this is the longest hike inthe park and let me tell you
it's amazing.
So for all of my hikers overthere who maybe are like, oh I
don't know if I want to see alllike the touristy arches and I
just want to hike, honestly, ifyou just want an adventure and
you don't want to see all thecrowds and you want to go to
(12:41):
those more remote places ofArches National Park, I would
actually encourage you to justskip all of it and go straight
down that road to the Devil'sGarden area and just do Devil's
Garden and the Primitive LoopNow Devil's Garden.
I ended up starting at aboutseven and I think I was done
about 11.
So this is definitely doable ifyou do only have a day and you
(13:02):
might be able to fit some otherstuff in there as well.
Now, warning, this is notoriousfor being very easy to get lost.
In fact, I've been on a lot ofhikes, I love hiking and this is
the only hike where I've goneinto a little bit of panic mode
because I was lost when I wastrying to find Dark Angel, which
is a rock formation.
(13:23):
It's right after what's calledthe Double O Arch.
I totally just lost my way andI was solo female hiking.
I didn't have anything.
I was so unprepared.
This led me this is a littleside tangent this led me to
create a guide that is all theworst mistakes that you can make
while hiking Devil's Garden.
That I will link on the shownotes because if you are serious
(13:45):
about doing Devil's Garden andyou're like, yes, I want to hike
, I want to go on adventures inArches National Park, you need
to read it, because I I don'tknow what I was thinking.
I just thought it was just atypical hike.
It was about like eight milesfor me, because I got so lost
and I was like, oh, it's justlike another hike, I'll get up
early and I'll go do it wrong.
Okay, you need to be a littleprepared.
(14:07):
And luckily I met some peopleon the way who gave me maps and
directions.
But once I hit that primitivetrail, it was over.
Now, if you're like, what areyou talking about right now?
What are you rambling on about,woman?
What is going on?
Basically, the Devil's Garden isa hike, a loop, if you will.
That is right at the end ofthat road and it offers access
(14:28):
to I think it's seven arches.
Now, the ones that are the mostpopular is probably the most
popular one is going to belandscape arch.
This one people just come in,go to landscape arch and turn
around.
Some other ones that are veryclose to the trailhead is the
pine tree arch and also thetunnel arch, so you don't have
to go very far into the loop inorder to do it.
(14:49):
However, there are someadventurers like me who just
prefer to do the entire loop andnot just go to the arch of
their choice and turn around.
Now, once you pass, like thelandscape, you can go to the
partition arch, which isstunning.
I said it was the only onethere.
I went to the Navajo arch andthen I went to the double O arch
, which is separate from thedouble arch that we talked about
previously, and once I gotthere, you go on this primitive,
(15:12):
primitive trail and basicallythe primitive trail is just you
navigating around the rocks andso-called fins of these rock
formations.
And let me tell you, you need amap, you need very good footing
, you need very good footwear.
It is an adventure hike and,I'm gonna be honest, it was
probably my favorite thing I didin Arches National Park.
So again, if you are veryadventurous, you want to do one
(15:37):
hike and you only have a fewhours, definitely head to
Devil's Garden.
You will get so many archesthere.
I think there was one called thePrivate Arch that was right in
the middle of the PrimitiveTrail and that arch.
I had a full meal there, likeas in.
Like I ate some beef jerky, Iate some of my raisins, I ate
everything and I did not see onesingle person.
(15:58):
So definitely different vibesthan that windows section where
everybody and their grandma isover there.
Nobody is over here.
There was a point where Islipped and fell in some water.
I got lost.
I had to help like a hiker up arock.
It is an adventure and I would100% recommend it.
Now you could, if you arehustling and you do have a full
(16:21):
day, you could potentially dothe route that we were on.
You know like, go to the windowsection, go to balance rock, go
to that fiery furnace, go allthe way to devil's garden and
just kind of go where you want.
I would especially recommendyou to see landscape arch, just
because it is very differentthan the other arches that I saw
, as in it's very long andskinny.
So even if you don't go thefull loop, it's still cool to
(16:45):
see Devil's Garden and you cansee a few arches while you're
there.
So if it's like kind ofafternoon sunset area by this
time, don't panic, you don'thave to do the full thing, but
just check it out just a littlebit and if you do want to go on
another, maybe sort of easierhike, I ended up going to the
courthouse in Park Avenue for asunset one day and, oh my gosh,
(17:07):
it was absolutely beautiful.
