Recently, my friends and I took a quick girls trip down to Arches National Park. Instead of a spring break, BYU (where I attend) gives us a single day off in March called "Spring Day". We thought this was mighty gracious of them, so we decided to spend it down in Southern Utah.
Two days doesn't seem like a very long time, but we felt that it was the perfect amount to get everything done that we wanted. Below you'll find our itinerary! And if you scroll all the way to the bottom you'll find the perfect Arches packing list.
DAY 1
I suggest starting early in the morning so that you can get to Arches with enough time to enjoy most of your day in the park. Arches National Park is a 4 hour Drive from Salt Lake so we left about 8am. Make sure to bring snacks and good tunes for the car ride!
You should arrive at Arches around noon. Let the adventure begin!
After paying for our pass (I invested in a National Parks Annual Pass which cost $80. However, a three-day pass is just $30). Our first stop was the Visitor's Center where I picked up a couple postcards and we took a fun photo on the goats outside. We filled up our water bottles and used the restrooms there as well. Running water is virtually nonexistent once you get into the park so fill up while you can. We spent a little bit of time at the exhibits and then headed out to see the real thing.
Arches is amazing because you have to drive up the side of a canyon and when you come out on top of the plateau, all you can see for miles and miles are these beautiful red rocks. Make sure to have your camera ready! It was a surreal moment to be in a place I'd only ever seen in pictures. On our drive, we passed several arches and even saw Balanced Rock from the road.
We took a turn off a couple miles down the road and headed towards Double Arch. The Window Arches and Double Arch share the same parking lot so can hit both in only a couple hours. We drove past the Window Arches (You can see them from the road) and opted to just hike Double Arch. Double Arch was breathtaking. It's a very short .5 miles there and back and provided shade and fun rocks to climb. We picked a rock to eat lunch on and just stared out over the valley. Seriously one of my favorite moments of our whole trip.
After about an hour we got back in the car and headed to Delicate Arch. This is the pinnacle of Arches National Park- and for good reason! The hike is 3 miles roundtrip, but just getting there feels like 10. The hike involves climbing up a steep rock and inching forward on trails with a drop off on the side. It's a hard hike, but it's so worth it! Make sure to get your photo underneath the arch! Along the route there are also petroglyphs and an old homestead, so make sure to check those out as well.
It was evening by the time we finished with Delicate Arch, so we headed to dinner in Moab (the nearest town). We ate at a diner called, very originally, the Moab Diner. It was so good! It had a fun 50s atmosphere and great food (plus pretty stellar milkshakes!)
We spent the rest of our evening napping and watching shows at our hotel (which was also very originally called The Downtown Moab hotel). It was a great hotel for the price we paid, and was in a nice location (only 10 minutes from the National Park gate).
Around 10pm we headed back to Arches for stargazing. Arches has one of the best dark skies in the United States. We drove up the canyon and then found a turn off where we parked our car. It was truly life changing to just lay there (with our stargazing playlist we compiled) and stare up at the millions of stars. We learned how to take long exposure pictures with our phones, and that was so fun! It was wonderful to be with friends and just take a moment to realize how small we are in comparison to the vastness of space.
DAY 2
This day was a lot more chill and started out with us sleeping in. Who knew hiking could tire you out so quickly! We woke up at 9am and had a quick breakfast of muffins and yogurt (that we brought from home). We checked out of our hotel and drove back to Arches.
Our first stop was Sand Dune Arch. Sand Dune Arch is a bit further into the park than the other arches we had been to so it took more time to get there. This arch is another short .5 miles out and back and you get to pass through some fun little slot canyons. It was very windy when we went so a lot of sand got blown in our faces (and teeth, and hair, and ears, and....), but overall it was a wonderful hike and one of our favorite arches.
The final stop on our trip was Devil's Garden. Devil's Garden is about a 7 mile loop through wonderful scenery and gorgeous arches. We decided to just hike in until we felt ready to turn around. We ended up hiking to Landscape Arch (The widest Arch at Arches National Park) and then a bit further up a steep climb because we wanted to see the view. We had lunch at the top and then climbed down and hiked back to our car. In total we probably hiked a little over 2 miles.
By that time it was about 2pm and we needed to head home. We hopped in our car, and, tunes blasting, drove all the way home. This was a really wonderful trip and a perfect weekend getaway. I would recommend going to Arches National Park in the Spring or Fall as the summer is 1. A lot more crowded and 2. A lot more hot (easily over 100 F). March was just perfect for us!
I hope this itinerary was helpful, and, as always, feel free to reach out via my insta @goldenbrowniebeth if you have any questions.
LINKS
Arches National Park Main Website: https://www.nps.gov/arch/index.htm
Downtown Moab Hotel: https://www.hotelmoabdowntown.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gmblisting
Moab Diner: https://www.moabdiner.com/
The Packing List I Made/Used:
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