Did you know that the state of Utah has 5 national parks? The Utah Big 5.
I didn’t until I moved here and they’re honestly a pretty big deal.
My road trip started off bright and early on a Saturday morning as it takes about 3.5 hours to get to Moab from Salt Lake City! You travel through the mountains for the majority of this drive so be prepared to drive slowly depending on weather conditions. While it was 45 degrees when I left Salt Lake, it got down to 5 degrees when I was 100 miles into the mountains. The weather change that you experience in the mountains is something I will never get over and is the reason I pack for all seasons every time I leave the house.
It was my goal to get to my first hike started right after day break. I like to hike first thing in the morning for a few reasons: it is typically less crowded, the weather is more predictable and I have the most energy! I like to utilize AllTrails to scope out the hikes I am interested in, it helps me to prepare for the condition of the trail, the elevation gain and the approximate distance of the trail itself. Surprisingly, or not, I also get a lot of my hike suggestions from Tik Tok. These are typically pretty popular trails but for good reason!
My first hike of the day was at Corona and Bowtie Arch. The cool thing about this hike is that it is actually outside of Arches National Park which can be a great thing during the peak season if you have a hard time getting a timed entry permit or want to avoid the crowds that Arches brings. That being said, this is still a very well-known trail that required some effort but had a big payoff.
This was my first time experiencing some more technical aspects on a hiking trail, including a chain and ladder portion. It was more than manageable, but would have been another story if I were hiking with a dog. Seeing an arch in person for the first time was honestly incredible. Even from a distance I couldn’t comprehend the sheer size of the arch itself.
I was fortunate enough to only be sharing the trail with a few other hikers, allowing for some incredible people less photos! Which is always an added bonus. When I was done admiring the beaUTy of this hike, I headed back to the trailhead, my busy day was just getting started!
It was time to head into Arches National Park but I came across a petroglyph viewing area on the road that leads to the Corona Arch trailhead so I decided to stop and admire those views as well. I am still very much in awe that things like this exist and hope that they are preserved for many generations to come. Now, it was really time to go into the park!
Arches National Park is most well-known for its offering of over 2,000 naturally occurring stone arches throughout the park. This is a very popular national park and because of this, a timed entry permit is required during the peak season which is between the months of April to the end of October. Luckily for me, I traveled to this park during the off season but that is not to say that I had the park to myself.
With this being only my second national park visited, I don’t have much to compare it to but thought that this was a very accessible park overall. There were a lot of scenic overlooks and quite a few shorter trails for people to take to view the arches and rock features up close. I think this is something important to note as anyone and everyone should be able to come and enjoy these views!
After a beautiful drive up into the park itself, you make your way through the first distinct rock features in the park. These are referred to as Courthouse Towers and Park Avenue. In this section of the park, you will see towering rock walls and wind carved spires. You can either stop at the multiple viewpoints or get out and do the 1.8 mile Park Avenue Hike.
The next distinct section in the park is the Windows Section, the one that might have been my favorite! Here you have a plethora of trails to explore some of the most iconic features of this park including North and South Windows, Turret Arch, Double Arch, Garden of Eden and the Parade of Elephants to name a few.
This area in the park contains the largest concentration of arches all within a two mile radius. With that being said, it is also one of the most congested areas of the park but I think that it is well worth navigating the crowds! Again, this is another case in which I was extremely happy to be at the park during the off season as parking was not an issue.
Next was a quick stop to the Fiery Furnace Viewpoint which highlighted the towering sandstone walls and the narrow passages between them. It is said that at sunset, when the lighting is just right, the rock faces glow just like a fiery furnace, hence the name. To hike in this portion of the park you either have to go on a ranger-guided hike or obtain a self-guided exploration permit.
My next trail was to see the Sand Dune Arch. A super quick and short hike to an incredible arch over you guessed it, sand. I could have made this trail longer and included more arches by taking the Broken Arch Trail but as time was limited I opted to explore other parts of the park.
18 miles from the entrance to the park, you come to Devils Garden. This portion of the park offers a campground, picnic area and numerous hikes to choose from. Some of the arches that you have the opportunity to see in this area include Landscape Arch, Double O Arch, Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch.
