Arches National Park has implemented a dedicated entry time system for the period April through October, capping the number of daily visitors...
Between 2011 and 2021, visitation to Arches National Park grew over 73 percent, from just over 1 million to over 1.8 million visitors per year. As a result, the park has experienced issues of roadway congestion, facility overuse, and associated safety hazards; reduced quality and predictability of visitor access to the park; overcrowding at sites and along trails that diminishes visitor experience; competition for parking and visitor conflicts; and impacts to natural and cultural resources.
This means you must purchase an entry permit ($2/vehicle) on line...with reservations being released 3 months in advance. The earliest I could get our entry permit was for noon today, which meant that we did not have to rush to get going this morning, but it also meant we would not have a full day to explore. Oh well, we will make the most of our time there.
So Steve took the opportunity to get his drone out this morning and take a 1:55 minute video of Horsethief Campground....
We arrived at Arches National Park just before 11:30 to get in line for our entry time. Turned out that the line was not nearly as long as we had seen it on previous days and we were through the gate and at the Visitors Center about 20 minutes later.
The scenery was just so amazing, especially with the clear blue sky, that I was taking pictures at every turn in the road! Steve did his best to get rid of as much windshield glare as possible while editing...
However, they are fairly long and with our limited time in the park, we decided to forego these trails. When we were here in 2011, we did the long hike to Landscape Arch, and Double-O Arch which are really cool, but not enough time today...click here to take a look if interested.
Views along the way as we head to our next stop...
From Sand Dune Arch we took the trail to Broken Arches...
A 44 second video of Sand Dune Arch and Broken Arch...
More views...
We stopped at Fiery Furnace Viewpoint and Steve took a 30 second video...
There are 3 trails that you can hike up to Delicate Arch. The first trailhead is a 3.2 mile/5.1 km round trip hike with an elevation change of 538 feet up! Another mile up the road and there are 2 more trails to view the Arch...and are shorter. We'll go there!
Wolfe Ranch...This humble, one-room cabin sits near the present-day trailhead for the hike to Delicate Arch.
View from the lower viewpoint...
We then took the trail to the Upper Viewpoint...
Next, was a quick stop at Panorama Point...
North and South Arch in full view....
Our final stop before leaving the park was Park Avenue Viewpoint and Trailhead...
Arches was absolutely amazing! I think we made good use of the 5 hours we were there!
After looking at your 2011 post, it seems the only thing you did different was to hike the trails. Love the scenery and hope to see it someday.
ReplyDeleteBe Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
We were disappointed we had no time to hike that trail as it’s spectacular.
DeleteYou got to do a lot! So bang awesome trails. We’ve been a couple times and still not done all we wanted to.
ReplyDeleteIt’s a lot to do even in a day, never mind 5 hours!
DeleteSo many cool arches and formations! Looking at your pictures, it was like I was there. I could hear the crunch of the sand and smell the smells of creosote. Awesome pictures!
ReplyDeleteThanks…glad you let your imagination tag along! It’s such an awesome area to explore.
DeleteThanks for the tour. It's been some time since we were there ... 2015. Nice to see the pictures again. Glad the weather was good for you.
ReplyDeleteThe weather was perfect! Such a unique area.
DeleteAmazing pictures thanks for posting them be safe
ReplyDeleteArches is incredible. Glad you enjoyed them.
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