Arches National Park Sunset Discovery Tour in Moab, UT

Very busy on a national holiday weekend, 40 minutes queue to enter, and that was with the timed ticket on top of the entry fee to this national park. No notice at the start saying pre booked timed entry was in opera-tion so 1 in every 5 cars was being turned around after they'd waited 40 minutes. The park though was a very interesting succession of weather carved arches. The road is basically entry and end point, turn around and leave. Which arches you visited was up to you. Some visible from the road, oth-ers 200 metres, some 400 metres or more over gravel paths. Longer routes of a couple of miles hike were available which is why it is difficult to determine the best. There are many, and some involve a quitre long walk. Our favourite was the Windows section. Double Arch 600 metres off one side. 600 metres in the opposite direction were North, South and Turret window. Head right to Turret window first and if you are lazy at one point you can take photos of all three from one location. Sand Dune Arch is not great but a fun walk on sand through a slot canyon.

BEST PART IF MY TRIP! We went to Canyonlands which was as neat and had some great hikes, but the Arches were on a whole new level. You had some super easy hikes, medium and harder. There are TOMS of places to hike! There is a hike for everyone! I HIGHLY recommend you go to the Delicate Arch or the Devils Garden early in the morning. Delicate Arch is 3 miles in all and is straight uphill going to it and there is very little shade. Plus, there is a line to take your picture with the Arch so the walker the better. The Devils Garden is about 8 miles of hiking. It’s moderate to harder hiking. SO WORTH IT! Kids can handle the Delicate Arch.

So even doing my research I was amazed at how busy this park is however like Rocky Mountain they handle the numbers fairly well. We started in the park at 6:30 and began with Delicate Arch. It's not an easy hike but doable if you take your time (not a lot of shade would suggest doing it early and bring water). The hardest part is the climb up (and later back down) the slick rock. Our group ranged in age from 8-67 none of us in particularly great shape but we all walk/hike locally fairly often. The view of the arch from the top and at the arch is worth the hike. Bring a snack and enjoy your time there. Be prepared for lines to take pictures with the arch. People were overall courteous and friendly taking pictures for each other. Beware of ravens that were going through unattended packs looking for snacks, they weren't aggressive but don't leave anything that might be a problem if they took it like car keys. After delicate arch we drove out to Sand Arch (very easy to get to if you can walk through sand) and Broken Arch (also a very easy hike but very little shade) which was the quietest part of the park. We then had a picnic lunch at the Devil's Garden picnic area (several covered picnic tables). After lunch we went back in to the more touristy part of the park to the Windows region. This was a very busy parking lot but you can reach 3 arches from here. Double Arch is a fairly easy hike to the base of the rock face. You can then scramble up to the top but that's a bit trickier. The Windows and Turret Arch are on the other side of the park lot (a short trail/staircase separates the two parking lots so no need to move your car). A bit more difficult than Double Arch but completely doable for most people. We finished our day at the Visitor's Center turning in Jr Ranger books (rangers were awesome). Gift shop was crazy busy. Lot's of parking at Visitor's Center. They are a timed entry park during peak season so between 7a-6p you need to have a premade reservation to enter the park.