To conclude my day spent at Arches, I opted for a sunset hike at the infamous Delicate Arch. This is by far the most popular, and well known arch in this park. While you can see this arch in person you can also see it more frequently on the Utah license plate.
AllTrails deems this as a ‘moderate’ hike while the NPS website refers to this trail as being strenuous, and in my very novice hiking opinion, it was every bit of strenuous. Over half a mile on this trail was up a steep slickrock slope with no shade or footholds. This was by far the hardest portion of the trail and I am so glad that I didn’t do this in the midday summer heat. Just before reaching the arch itself, you follow a narrow rock ledge for about 200 yards and are finally rewarded with your first glimpse of the arch itself.
This is a popular sunset spot, so keep that in mind. I thought that it was pretty funny that there was a line of people waiting to get their photos by the arch itself, it reminded me of Disney World. The people were all very kind and just wanted to show off the fruit of their laborious hike to this viewpoint – myself included!
I stayed for the majority of the sunset and the views were absolutely breathtaking. People brought food and drinks and really made the evening at the arch a celebration! There is something so special about seeing the light that the sunset brings hitting the red rock features.
If you do stay for sunset, be sure to pack with you a headlamp or flashlight to aid you in getting back to the trailhead.
This day I clocked in over 10 miles of hiking and was very excited to head to my hotel, eat dinner and take a nice soak in the hot tub!
My second day in Moab was spent exploring Canyonlands National Park, considered to be the heart of the high desert. A much less talked about national park but just as beautiful in my opinion. This park preserves over 527 square miles of Utah landscape that shows off many canyons, mesas, arches and buttes formed by the Colorado River and its tributaries. From what I had researched prior to heading to this park was that I would likely only have the time to visit one of the three districts and I opted for visiting the Island in the Sky. This district is the most well-known and is the most easily accessible.
My first stop was sunrise at Mesa Arch. I did not make it for sunrise itself, but shortly thereafter and the arch was lit by the morning sun and was stunning. I highly suggest adding this short hike and arch to your itinerary when you stop at this park!
Next up was a stop at the Green River overlook. This view was even more incredible than the last. It truly looked and felt like I was on another planet. This viewpoint is southwest facing and provides one of the best views of the Green River, deep within the channel that is 1,300 feet below.
After the overlook I headed to the Upheaval Dome trailhead to hike to the dome itself. With this trail you have the option of hiking to two different viewpoints and I opted to check out both and I am glad that I did! This was a shorter hike with another big pay off at the end.
There are two theories surrounding the geological formations that you can see on this trail. One being the Salt Dome Theory, suggesting that a thick layer of salt formed by the evaporation of landlocked seas, coupled with the pressure from thousands of feet of overlying rock over millions of years caused the salt to rise through the less dense sandstone as a “salt bubble”. Once at the surface this shifted the surrounding rock thus creating what we see today.
The second theory, Impact Crater, suggests that some 60 million years ago, a meteorite with a diameter of approximately ⅓ of a mile hit exactly where we see the Upheaval Dome today. This impact created a large explosion and left a crater that partially collapsed. Over time, when the earth began to settle and reach equilibrium again, rocks deep underneath the surface moved upward to fill the void. As of late, this theory seems to be one that is most supported by researchers but there are still and will likely always be some questions surrounding the dome.
My last hike of the weekend was at the White Rim Overlook Trail. This 1.8 mile out and back trail takes you to an east-facing viewpoint where you have the opportunity to see the Colorado River, Monument Basin and the La Sal Mountains. This trail is best taken in the late afternoon and might not be a good one for those afraid of heights. The canyons and rock pinnacles were so very cool and I am glad that my tired feet were able to carry me to these incredible views.
It is hard to think that I never owned a pair of hiking boots prior to July of this year and hadn’t laced them up until September. Now don’t get me wrong, hiking is a ton of work and is probably the most active hobby I have ever had but the reward when you get to where you are going makes all of the efforts worth it.
36 hours. 18 miles hiked. 2 national parks visited.
My weekend spend in Moab was a whirlwind but a once in a lifetime experience. I was able to see some things that are on most people’s bucket list. I am still in amazement that I have the opportunity to take weekend trips to explore places I wouldn’t have ever thought I would have interest in seeing. Now, I anxiously look forward to checking more national parks off of my “visited” list!