They have a viewpoint and thenthey also have a small hike that
you can do down there if thatinterests you as well.
Also, if you are listening tome talk and you're like this
woman has said arches or archabout 78 million times, do not
fear, because it took me a whileto actually place these arches
(17:29):
with what they actually were,and I actually wrote an entire
guide on the most notable archesin Arches National Park with
pictures so that you can have aface to the name of all of these
arches.
And if you are getting confused, I would recommend going and
checking that out and listeningto this while you're looking at
it, just so you can be a littlebit more organized, because I
(17:50):
wasn't.
You know, you can only hear somany names of arches before they
all start melding together.
So once you are at thecourthouse again that Park
Avenue trail it's a short andstunning hike.
It just has these towering rockformations that kind of make
you feel like you're walkingthrough a city of stone, and
then you also get the courthousetower's viewpoint.
So if you are too tired to hike, this is an easy pull off with
(18:11):
a breathtaking sunset view.
I actually got a pretty epicsunset shot over there and, yeah
, I was not complaining.
Also, another thing I wasactually driving back from
hiking and I actually put on mymermaid tail.
I got some really fun photos,but I was coming back, the sun
was just starting to set and itwas kind of raining a little bit
(18:32):
and I looked over and there wasliterally a rainbow over
Balance Rock and the PetrifiedDunes over there.
So I got probably like one ofthe most epic photography shots.
Again, I'm a photography nerd,so if you're not in photography,
just please ignore me for asecond, but I go crazy for this
stuff and seriously I think thatthat rainbow was there for
(18:53):
about two minutes and that wasit, and I managed to get it on
my camera.
I had everything and it's oneof my favorite photos to this
day.
So sunset is another amazingtime that you can be in Arches
National Park.
By this point the sun hasprobably gone down, not gonna
lie, especially if you've donesome hiking in there.
(19:15):
And just because the sun hasgone down does not mean that the
party or the fun doesn't stop,and that is because this is a
notorious dark sky park andviewing area.
Now, depending on the time ofyear that you are here, you
might get a chance to do somestargazing, see the Milky Way or
do some astrophotography.
Again, one of the most popularspots for you to stargaze is you
(19:39):
would guess it the DelicateArch.
That's literally everybody'sanswer.
Like you're like what's thebest spot for a sunrise?
Delicate Arch.
What's the best spot for asunset?
Delicate Arch.
What's the best spot forDelicate Arch?
It's always Delicate Arch.
Oh, I'm shy, it's pretty, butman.
But this time I am going togive it to it because seeing the
Milky Way like come through thedelicate arch with, like the
(19:59):
mountains in the back, isliterally magic, so I will give
this to the delicate arch.
Another place that is reallyreally good for stargazing here
is Panorama Point.
Another thing that I'm going tolink in the show notes is
actually a tour that I found youcan do a self-guided stargazing
tour, and I would recommendthis just because there is a lot
(20:21):
of really cool things with thestars, especially that you know
the Indians did while they werehere, the stories that they
would tell about the stars.
I was fortunate enough toactually go on a moonlight slash
, starlight hike up inCanyonlands, which is just a
little bit just around thecorner from Arches National Park
, and we ended up looking overthe rim and Arches National Park
(20:42):
with a ranger and she pointedout some of the stars, their
folk stories, and they told ussome of their stories.
It always involves a coyote.
I don't know why.
The coyote is always up to nogood, so I just kind of feel bad
for all coyotes everywhere,like they're getting a really
bad name with these star stories.
Let me tell you.
But anyway, you will hear allabout the mischievous coyote if
(21:04):
you get this tour, but I thinkthat would be really cool,
especially like if you had yourpartner or your family and you
go out there with some chairsand some blankets, you know, and
go just listen to some storiesabout stars.
It is truly magical and it istruly a bucket list experience.
Now I have to put in some plugshere because I want to do
everything to help you checkthis off of your bucket list.
(21:25):
So I made so many guides forthis park.
As I said, I've been workingreally hard on Arches National
Park, but I have entire spotsfor the sunrise, places to go
for the sunrise, things to do,nighttime hikes.
Everything will be in thatguide.
And then I also have anotherone for sunsets, because it's
different, because the sun risesand falls in a different
(21:47):
location oh, I know it's crazy.
So when the sun rises it'll hitcertain rocks and then when it
falls it'll hit other rocks.
