Serving as the backdrop for the greatest movie ever made, Con Air, Arches National Park more than lives up to its name, displaying an epic desert landscape of over 2,000 natural sandstone arches.
Located in Southeast Utah (roughly 3.5 hours from Salt Lake City), the city of Moab has captured the imagination of Hollywood directors for decades, serving as the backdrop for such blockbusters as Transformers, Hulk, and of course, Con Air. Surrounded on all sides by massive sandstone cliffs, the quaint town of roughly 5,000 people serves as the hub for one of the National Park System’s most iconic treasures: Arches National Park.
A National Monument since 1929 and a National Park since 1971, Arches (as the name implies) features over 2,000 naturally formed sandstone arches. The main areas of the park can be visited via a 28 mile park road that runs right through the center- making it a quick and easy park to visit for those eager to see all of our nations National Parks.
Arriving from Salt Lake City, my roommate and I battled 90+ degree temperatures and hiked roughly 16 miles of trails in the park. Here are some of the places we went:
1) Turret Arch: Located right off the main road, this is one of the easiest arches to visit in the park:
2) Double Arch: Located on the opposite side of the road from Turret Arch, this is also extremely easy to reach:
3) Delicate Arch: Perhaps the most famous arch in the United States, this tiny arch can be reached from either two viewpoints (short hikes) or via a 2-mile trail. Here is a photo from the upper viewpoint:
4) Pine Tree Arch: Part of the 5 mile (round trip) trail from Devil’s Garden, this beautiful arch is lightly populated and easy to get to:
5) Landscape Arch: Also part of the 5 mile Devil’s Garden Loop, Landscape arch is the longest arch in the park (290 feet) and the 5th longest natural arch in the world:
6) Partition Arch: Easily one of the coolest and least visited arches in the park. Look for signs on the Devil’s Garden Loop for “Partition and Navajo Arches” and take the .5 mile detour to Partition:
7) Park Avenue: A short 1-mile hike towards the beginning of the park. Loosely resembles Park Avenue in New York:
8) (At Night) Balanced Rock and South Window: I came back at around 10pm to shoot star photos in the park. The moon unfortunately was still out, but I captured these photos from Balanced Rock and the South Window, which are easily accessible via a short hike from the main road:
While relatively small in size, Arches National Park is a stunning place to visit and I highly recommend it to those interested in seeing one of America’s most iconic desert landscapes. Next up I am heading off to nearby Canyonlands National Park- so long for now!
-MB
