Arches National Park

There is sightseeing by personal car, hiking, biking (established roads only), picnicking (2 designated picnic areas in park) and camping. Join a ranger, March through October, for a talk, walk, hike or campfire program.

Picnic tables are available at two locations in the park:

• Balanced Rock
• Devils Garden Loop

The 48-mile, round-trip paved park road winds through spectacular scenery and leads to major park features. These features can be viewed from the road; numerous parking areas are also avaiable. Features which are accessible from the road include:

• La Sal Mountains Viewpoint
• Courthouse Towers Viewpoint
• Petrified Dunes Viewpoint
• Balanced Rock
• Delicate Arch Viewpoint
• Sal Valley Overlook
• Fiery Furnace Viewpoint

Hiking trails of varying length and difficulty lead to and through arches and into the heart of the park. There are no designated backcountry trails or campsites.

• Park Avenue: 1.0-mile moderately easy hike between the trailhhead and The Organ passes through smooth rock canyon bottom within high walled balanced rocks. For a QuicktimeVR click here.
• Balanced Rock: 0.3-mile easy hike around the base of Balanced Rock.
• Windows: 1.0-mile round trip is easy round-trip to North and South Window and Turret Arch. Additional 0.7-mile hike is more difficult but completes the loop.
• Double Arch: 0.8-mile easy round trip through low sand.
• Delicate Arch: 3.0-mile round trip is somewhat strenuous -- 500 foot elevation gain across open slickrock with no shade and some exposure to heights. Take water. Best just before sunset for spectacular view from the base of famous Delicate Arch.
• Delicate Arch Viewpoint: 100 yards round trip for a distant view of the arch.
• Sand Dune Arch: 0.3-mile easy round trip; great for kids.
• Broken Arch: 1.3-mile easy round trip across open grassland.
• Skyline Arch: 0.4-mile round trip over rocks to the arch.
• Devils Garden

• Landscape Arch: 1.6-mile moderate round trip across gravel to the world's longest arch. Short side trips available to Tunnel and Pine Tree arches.
• Double-O Arch: Somewhat difficult 4.2-mile round trip has short elevation gains, rocky footing and some exposure to heights. But well worth it! Add side trips to Navajo and Partition arches.
• Primitive Loop from Double-O to Landscape Arch: 2.2-mile round trip is difficult low route through fins. Slippery when wet. Add a trip to Private Arch.
  
• Tower Arch: 2.4-mile, moderately difficult round trip in the remote Klondike Bluffs area.

While the Moab, Utah area is famous for mountain biking, it is permitted only on paved roads within park boundaries. Numerous areas outside the park offer some of the best mountain biking anywhere.

Moab Slickrock Bike Trail
The Moab/Arches area is famous for its mountain biking. There are many excellent bike trails here, most notably, the Moab Slickrock Bike Trail. The Slickrock trail is a 10.3-mile loop trail which takes about half a day. The trail starts on Sand Flat Road, 2.3 miles from the BLM Grand Resource Area Office. The trails offers great biking challenges and magnificent scenery. The practice loop is 2.3 miles and provide an introduction to biking on slickrock. This trail is rated hardest.

Monitor/Merrimac
A 13.2 mile easy loop which starts from the Moab visitor center at the north end of town. Drive north on US 191 for 14.8 miles. Turn left onto a dirt road that crosses the railroad track just before the railroad bridge. Follow the dirt road for 0.6 miles to an intersection which is the starting point and ending point for this loop. The trail follows a jeep trail, wash bottom and slickrock. It features close views of the Monitor and Merrimac buttes, Determination Towers, and the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Trail.

Kane Creek Canyon Rim/Pritchett Canyon
A 20.3-mile point-to-point ride starting on Highway 191, 12.5 miles south of Moab. The trail follows a jeep road and provides the opportunity to view the scenic Behind the Rocks area and several large natural arches. Like the Gemini Bridges ride (below), the start of the route is at a higher elevation than its ending point.

Gemini Bridges Trail
A 13.5 mile point-to-point ride on a dirt road. The trail begins on Highway 313 at a point 0.9 miles west of the Mineral Bottom turnoff (12.6 miles west of the Utah 313/US 191 junction). The Gemini Bridges, a pair of natural rock spans, colorful rock formations and the spectacular views of Behind the Rocks are the main attractions of this trail.

Hurrah Pass Trail
A 33-mile round trip starting at the junction of Highway 191 and Kane Creek Boulevard in Moab. The ride is over paved road and graded dirt road and features views of the Colorado River, petroglyphs and scenic canyons.

For more information on bike trails in the Moab area contact:

Moab Visitor Center
P.O. Box 550
Moab, Utah 84532
801-259-8825
800-635-6622