So there are different placesthat you need to be for sunset
and sunrise.
So if you are interested inreally getting into the sunrise,
sunset and also the nighttimeaspect of Arches National Park,
I will definitely link those inthe show notes for you and you
(22:09):
can take a look.
And again, with the photography, I also have a photography
guide because, as I said, I nerdout about photography all the
time and I also have a guide tophotography for Arches National
Park, so go check that out aswell.
And I also have a guide onhiking Devil's Garden and also
the other top hikes in here.
If you do have more time and Ihave an entire adventurer's
(22:30):
guide Can you tell that?
I have done my research onArches National Park?
I should be a ranger at thispoint.
Honestly, I feel like I coulddo a guided tour through Arches
National Park and I would knoweverything.
You know.
It's fine, this place is socool and it just fascinates me.
So just because I'm passionateand I'm rambling about adventure
(22:51):
in Arches National Park, let'sjust go back and let's just
summarize what I would do in aday Now.
Step one figure out where youwant to be for sunrise.
Pick the best place that youthink would be good for your
bucket list.
Maybe you go and check out thatsunrise guide and you pick
somewhere completely different,but pick where you want to be
for sunrise.
Step two if you only haveenough time and you're just
(23:14):
driving through, drive on thatmain road, see Balanced Rock, go
to the windows section, go tothe double arch, maybe squeeze
in some other things, if you can, and then leave.
If you wanna go hiking and youjust want some serious adventure
, go straight to Devil's Garden,do Devil's Garden and then do
all the other stuff once you'redone.
If you just want a balanced day, maybe do it like the delicate
(23:41):
hike in the morning, or go tothat mesa arch in Canyonlands
and then come back, go toBalance Rock, go to the windows
section, maybe do some otherpull-offs, maybe some parking
lots, if you feel like there issomething cool there that you
want to see, but don't spend toomuch time.
Like the Sand Dune Arch Again,I really liked that one Maybe
the Skyline Arch Head all theway over, maybe stop at the
Fiery Furnace viewpoint and thengo to Devil's Garden.
You might not have time to dothe entire loop if you are doing
(24:04):
this route, but maybe just goto the Landscape Arch and come
back and then maybe you'll catchan epic sunset at the
Courthouse or Park Avenue andthen, if you are down to stay
for some of those spectacularstars, I would either head up to
the Delicate Arch or PanoramaPoint.
That was a lot.
That was a lot, though I wastalking very, very fast during
(24:24):
that.
I really hope you got all thattruly.
One thing is for sure you willhave unbelievable memories,
killer photos that people willbe like were you on Earth?
And you're like, hmm, why don'tyou take a guess?
And you're like, hmm, not sure,because I'm still not convinced
that this place is Earth.
And you will have anothercheckmark on your adventure
bucket list.
So, have you been to Arches?
(24:45):
Did I miss one of your favoritespots?
Let me know.
And if you love this episode,subscribe, share and leave a
review.
It just really helps thisadventure loving community grow.
And until next time, keepchasing those bucket list dreams
and take it before you kick it.
Were you on Earth and you're like, hmm, why don't you
take a guess?
And you're like, hmm, not sure,because I'm still not convinced
that this place is Earth.
Hey, adventurers, welcome backto Take it Before you Kick it.
The podcast, that's all abouthelping you check off your
adventure bucket list before.
Well, you know, I'm Alexandra,your guide to all things epic,
and today we are talking aboutArches National Park.
But with a little bit of atwist, you've only got one day
(00:27):
to experience this jaw-droppingMars-like landscape.
Can it be done?
Absolutely?
Will it be forgettable?
Oh, you bet your sweet hikingboots it will be.
Now I have been dedicating a lotof time and when I mean a lot,
I mean a lot of time creatingall of these guides to Arches
National Park, because I love itand I think it's such an
adventurous place to go, and Iwant you to check it off your
bucket list too, and I am hereto help you.
(00:47):
So grab your day pack, slap onthat SPF and let's get into the
ultimate one-day itinerary forarches National Park.
Now, why am I doing one day?
And it is because I have seen alot of people who are simply
driving through the Moab Canyonlands, arches National Park area
and they want to know what todo with Arches National Park in
one day.
So we are going to talk aboutit.
(01:08):
We're going to talk about thebest things if you are only
driving through, if you onlyhave one day here, and then
maybe we can go into moreadventure ideas if you want to
stay for a couple more days.
Now just some backstory.
