Delicate Arch Overlooks in Arches National Park

I'm sure I made it abundantly clear in my last post on the Delicate Arch Trail that I absolutely love this iconic and natural wonder, and I would recommend to everyone to go and see it. But what if you can't go hike to Delicate Arch because you have accessibility concerns, or you can't make the hike with your kids, or you just don't have that much time in Arches, or the weather is too bad to hike the trail? There are a lot of reasons you might not be able to make it out to the arch, or maybe you did hike it, but like me you really wanted to see it again before you leave Arches National Park for good.

This is where the Delicate Arch Overlooks come in. The Overlooks give you the chance to see Delicate Arch from a distance without the physical exertion and mobility required by the hiking trail to arch itself. That being said, if you are questioning whether you can make the hike up to Delicate Arch please read through our post on that hike and really consider it because being up inside the arch itself is not to be missed if you can possibly make it. It is not overly difficult, but not as simple as some other hikes in the park.

How to Get There:

Arches is not a difficult park to navigate since there are only a few roads to go to most of the top destinations, and the Delicate Arch Overlooks are no exception. Stay on the main road until you come to the road to turn right to the Delicate Arch Trail, take this road until it ends which will be in the overlooks parking lot. 

Once you get to the parking lot you will see that there are bathrooms and plenty of parking. You will then have the option of which overlook you want to go to, what you choose will depend on your reason for coming to the overlooks in the first place. If you came for accessibility concerns you will need to stay with Overlook 1 which is about a one minute walk from the parking lot and fully accessible as long as you don't mind pushing your wheelchair or stroller on a dirt path.

The second overlook is significantly more difficult to get to and will take you about 15 minutes. You take the left side of the fork in the path to get there, you have a short flat walk and then you begin a fairly steep assent (walking, no climbing) to take you to a high point where you can get a very clear view of Delicate Arch.

Ben on a rock at the top of the second overlook trail.

What You Will See:

From either lookout you will be able to see Delicate Arch. The view is not much different form one overlook to the other, except that you are more on a level with Delicate Arch from the second one because it is so much higher.

The view is nice and affords you more of a perspective on the area surrounding the arch then you get when you hike up to the arch itself. It is less awe-inspiring though because you can't actually get a grasp on Delicate Arch's enormity from so far away.

Outside of looking at the arch there is not much else to do here. There are some boulders along the trail that you could climb on (like I did in the picture above).

Sum Up:

If you cannot make it out to Delicate Arch then be sure to make the overlooks a stop while you are in Arches. Nobody should leave the park without having seen this truly incredible piece of nature. If you are able to do the whole hike to the arch then this isn't a must-stop, but its a nice little stop over if you just want to see Delicate Arch from the other side.

Garden of Eden in Arches National Park

Arches National Park is home to an alien landscape, you will hear that several times if you watch the intro video. One of the locations that exemplifies this with almost no exertion on your part is the Garden of Eden. Why is it alien? We just aren't use to seeing monoliths of rock rise out of the landscape naturally like this. Trees, yes; mountains, yes; giant pillars of rock, no.

How to Get There:

The Garden of Eden is found at a small parking lot just off the road to the Windows Section. It is easy to stop and see it either on your way to the Windows and Double Arch or on your way back from them. Just take the turn east at Balanced Rock and drive about a mile. If you are headed towards the Windows it will be on your left, if you are coming back it will be on your right.

What You Will See:

The main thing to see at the Garden of Eden is the towers of rock and a few more complete fins. It is more of a look out than a trail, although you can go a little ways in. When we were there we saw some rock climbers on Ham Rock which is located just a short way from the parking lot. I love rock climbing, but I think being on top of a pillar like that would make me pretty woozy. Be aware that if you want to climb in the park you need to get permits from the visitor center.

Just off from the parking lot is a much smaller boulder that I did climb on. It is a fun boulder that children should be able to do easily. This is also a great place to get some photos of the Arches landscape. We were not able to be there for sunset but I have heard that it is a good and easy place to observe the sun setting.

Sum Up:

The Garden of Eden is any easy stop off, and since it is essentially a lookout it also accessible, which is a rare find in Arches. You can stay as long as you want but most people probably won't stay more than thirty minutes, and you can enjoy it in as little as ten minutes.

Hiking Landscape Arch in Arches National Park

Landscape Arch is the longest arch in Arches National Park. It is a beautiful arch with two side trails to see other arches along the way. A flat, easy hike that everyone in your family can enjoy.

How to Get There:

Located in the Devil's Garden district, take the main road into Arches and follow it to the end of the road. You will end up in the Devil's Garden parking area loop. On the Northwest side of the loop, you will find the trailhead for Landscape Arch, Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch. Located at the trailhead are restrooms and water. 

