Arches National Park at Thanksgiving

Over Thanksgiving weekend, we decided to #optoutside instead of Black Friday shop. We stayed in Moab and explored both Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. It was also on this trip that we celebrated our first anniversary! Many LangeTime Adventures were had.

Arches National Park has over 2,000 documented arches in the park, but only a few are the real stars. I broke our time there into chunks to discuss below.

Windows Area/Balanced Rock

The first area of Arches we explored is called the Windows area. On the way, there’s a quick stop off for a tiny trail around the Balanced Rock where you can see a 3,600 ton boulder sitting on its eroding pedestal. That’s the weight of 27 blue whales.

In the Windows area, a short walk will take you to the North, South, and Turret arches. These are massive and you can walk right up to them to see the beautiful landscape behind.

Our favorite part of the Windows area was Double Arch. Sharing one support side, these two arches are graceful, majestic, and massive, with the southern span soaring 112 feet above the ground!

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Devil’s Garden

The Devil’s Garden is an area that quickly turns tricky. About a mile from the trailhead, you can enjoy the smaller Pine Tree Arch on the way to the fantastic Landscape Arch. Landscape Arch has the longest span of any arch in North America (and 4th globally) at 306 feet . Pictures can’t really do the scale justice.

Up a slippery rock face and through some sand and water you can continue past Landscape for a look at both Navajo and Partition Arches. Partition was probably our favorite as it so perfectly framed the gorgeous view below us!

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Fiery Furnace

Fiery Furnace is an area of Arches that has no designated trail. You either need a hiking permit ($6/each) or to go on a Ranger-Guided Tour. It’s not a path so much as a maze. We knew we had to do it, and tried to follow the tiny brown arrows and immediately got way off track. We climbed a huge sandy hill, and in finding a way back down found that we had to perilously scramble down difficult and steep rock ledges. We determined it was a great test of our marital problem-solving and really enjoyed climbing all over this natural playground.

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Delicate Arch

This iconic final arch is the symbol of the Utah license plate. At 60 feet tall, it’s pretty and the busiest hike at Arches. We went for the sunrise and froze our butts off. It was also the steepest hike we found in Arches, but had a lovely view at the top!

Bonus Arch: Corona Arch

Just outside of Moab, there is a trail to a beautiful, massive arch called the Corona Arch. Also on the way is the Bow Tie Arch — a so-called “pothole style” arch. The hike was about three miles and filled with delightful scenery, as well as some more adventurous parts, like a ladder or steel cables to assist in the slippery parts. We really recommend this trip if you’re already heading to Moab. It was a perfect thing to do during our one rainy day when the rain took a break.

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