I am a mermaid.
I run a blog called the BucketList Mermaid and I travel
everywhere in my massive RV as amermaid.
I know you're just likequestioning all of this right
(01:29):
now, but trust me, it's a thing.
Go check it out.
Funny story I wasn't actuallysupposed to be going to Arches
National Park.
We were going to Yosemite andwe were looking for different
ways to get there, easier waysto get there, and we decided to
go through the Grand Junctionroute all the way on I-70 and
then through Moab.
This was a fluke that we wereeven here to begin with and
(01:52):
obviously, like you hear ArchesNational Park and it seems cool
and I was like, oh, I bet theyhave wait for it arches.
However, I just don't thinkthat I was quite prepared, so I
ended up spending about a weekhere to do Moab Canyonlands and
Arches.
It was definitely one of themost rushed national parks that
we do.
If you have listened to previousepisodes, you know that I
(02:13):
normally like to stay as long asI can in these national parks
so that I can bring you the mostinformation that we can.
However, this one was a littlebit rushed and I think that,
compared to other national parks, it is smaller, so I think you
could do it in a day, which iswhy I am doing this podcast.
However, you need to prioritizeyour time because, although it
(02:38):
is smaller than, let's say,yosemite, there is still a lot
to do in this national park.
So, again, I am just going tobe going through my main
itinerary.
If I had to do it again Fulldisclaimer I did do it in about
four days.
Let's just try to cram it intoone day and do our best here.
So it is sunrise Now.
You might not know this, youmight know this, but sunrises at
(03:01):
Arches National Park areabsolutely incredible.
One of the things that, if youhave time if you do, if you have
time that I would suggest doingright at sunrise is the iconic
Delicate Arch, which I have alove-hate relationship for this
arch because this arch is sopopular that it's even on their
(03:24):
license plate.
So if you see Arches NationalPark nine times out of 10,
you're going to see DelicateArch and it is beautiful.
However, it is popular for areason.
So therefore, it is very hardto get parking.
It is crowded, it is chaotic.
I tried to go, I couldn't evenfind parking, so therefore I had
to like go down to a littleviewpoint area and see it and it
(03:46):
was like so tiny.
So, anyway, I have a love haterelationship with this arch.
Everybody, all the guides thatthey say, they say where should
you go?
First, delicate arch, and Ithink that that is totally
correct.
But you need to time itcorrectly.
And if you can't go at sunrise,I'm going to say something so
controversial here and you cancome after me, but I would
(04:07):
almost skip it.
If you can't do it duringsunrise, you would need to get
there at a perfect, pristinetime.
And even if you did manage tofind a parking spot let's say
you were there like duringmidday it's going to be so
crowded and you're going to getthere and it's beautiful, do not
get me wrong.
Like you have, like this, lasEl Mountains in the background
and it's absolutely stunning.
However, after doing this entirepark, I just think that there
(04:31):
are arches more deserving ofyour love and praise than the
Delicate Arch.
Now, if you are here at sunrise, this is the only time when it
is pretty much worth it.
Now, if you're looking forsomething a little different and
by by different I mean I'mgoing to cheat a little bit,
because this really isn't inArches National Park.
However, one of the bestsunrise spots in this area is
(04:52):
actually in Canyonlands, in theMesa Arch.
It's like a portal of puremagic.
It's only about a half a mileround trip hike but, trust me,
oh, it's so worth the detour ifyou have time and you don't want
to do all of the crowds atsunrise.
So those are two options onefor a little less popularity and
one if you really just reallywant to see that delicate arch.
(05:14):
Go at sunrise.
Now a little bit more aboutthat delicate arch hike.
Just keep in mind that it is a3.2 mile round trip hike.
It is pretty moderate, but itis doable if you pace yourself
and bring plenty of water andagain, if you do want to try to
check this off.
I also did Devil's Garden atsunrise and this was another
amazing way.
(05:35):
Personally, honestly again, I'msaying these controversial
things because I'm giving youthese insider tips I loved what
was called the partition archand this is a little bit of a
ways into that devil's gardenloop.
But, oh my gosh, I lookedthrough and there was just the
entire valley of Arches NationalPark through an arch.
(05:56):
There was nobody there, becauseno one goes there, so hot take.
I think that was my favoriteoption.
But you need to pick whichoption you're going to do for
sunrise.
Sunrise is peak time to go toarches, so that is the one time
where you need to be very, verypicky with your time and you
need to prioritize what you want.
