Arches National Park

After our day riding the RZR yesterday, we were ready to do some more hiking and explore Arches National Park! Trent had been looking forward to Arches since our RV trip during Spring Break this past March. Among other places, we explored two of Utah’s National Parks (Bryce and Zion), but left Arches off the list for that trip. Trent was ready to get going!

Side note… Did you know that Arches National Park has over 2,000 arches?!

We passed by Balaced Rock on the way to our first hike.

We started our day with a hike to Delicate Arch. This is probably the most recognized arch (it’s also the arch on Utah’s license plate). It’s a 3 mile round trip hike and there were tons of people on this trail. It definitely wasn’t an easy one; it was hot, there was no shade, and there’s some elevation gain. It was no match for these crazy hikers though, they charged it! Although it did take a few minutes for Dax’s engine to warm up…

He had fun playing on top of this hill, which was a little bit off the main path.

Still on our way to Delicate Arch, we found a couple of other Arches. Plus, an arch through an arch!

Delicate Arch! It’s breathtaking and just such an incredible natural formation! (It’s really difficult to get a picture of it without people in it… these are our best efforts!)

We waited in “line” to have our pic taken under the arch… and we look so tiny!

We had just as much fun going back down the trail as we did going up. It’s just fun to race!

Next, we headed to Devils Garden Trail. The whole loop is 7.2 miles roundtrip and you see a total of seven arches. We chose to hike just 2 miles to see three arches – Tunnel Arch, Pine Tree Arch, and Landscape Arch. Since we had already done the 3 mile hike to Delicate Arch, another 2 miles was more than enough for us. Again, it was pretty hot out there!

The first one above is Tunnel, the second one is Pine Tree. Here is another pic of Pine Tree from underneath, and our awesome hikers.

Next we hiked back up the hill to Landscape Arch. It’s a super thin one, and the fifth longest natural arch in the world (after four in China). The trail underneath Landscape Arch closed in 1995 after some large rockfalls; basically they just don’t trust it anymore.

Once we reached Landscape Arch we turned and went back. Dax found a way to entertain himself in the shade.

And this is how Dusky typically waits for us… enjoying the A/C and protecting our “home”. Dogs aren’t allowed on trails in National Parks.

More Arches National Park coming tomorrow! Sneak preview… we took our kiddos on the toughest hike in the Park!