Arches National Park
Delicate Arch
Two Digital Gypsies Rating – 5 stars
Located in Southeastern Utah, Arches National Park has the world’s largest collection of natural stone arches. The park also features towering spires, pinnacles and balanced rocks.
We live in Salt Lake City and decided to spend the weekend at the park which is located in southeastern Utah just a few miles from the city of Moab. Four of us made the trip and after a four-hour drive we arrived in Moab on Friday night early enough to have dinner at Fiesta Mexicana. Food at the restaurant was very good. We rented a condo at Rim Village which was comparable in price to the motels in town.
Saturday morning we headed into the park and decided hike the trail to Delicate Arch. The trail to Delicate Arch starts at the Wolfe Ranch parking lot where you can view petroglyphs near the cabin. The trail to Delicate Arch is three miles and considered difficult, with an elevation gain of 480 feet, no shade, and open slickrock that must be crossed. The hike was well worth it, Delicate Arch sits on the edge of a canyon and offers breathtaking views. The day we hiked in there was a storm front moving in so we had to endure 40-50 mph winds during the hike.
After the hike we drove around the park to various viewpoints and we treated to views of spires, fins, and balanced rocks. Words are inadequate to describe what’s in the park. You feel insignificant in the face of what nature has to offer here.
Leaving the park on Saturday we stopped at the Park Avenue trail head and viewpoint. It is a mile long canyon with huge monoliths of rock on each side of the canyon. Definitely stop here if you visit the park.
After leaving the park we had dinner at the Blu Pig restaurant in Moab that features barbecue cooking and live entertainment. Sunday morning we had an excellent breakfast at the Jailhouse Cafe located on Main Street in Moab. After breakfast we re-entered the park and went back to the Park Avenue trailhead and took the hike down the canyon. The hike is one mile one way and considered moderate in difficulty. After the hike we stopped for a while at the visitor center and gift store. The visitor center has a lot of information on the natural forces of wind, rain, and ice that were instrumental in the formation of the park.
Too soon our weekend was over and we had to head back to the city. We are planning on another visit to the park because one weekend wasn’t enough time to see all that the park has to offer.