From the trailhead, you will follow a well defined trail that is quite sandy in some parts. Early into your hike, you will come to trail markers that will show you some off-shoot trails that will take you to Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch. We took both of these side trails and it didn't add any significant distance or time to our hike. Of the two side arches, we would definitely suggest going to see Pine Tree Arch. It is a neat arch that you can go right up underneath and it offers beautiful views. And if you are going to make the effort to see Pine Tree Arch, you might as well see Tunnel Arch too. Tunnel Arch you cannot get close to see because it is high up towards the top of a mountain, but the trail leads to a pretty cool view point for the arch. 

Pine Tree Arch

Tunnel A

Once you get back up to the main trail, Landscape Arch is easy to get to. You will stay on the main trail that is relatively flat with no major elevation changes. It is a 1.6 mile round trip hike and will take anywhere from 50-90 minutes depending on your stops and how fast your family moves. 

What You Will See:

As you approach Landscape Arch, your breath will be taken away. You can see it all along the tail end of the trail. When we were hiking towards it, we didn't know how close we would be able to get so we started taking pictures from pretty far out. They look pretty good, but we found out that you can actually get quite close to it. In the past, you were able to hike right up underneath. But there was a large collapse of part of the arch that lost quite a lot of rock all along the right side of the arch. Since then, they have closed off that part of the trail. But you can still quite enjoy the beautiful arch from a distance. 

You will come to a plaque that gives information about the arch and the collapse. We thought that that would be the end of the trail but discovered that it actually winds for a little bit after that where you can get different angles and views of the spectacular arch with plenty of good photo opportunities. 

We went in the relative early morning and didn't encounter many other hikers, but as we were leaving we started seeing quite a few more heading into the hike. If you do go in the morning, make sure to bring a sweatshirt and possibly a hat and gloves because most of the hike is in chilly shadows until the sun comes up over the canyon. 

Sum Up:

This is a beautiful, easy hike that allows you to see the longest arch in Arches National Park as well as two other neat arches. It is 1.6 miles round trip on a flat dirt and sandy trail. With lots of opportunities to view the arch and many different angles, there are plenty of spots for photo opportunities.

Sunrise at Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park

One of the things I love to do while traveling is catch the sunrise at some awesome place. Depending on the time of year this can make for an early morning, but an awesome experience. I had read in the Chimani Canyonlands app that Mesa Arch was THE place to see the sunrise because of the incredible way the arch lit up during the early golden hour. So of course I had to go.

How to Get There

Canyonlands is far larger and far less busy then Arches, but Mesa Arch is still a place many people want to see, especially at sunrise. Therefore, if you want to get a good view you need to get there early. We got an ok spot, but certainly not one of the prime locations, and we were probably 10 or 15 minutes before sunrise. This means if you are staying in the Moab area you will have to leave at least an hour before the predicted sunrise time.

It takes about half an hour to get to the Canyonlands Island in the Sky entrance and then you have a way to go inside the park. You enter on Island in the Sky Road which turns into Grandview Point Road in the park. You'll reach the Mesa Arch parking lot just before the turn for Upheaval Dome. It will be on your left. It will be dark if you are going for sunrise, so be sure and watch for the signs or you might miss it.

The parking lot is a good size, but you might not get a spot if you are too late during a popular time of year. From the lot you will take a short trail to get to the arch. The trail is a loop so you can go either left or right. We took the right side to the arch and the left side back to the parking lot so that we would see the whole thing.

What You Will See

Mesa Arch is very cool arch because it is breaking away from a cliff, leaving a sheer drop underneath it. The main attraction for coming to see it at sunrise is that it will glow when the rising sun hits it. And it is quite a spectacular site. The best place to take pictures is right in front of the arch looking through it, but you can see the glow best from the right hand side. We were too late to get a center spot so this is where we ended up.

When we were there we saw many other photographers, most of whom packed in around the arch. There were also a number of people there just to catch the sunrise. 

If you go for sunrise this will likely be your first view of Canyonlands, and it is a great one. As the world lightens, spires of rock loom out of the darkness and you see the gashes in the earth materialize. Then the sun breaks above the horizon in one swift moment and Mesa Arch lights up with a spectacular glow.

Sum Up

If you can drag yourself out of bed early, this is one of the prettiest sights in Canyonlands. It provides a unique type of sunrise. Mesa Arch is very easy to get to, which makes it great for families, provided they are early risers. Because you will be coming in early before the ticket booth opens, make sure you go back to the visitor's center when it opens and pay your entrance fee.