The park includes more than 2,000 natural arches, with scenic drives and short hikes highlighting these impressive formations. Located just outside Moab, Utah, Arches National Park is the gateway to Utah’s redrock country, which contains the greatest density of natural arches in the world.
The low-key entrance to Arches, off Highway 191 north of Moab, Utah, gives few hints of the geologic curiosity awaiting visitors on the other side of the canyon walls. But word has gotten out. More than a million people now come annually to see the unworldly scene.
The park includes more than 2,000 named arches and countless openings that might one day erode into "official" arches. To technically be considered an arch, the opening must span at least three feet in one direction.
Many people know of Arches from writer Edward Abbey’s Southwest classic, Desert Solitaire, a book based on his experience as a seasonal park ranger in Arches during 1956 and 1957. The Arches that Abbey knew was quite different from today. Then a national monument, Arches was rugged, remote, difficult to get to, and sparsely visited. The dirt roads were dusty, infrastructure rare. The year after Ed Abbey left his post, the National Park Service began paving the main park road, dramatically increasing accessibility and visitation. Today, Arches is a popular drive-through park, featuring short hikes and scenic overlooks of the incredible geology.
Trails: Delicate Arch Trail | Devil's Garden and Primitive Loop | Park Avenue Trail | Sand Dune & Broken Arch Trail
Campground: Devil's Garden Campground
Balanced rock is estimated to weigh 3,577 tons—imagine that tumbling down on you!
Decorating Utah's license plates, Delicate Arch is easily the most famous arch in the country.
Double Arch rises 112 feet above the ground, making it the tallest arch in the park. Photo: NPS Jacob W. Frank
Measuring in with a 306-feet opening, Landscape Arch is the longest in North America.
Many of the hikes and destinations featured on the Colorado Plateau Explorer are located in remote areas or near rural communities with limited healthcare resources. Counties in southern Utah have closed campgrounds, RV parks, hotels, and Airbnbs in an effort to avoid straining local healthcare systems. We hope you'll use the Colorado Plateau Explorer to plan your trip for the future. These magnificent lands will be here waiting for you then.
The same straight-line approach defined Arches National Park, until the late 1990s when the Grand Canyon Trust campaigned to redraw the park’s perimeter to include an important area called Lost Spring Canyon. The Trust bought a grazing permit from a willing rancher, donated it to the Park Service, and helped draft the necessary legislation to expand the park. Congress passed the bill into law, and the northeast boundary of the park now reflects the topographical and ecological contours of Lost Spring Canyon and five tributaries.
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