Okay, so now that it is mid dayand I might be talking to you
(06:18):
people who are just drivingthrough, I'm going to tell you
what I did, which, again, iskind of different from what
other people did, but I reallyliked it.
So what I ended up doing is Iended up going to Arches
National Park and I ended uptaking an audio tour.
I am going to link it in theshow notes if you want to take a
look at it.
It was really cheap.
It was way cheaper than aguided tour I got to go at my
(06:41):
own pace and basically everytime that I would stop or hit a
point, a story would tell.
It's like a story of who livedthere first or a you know
geological, scientific, you knoweducation about the rock
formations or that kind of thing.
And what I also liked aboutthis is that it also told me
where all the hikes were.
So I just kind of jotted themdown so if I did have extra time
(07:04):
later I could go back.
Now some of the things that Idid on this audio tour which you
cannot miss is number onebalanced rock.
It's super easy, it's reallyjust a marvel to look at, and if
you don't believe me, head tothose show notes where you can
see the picture of it.
But basically it's like thisrock that really shouldn't be
(07:25):
there and it's kind of justbalancing Fun story.
The ranger told me this, butthere's this little tiny white
band around it.
That's something about thesediment, but some dude thought
that it was cemented on thereand went over and tried to push
it.
Why would you do that?
So as you go down this mainstunning road of Arches National
(07:45):
Park it's about 18 miles longtotal you will have several
pullouts, maybe some parkinglots and some viewpoints.
For example, I really likedlooking over the Petrified Dunes
and then we also saw, like theThree Sisters one that looked
like a penguin and thecourthouse.
But maybe skip those for now,save those for the afternoon.
Go straight through and you'llsee Balance Rock on the right
(08:07):
and then you'll see this turnoffto the right and this turnoff
is going to be the key becauseyou can go to what's called the
Garden of Eden.
You can look over thosepetrified dunes and then it
takes you to the window and thedouble arch section.
Now, this section, honestly, islike the most bang for your
buck, like if you do not havetime and you don't have time to
hike, you are literally juststopping by driving through.
(08:29):
Go to this section, because Ifeel like it is just filled to
the brim with these epic archesand they're all relatively close
to each other and the hiking isnot bad to get to them.
So, for example, there's thewindow section, so you'll hike a
little bit to the north window.
If you've ever seen, there's avery famous photography spot
(08:49):
here where, if you look throughthe north window, you can frame
the turret arch, which isanother arch that's right there,
you can frame it within it andI've noticed that this is on a
lot of postcards.
So to all of my photographersout here, this might be a great
spot for you.
So, basically, this entirething is on a 1.2 mile loop.
So if you go past that north,that north window, you can
(09:10):
either turn left to go to thesouth window or you can go to
the turret arch.
If you have time, I wouldsuggest going to all of them.
Personally, the turret arch waskind of my favorite in this area
, just because it looked like Iwas on some Mars exploration
mission and I just couldn'tbelieve that it was real life.
You'll see what I mean.
(09:30):
As I said, if you haven't seenit again, go to those show notes
.
It doesn't really look real.
So, after you're done with thatloop and you've managed to find
a parking spot because theparking spots here can be a
little tricky, however, thereare more parking spots here
because they know that it isvery popular.
However, if you go across thestreet, you'll see this little
(09:50):
half-mile detour towards thedouble arch and again,
controversial opinion, but Iactually liked double arch more
than delicate arch, and this isbecause it was big, it was grand
, it was unique.
It basically is like two archesstacked on top of each other
and it was so, so cool and thepictures were amazing and I got
a magnet of double arch.
(10:11):
You know, like the typicaltourist that I have to be
sometimes it's fine.
So, anyway, that this entiresection is absolutely beautiful.
Long story short, if you onlyhave a specific amount of time,
I would 100% recommend seeingBalanced Rock and then coming
here and then leaving.
That's probably like the bareminimum if that's all you have
(10:31):
time for.
However, if you still do havemore time, another thing that I
would suggest stopping off on,just because it is so fun, is
the Sand Dune Arch.
This does have a loop to theBroken Arch, but you might not
have time if you're just doingit within a day.
However, the Sand Dune Arch isreally cool.
It's a very small hike and it'sreally popular with families
(10:52):
because it's basically just agiant sandbox and there's like
these really cool canyon wallsthat go above it, and I just had
a really good time there.
