Perfect Day To Visit the Arches National Park
We visited Arches National Park in May with blue skies and 70-degree weather, one of the reasons spring is a great time to visit. If you’re planning to explore Arches in one day, getting there early makes a big difference, even though there was a line when we arrived, it moved quickly.
After entering the park, we stopped at the visitor center for a quick look around before heading up the scenic, winding road toward our first viewpoint, Courthouse Towers.
Courthouse Towers
Courthouse Towers is a great first stopping point once you are in the park, just a few minutes into your drive. They got their name because they look like tall courthouse buildings! The wide open space surrounding it gives you a good idea of how vast and beautiful your drive will be through the park. It’s also a quick and easy stop, which makes it a perfect stop before heading deeper into Arches.
Petrified Dunes
Further down the road, there’s a scenic overlook for the Petrified Dunes. They stretch far into the distance with the La Sal Mountains as the backdrop. It gives you a great sense of how big Arches National Park really is. If you think this is a great view, just wait to see what’s to come.
Windows Road
Windows Road was the first right we took off the main park road. From there, we visited the Garden of Eden, Double Arches, Turret Arch, and the Windows Arches. Garden of Eden was our first stop and was an easy walk with some really fun photo spots between the rocks.
We continued down the Windows Road and were able to find parking, this is a popular stop and parking can be difficult when busy. We started at Double Arch and actually climbed up it, which was a really cool experience with some great views once you get higher up.
From there, we walked across the parking lot and took the Turret Arch trail. We didn’t originally plan to hike around the North and South Window Arches, but we ended up doing it and it was definitely worth it. The full loop is about a mile round trip. Just be careful and watch for the trail, as there aren’t many markers and it can get tricky in some spots. After a rainstorm, it’s even harder to follow, in general it’s probably not the best park to hike when it’s wet.
Wolfe Ranch
John Wesley Wolfe settled in this area in the late 1800s with his son Fred Wolfe. After years of living primitively off the land, his daughter Flora Stanley and her family came to live with them on the property for a few years before moving back to Ohio. This is where we ended the part of our trip where we were getting out and exploring.
The Drive Back
From Wolfe Ranch, we drove to the end of the park, Devils Garden and drove nonstop out of the park, which was a great 30-minute drive. It’s one last look at the park in one go, that left us relaxed and mesmerized.
