After visiting Canyonlands, we made the drive to Arches. If my friend didn’t have a seatbelt on, I think she would have jumped up and down because she was so excited to be at Arches.
At the Arches visitor center, we discovered which main arches to visit and the best times to visit based on our schedule. And the interesting thing is that the park entrance is at the same level as the highway, but all the arches and the entire park is on a plateau higher up. First up on the list? Landscape Arch. We drove all the way to the end of the road to Devil’s Garden to begin our exciting journey.
Can you believe the fact that the span of Landscape Arch itself is longer than a football field?! It is 290 feet (or 88 m) 😮 In the brochure, I believe that it recommended sunset as a better time to visit… However, sunrise might produce better hues and tones, as we visited Landscape Arch awhile before sunset :/
And don’t forget to look around. It’s not always about the destination 🙂
We were so silly with Tunnel Arch. We kept thinking, “where is it?” Well, duh, look for where the light is shining through or you can see through to the other side.
I think the most drastic difference is that Canyonlands features deep canyons formed by rivers and Arches sits on a salt bed, formed when the sea used to flow over the area. After a period of time (think millions of years), the region was uplifted by faults and of course and erosion from wind and rain swept away the layers, forming the arches as they are today. And as a witness who only visited for less than 24 hours, it’s not easy to notice the change happening, but if I were to visit in several decades (which I would love to), i might notice something new.
Devil’s Garden Trail
Trail to Landscape Arch
Start: from Devil’s Garden parking lot (lots of spaces, though may be tough to find during peak time and season)
Duration: 1 hour
Difficulty: easy (dirt trail)
Length: 1.6 miles RT
Exposure: full sun (shade towards sunset with not so great views of the arch)
Danger: hot temperatures during summer season
*can add detour to visit Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch (additional 15-30 minutes)
Happy travels!
Cat