It was so cool.
It was like it was private andsecluded and covered, if that
makes sense.
Like all the other arches wereout in the open, but with that
one.
It felt like you were more in acanyon and you were walking on
sand.
So definitely got a littleLaura Croft Indiana Jones moment
(11:15):
at the Sand Dune Arch and would100% recommend checking it out.
If you have time and especiallyif you aren't looking to hike
as much, I think it would be agood option.
Or if you have some smallkiddos, as I said, it's really
fun for them to go play in thesand.
I stopped at the Skyline Arch,which is very poorly marked and
I wouldn't have known about itif it wasn't for this audio
(11:37):
guide.
But basically we pulled over onthe side of the road and I
walked on this unmarked trailthing and I felt like I was the
only one there and it was kindof sunset-ish afternoon-ish at
this point and this arch wasjust so cool.
After that we went intoviewpoints like the Fiery
Furnace.
I got this epic photo of theFiery Furnace with the La Salle
Mountains in the back.
(11:57):
Now, if you are wondering, ifyou do want to hike the Fiery
Furnace, you do need a permit,so you can only go to the
viewpoint, but it is still awonderful viewpoint of the
entire park.
And then basically that roadends at this place called
Devil's Garden.
Now we were kind of talkingabout that place called Devil's
Garden.
Now we were kind of talkingabout that before because
Devil's Garden is where thatpartition arch was.
(12:19):
Now this is the longest hike inthe park and let me tell you
it's amazing.
So for all of my hikers overthere who maybe are like, oh I
don't know if I want to see alllike the touristy arches and I
just want to hike, honestly, ifyou just want an adventure and
you don't want to see all thecrowds and you want to go to
(12:41):
those more remote places ofArches National Park, I would
actually encourage you to justskip all of it and go straight
down that road to the Devil'sGarden area and just do Devil's
Garden and the Primitive LoopNow Devil's Garden.
I ended up starting at aboutseven and I think I was done
about 11.
So this is definitely doable ifyou do only have a day and you
(13:02):
might be able to fit some otherstuff in there as well.
Now, warning, this is notoriousfor being very easy to get lost.
In fact, I've been on a lot ofhikes, I love hiking and this is
the only hike where I've goneinto a little bit of panic mode
because I was lost when I wastrying to find Dark Angel, which
is a rock formation.
(13:23):
It's right after what's calledthe Double O Arch.
I totally just lost my way andI was solo female hiking.
I didn't have anything.
I was so unprepared.
This led me this is a littleside tangent this led me to
create a guide that is all theworst mistakes that you can make
while hiking Devil's Garden.
That I will link on the shownotes because if you are serious
(13:45):
about doing Devil's Garden andyou're like, yes, I want to hike
, I want to go on adventures inArches National Park, you need
to read it, because I I don'tknow what I was thinking.
I just thought it was just atypical hike.
It was about like eight milesfor me, because I got so lost
and I was like, oh, it's justlike another hike, I'll get up
early and I'll go do it wrong.
Okay, you need to be a littleprepared.
(14:07):
And luckily I met some peopleon the way who gave me maps and
directions.
But once I hit that primitivetrail, it was over.
Now, if you're like, what areyou talking about right now?
What are you rambling on about,woman?
What is going on?
Basically, the Devil's Garden isa hike, a loop, if you will.
That is right at the end ofthat road and it offers access
(14:28):
to I think it's seven arches.
Now, the ones that are the mostpopular is probably the most
popular one is going to belandscape arch.
This one people just come in,go to landscape arch and turn
around.
Some other ones that are veryclose to the trailhead is the
pine tree arch and also thetunnel arch, so you don't have
to go very far into the loop inorder to do it.
(14:49):
However, there are someadventurers like me who just
prefer to do the entire loop andnot just go to the arch of
their choice and turn around.
Now, once you pass, like thelandscape, you can go to the
partition arch, which isstunning.
I said it was the only onethere.
I went to the Navajo arch andthen I went to the double O arch
, which is separate from thedouble arch that we talked about
previously, and once I gotthere, you go on this primitive,
(15:12):
primitive trail and basicallythe primitive trail is just you
navigating around the rocks andso-called fins of these rock
formations.
And let me tell you, you need amap, you need very good footing
, you need very good footwear.
It is an adventure hike and,I'm gonna be honest, it was
probably my favorite thing I didin Arches National Park.
