From the high mountain wilderness of northern Wyoming and Montana we continued our journey south, to explore the desert canyons and mesas of Utah.
Since our visit to the Grand Canyon on our cross country trip two years ago, we’ve always wanted to revisit and spend a bit more time in this region – specifically the renowned ‘Grand Circle’ of national parks that includes Grand Canyon, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Arches, and Zion.
With limited time, we focused our trip on these latter two parks, with Arches NP being our first stop.
Located just outside Moab in southwest Utah, Arches is an ethereal composition in vibrant red sandstone of grandiose towers, impossibly balanced rocks, and the world’s largest concentration of natural arches. (It’s also by far the most phallic of the national parks. I mean just look at the cover photo).
With only a day to explore the park’s 76,519 acres, we decided the best way to do so would be by bike. We started out at the trailhead of a multi-use path just south of Moab, which took us straight to the park entrance. From here, the road kicked up and climbed a little over 1,000 feet – up to a vista point that afforded panoramic views of many of the giant phalluses amazing rock formations for which the park is famed.
The road that winds through Arches is essentially an out-and-back route totaling a little over 45 miles. Along the way there are many offshoots that take you past the more well-known arches and formations, including Balanced Rock, the Windows, and Delicate Arch – to name a few.
As the day heated up quickly, we did our best to conserve our energy and not go *too* hard on the bike. Of course, there may have been one or two occasions where we picked up the pace to have a bit of fun – and *maybe* took a couple of Strava CRs and QOMs in the process. 🙂
Check out our route here!
Interested in going? Check out the Arches NP website here, with info to help plan your visit. If you’re intending to do a longer bike ride like we did – or spend any extended amount of time there on a hike, run, etc., be sure to:
1) Go early. It gets hot quickly, and the mid-afternoon heat and sun can make your day much less pleasant than it should be.
2) Take plenty of water with you (Why? See point 1 above. It’s the desert. It gets hot and stays hot). If you need to refill your water bottles, there are fountains at both the Visitor’s Center as well as Devil’s Garden (the turn-around point of the out-and-back route).
Fee? Yes – $25. Pets? Yes – but not on trails. Bikes? Yes – on the road.
Stay tuned for our next adventures! We hope your summer was equally adventurous, exploring new trails and beautiful parks. Tell us all about it in the comments below!
AIR ADVENTURES 