Landscape Arch
After suffering a night in the bitter cold, and having a chance encounter with one of the few other hikers in Canyonlands who suggested a visit to Arches to see the winter beauty with little to no crowds, we decided to cut our backpacking trip short and drive over to Arches National Park. We happily exited Canyonlands after collecting our tent and drove into the most popular area in Moab.
What we found was that the advice we were given was spot on. There was no line to enter the park, and very few people on the roads. Parking lots were mostly empty and the ground was covered with a beautiful layer of fresh, white snow.
Our first stop in Arches National Park was Landscape Arch. We easily found parking and walked the beautiful but short 0.8 mile trail to one of the longest arches in the world. After backpacking all those miles with heavy packs in Canyonlands we were so happy to be on an easy hike.
The scale of Landscape Arch is hard to capture on camera, and even in person it’s difficult to wrap your head around how enormous this slender and delicate looking arch really is. We could see underneath there are remnants of the most recent rock fall, and were perfectly happy standing behind the safety of the fence that keeps visitors away from the possibility of being crushed if more of the arch should take a tumble.
Double O Arch
The trail past Landscape arch lead us further into the Devils Garden area, and after another mile of navigating the primitave portion of trail we arrived at the viewpoint for Double O Arch. This lesser-visited arch has an impressive 71 foot span and sits atop another 21 foot arch. Both arches are a part of the same sandstone fin.
It was an impressive sight, and we had it all to ourselves. We didn’t spend too much time in this area, as we had several other arches to visit before we had to hit the road and make the long drive home.
North Window
After spending some time in the Devils Garden area, we made the short drive over to the Windows Section. This is one of the most popular areas in the park with a high concentration of iconic arches within short walking distance of the parking lot.
The massive North Window dominated the landscape, so we took the short hike along a nicely developed trail to have a look. Even at a distance the size was impressive, although our laziness had taken over and we didn’t go all the way.
Double Arch
Taking a trail from the other side of the parking lot led us to possibly the most impressive arch, Double Arch. While most arches in the park are formed by erosion from the side, Double Arch is known as a pothole arch, which means the erosion came from above.
The two arches are the tallest in the park and are beautifully carved into a sculpted fin of sandstone sticking straight out of the desert floor. We couldn’t help but imagine how much time it took Mother Nature to carve out this masterpiece, and hopefully it doesn’t crumble any time soon.
And with that, our Utah road trip had come to an end. As we left Arches, we caught a beautiful sight, the petrified sand dunes spread out in front of us, with beautiful views of the snowcapped La Sal range and Mt. Peale towering above it all. What a gorgeous view as we said goodby to Arches and began our long drive home filled with Takis and gas station food.