So again, if you are veryadventurous, you want to do one
(15:37):
hike and you only have a fewhours, definitely head to
Devil's Garden.
You will get so many archesthere.
I think there was one called thePrivate Arch that was right in
the middle of the PrimitiveTrail and that arch.
I had a full meal there, likeas in.
Like I ate some beef jerky, Iate some of my raisins, I ate
everything and I did not see onesingle person.
(15:58):
So definitely different vibesthan that windows section where
everybody and their grandma isover there.
Nobody is over here.
There was a point where Islipped and fell in some water.
I got lost.
I had to help like a hiker up arock.
It is an adventure and I would100% recommend it.
Now you could, if you arehustling and you do have a full
(16:21):
day, you could potentially dothe route that we were on.
You know like, go to the windowsection, go to balance rock, go
to that fiery furnace, go allthe way to devil's garden and
just kind of go where you want.
I would especially recommendyou to see landscape arch, just
because it is very differentthan the other arches that I saw
, as in it's very long andskinny.
So even if you don't go thefull loop, it's still cool to
(16:45):
see Devil's Garden and you cansee a few arches while you're
there.
So if it's like kind ofafternoon sunset area by this
time, don't panic, you don'thave to do the full thing, but
just check it out just a littlebit and if you do want to go on
another, maybe sort of easierhike, I ended up going to the
courthouse in Park Avenue for asunset one day and, oh my gosh,
(17:07):
it was absolutely beautiful.
They have a viewpoint and thenthey also have a small hike that
you can do down there if thatinterests you as well.
Also, if you are listening tome talk and you're like this
woman has said arches or archabout 78 million times, do not
fear, because it took me a whileto actually place these arches
(17:29):
with what they actually were,and I actually wrote an entire
guide on the most notable archesin Arches National Park with
pictures so that you can have aface to the name of all of these
arches.
And if you are getting confused, I would recommend going and
checking that out and listeningto this while you're looking at
it, just so you can be a littlebit more organized, because I
(17:50):
wasn't.
You know, you can only hear somany names of arches before they
all start melding together.
So once you are at thecourthouse again that Park
Avenue trail it's a short andstunning hike.
It just has these towering rockformations that kind of make
you feel like you're walkingthrough a city of stone, and
then you also get the courthousetower's viewpoint.
So if you are too tired to hike, this is an easy pull off with
(18:11):
a breathtaking sunset view.
I actually got a pretty epicsunset shot over there and, yeah
, I was not complaining.
Also, another thing I wasactually driving back from
hiking and I actually put on mymermaid tail.
I got some really fun photos,but I was coming back, the sun
was just starting to set and itwas kind of raining a little bit
(18:32):
and I looked over and there wasliterally a rainbow over
Balance Rock and the PetrifiedDunes over there.
So I got probably like one ofthe most epic photography shots.
Again, I'm a photography nerd,so if you're not in photography,
just please ignore me for asecond, but I go crazy for this
stuff and seriously I think thatthat rainbow was there for
(18:53):
about two minutes and that wasit, and I managed to get it on
my camera.
I had everything and it's oneof my favorite photos to this
day.
So sunset is another amazingtime that you can be in Arches
National Park.
By this point the sun hasprobably gone down, not gonna
lie, especially if you've donesome hiking in there.
(19:15):
And just because the sun hasgone down does not mean that the
party or the fun doesn't stop,and that is because this is a
notorious dark sky park andviewing area.
Now, depending on the time ofyear that you are here, you
might get a chance to do somestargazing, see the Milky Way or
do some astrophotography.
Again, one of the most popularspots for you to stargaze is you
(19:39):
would guess it the DelicateArch.
That's literally everybody'sanswer.
Like you're like what's thebest spot for a sunrise?
Delicate Arch.
What's the best spot for asunset?
Delicate Arch.
What's the best spot forDelicate Arch?
It's always Delicate Arch.
Oh, I'm shy, it's pretty, butman.
But this time I am going togive it to it because seeing the
Milky Way like come through thedelicate arch with, like the
(19:59):
mountains in the back, isliterally magic, so I will give
this to the delicate arch.
Another place that is reallyreally good for stargazing here
is Panorama Point.
Another thing that I'm going tolink in the show notes is
actually a tour that I found youcan do a self-guided stargazing
tour, and I would recommendthis just because there is a lot
(20:21):
of really cool things with thestars, especially that you know
the Indians did while they werehere, the stories that they
would tell about the stars.
