I have been in Arches in 2008. I must say that it was stunning and I will never forget my trip there. Not only because of the amazing rock formations but also because of the intense heat… It was around 110° and I felt like polar bear suffering from global warming.

The Arches National Park is one of the most interesting natural parks that lies a good five miles north of Moab, Utah. The long drive didn’t bore me because I was able to enjoy the scenic view of the vast countryside, coupled with views of desert lands and peaks. To access Arches, we had to walk on foot, but the park offers free shuttle service for visitors going around the park.

Once inside the park, I was welcomed by dozens and dozens of arched rock formations which are some hundred miles away. The most interesting among all of them would be the Delicate Arch, where it’s such a refreshing feeling to watch the sunset.

There are four routes which you can follow if you’d like to take a hike around Arches National Park. The trail we followed was the Delicate Arch trail, as I insisted on seeing the arch up-close. The first of the four is the Windows loop trail which will take you to view the Turret Arch. A few more upward steps and you will reach the Double Arch. This trail is also popular for the Balanced Rock, which allows an underneath path you can walk through.

The next trail is the Delicate Arch trail which runs from the Wolfe Ranch up to that most famous arch in the world. I was fortunate enough to see it, and spend most of the afternoon enjoying the magnificence of the canyons surrounding the trail. What attracted me to it is how definitive it looks. It’s a wonder how nature could have constructed such a fluke, and it turned out to be somewhat artistic as well as reminiscent of Greco-Roman architecture.

Devils Garden leads to the Landscape Arch, probably the world’s longest arch. Another famous trail leads to the Sand Dune Arch, where you’ll pass grassy fields that would finally lead to the Broken Arch. All trails have paths leading back to the campgrounds where visitors also enjoy campfires and picnics. I enjoyed a picnic with my friends after a long hike going to the Delicate Arch.

There are also a number of activities which one can do inside the Arches National Park. These activities include auto touring, backpacking, biking, camping, climbing, commercial tours, hiking, photography, attractions, and ranger-led programs. I was only able to try hiking and auto touring along with my friends, but I heard that climbing the small mountains was quite rewarding. Other nearby attractions relatively near the Arches are the Aztec Ruins National Monument, Canyonlands National Park, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Hovenweep National Monument, Mesa Verde National Park, Natural Bridges National Monument.

I’ve been to some of the other recreational areas, and canyon parks, but for me, the most interesting places would be the Arches National Park. The canyons are beautiful and exotic, but they have that sophistication which is mostly attributed to the park itself. Many visitors also find it peaceful and yet it brings a combination of the chaotic power of nature and the result of natural flash floods.

If you are going to the South-West of the USA then you will probably want to see some of the national parks there. There are plenty of them and perhaps you do not have time to check out all of them. This is a short guide to help you with choosing good parks which you wanna visit. I recommend you to take at least 3 weeks of holidays, else it might not be relaxing. You need to drive a lot, although compared to the size of the States, all parks are relatively close together. But, I always prefer to not rush from park to park… I have been in all parks which I described here in this article. All of them were fantastic . I must however say that I liked Zion most…

If you are going to Zion National Park from Las Vegas, you can take I-15 north to UT 9 then take Highway number 9. The one hundred fifty-mile trip can be done for about two and a half to three hours. If you are coming from Salt Lake City, take I-15 south to Torqueville exit or exit 27. Just follow SR 17 to Highway 9 then turn left to the Zion National Park. The three hundred mile-trip takes approximately five to six hours. Once you are there and have some time to spare: you need an hour and a half travel from Zion National Park to the Chamberlain’s Ranch. It is just a one-way hike so parking your car at the visitor’s center is necessary then just drive your car to the Chamberlain’s Ranch. I can also suggest taking the shuttle. When I was entering the park it was in the evening, it was already dark. It was just stunning to see the sharp and steam cliffs to the left and right. I still remember that my mother was really scared and wanted to turn to get out. It was just wow.

The next park which I really liked is around 1500 miles to the East of Zion. Arches National Park is one of the world’s biggest places of natural sandstone arches. It has the most fantastic and inspiring landscapes. The park contains different wonderful ecological formations including huge balanced rocks, sandstone fins and towering peaks. Various trails for hiking enthusiasts and viewpoints will definitely charm the tourists. The park also has many geological histories.

You can explore the Arches National Park in different ways. Tourists can enjoy the wonders of the park just by passing the area but if you want to take the pleasure of experiencing the hiking trails better, you must spend one or more days. You can choose from a wide variety of famous activities such as hiking, photography, auto touring and biking.

The largest park in Utah is the Canyonlands national park that has diverse scenic locations. Three districts divide the Canyonlands by Colorado Rivers and Green. These districts are the Needles, the Island in the Sky and the Maze, which have different characteristics to offer.

The Island in the Sky is the part of the park that is located at the top of a huge one thousand five hundred feet mesa. Most of the best views along Canyon Country can be visited by twenty miles of smooth roads. You can enjoy the scenic view of thousands of square miles of the Canyon Country area from these viewpoints. As I visited Canyonlands, I spent the whole afternoon just enjoying the sunset. I recommend that you do the same, or you can also take a short-day hike.

The Needles got its name from the wonderful sandstone spires from the ground. It is a ten-mile drive with perfect scenery. The adventure lovers can enjoy different astounding terrains. Grabens, arches, canyons and magnificent rock formations lie ahead for backpackers, hikers and 4WD lovers.

The Maze is known to be the wildest area in the Canyonlands National Park because of its remoteness and inaccessibility. The Maze is composed of puzzling canyons so if you are searching for serenity and adventure; the Maze is the best place for you.

Besides the Canyonlands National Parks and the Arches, you can also try hiking to the Moab area, which has numerous trails for everybody’s’ taste. You can experience the cool hikes in the stream-side and the wonderful sandstone arches. Moab is the town where you probably got your hotel anyways, so that is a good idea .

Leaving the bizarre Goblin Valley behind and heading on to Moab, my next park is Arches national park. Arches National park is known for many bizarre Arches all over the park. I would like to provide you a short review of Arches national park.

Here some Arches national park pictures (click to enlarge):

For more information about geographic aspects and history of the park, please click this link, or this link.

Arches Canyon entrance is only 3 miles outside of Moab. The fee for entering the park is 20$ per vehicle. I checked out the visitor center first because it is right at the entrance of Arches Canyon, I was amazed by the size of the visitor center. It has a lot of good information and reviews of Arches national park. The whole history of the park is written down there, you find information about Uranium mines in the park, or how development of the famous Arches was possible.

I continued driving and then saw the famous Moab fault. Million years ago the earth’s surface cracked and the Moab valley was made possible. The first stop has all details. I recommend you to stop there as that is quite interesting if you ask me.

Arches itself has a lot of bizarre and amazing rock formations. Almost all are out of the so called Entrada-sandstone. The arches can be seen at different locations inside Arches National park. I really liked the park and rate it with 9/10 points. Only 9 points because it was way too hot for me … . Hope you enjoyed my short review of Arches national park,

Check out my review of Canyonlands national park which I will be writing tomorrow inside the park, I am heading back to moab now, for which I also provided a short review.