I was fortunate enough toactually go on a moonlight slash
, starlight hike up inCanyonlands, which is just a
little bit just around thecorner from Arches National Park
, and we ended up looking overthe rim and Arches National Park
(20:42):
with a ranger and she pointedout some of the stars, their
folk stories, and they told ussome of their stories.
It always involves a coyote.
I don't know why.
The coyote is always up to nogood, so I just kind of feel bad
for all coyotes everywhere,like they're getting a really
bad name with these star stories.
Let me tell you.
But anyway, you will hear allabout the mischievous coyote if
(21:04):
you get this tour, but I thinkthat would be really cool,
especially like if you had yourpartner or your family and you
go out there with some chairsand some blankets, you know, and
go just listen to some storiesabout stars.
It is truly magical and it istruly a bucket list experience.
Now I have to put in some plugshere because I want to do
everything to help you checkthis off of your bucket list.
(21:25):
So I made so many guides forthis park.
As I said, I've been workingreally hard on Arches National
Park, but I have entire spotsfor the sunrise, places to go
for the sunrise, things to do,nighttime hikes.
Everything will be in thatguide.
And then I also have anotherone for sunsets, because it's
different, because the sun risesand falls in a different
(21:47):
location oh, I know it's crazy.
So when the sun rises it'll hitcertain rocks and then when it
falls it'll hit other rocks.
So there are different placesthat you need to be for sunset
and sunrise.
So if you are interested inreally getting into the sunrise,
sunset and also the nighttimeaspect of Arches National Park,
I will definitely link those inthe show notes for you and you
(22:09):
can take a look.
And again, with the photography, I also have a photography
guide because, as I said, I nerdout about photography all the
time and I also have a guide tophotography for Arches National
Park, so go check that out aswell.
And I also have a guide onhiking Devil's Garden and also
the other top hikes in here.
If you do have more time and Ihave an entire adventurer's
(22:30):
guide Can you tell that?
I have done my research onArches National Park?
I should be a ranger at thispoint.
Honestly, I feel like I coulddo a guided tour through Arches
National Park and I would knoweverything.
You know.
It's fine, this place is socool and it just fascinates me.
So just because I'm passionateand I'm rambling about adventure
(22:51):
in Arches National Park, let'sjust go back and let's just
summarize what I would do in aday Now.
Step one figure out where youwant to be for sunrise.
Pick the best place that youthink would be good for your
bucket list.
Maybe you go and check out thatsunrise guide and you pick
somewhere completely different,but pick where you want to be
for sunrise.
Step two if you only haveenough time and you're just
(23:14):
driving through, drive on thatmain road, see Balanced Rock, go
to the windows section, go tothe double arch, maybe squeeze
in some other things, if you can, and then leave.
If you wanna go hiking and youjust want some serious adventure
, go straight to Devil's Garden,do Devil's Garden and then do
all the other stuff once you'redone.
If you just want a balanced day, maybe do it like the delicate
(23:41):
hike in the morning, or go tothat mesa arch in Canyonlands
and then come back, go toBalance Rock, go to the windows
section, maybe do some otherpull-offs, maybe some parking
lots, if you feel like there issomething cool there that you
want to see, but don't spend toomuch time.
Like the Sand Dune Arch Again,I really liked that one Maybe
the Skyline Arch Head all theway over, maybe stop at the
Fiery Furnace viewpoint and thengo to Devil's Garden.
You might not have time to dothe entire loop if you are doing
(24:04):
this route, but maybe just goto the Landscape Arch and come
back and then maybe you'll catchan epic sunset at the
Courthouse or Park Avenue andthen, if you are down to stay
for some of those spectacularstars, I would either head up to
the Delicate Arch or PanoramaPoint.
That was a lot.
That was a lot, though I wastalking very, very fast during
(24:24):
that.
I really hope you got all thattruly.
One thing is for sure you willhave unbelievable memories,
killer photos that people willbe like were you on Earth?
And you're like, hmm, why don'tyou take a guess?
And you're like, hmm, not sure,because I'm still not convinced
that this place is Earth.
And you will have anothercheckmark on your adventure
bucket list.
So, have you been to Arches?
(24:45):
Did I miss one of your favoritespots?
Let me know.
And if you love this episode,subscribe, share and leave a
review.
It just really helps thisadventure loving community grow.
And until next time, keepchasing those bucket list dreams
and take it before you kick it.
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