Arches National Park Itinerary: 1, 3 & 5-Day Plans

Start in the dark. The park is open around the clock, no timed-entry reservation is required in 2026, and the $30 vehicle pass is sold at the gate or on Recreation.gov. Drive straight past the Visitor Center to the Delicate Arch trailhead at Wolfe Ranch, because that lot fills by 7:30 a.m. on weekends and the site's older guides all agree on the same fix: be parked before 7:30 or come back after 3 p.m. The trail is a strenuous out-and-back over open slickrock with no shade, a steep exposed slope near the top, and the 64-foot freestanding arch waiting at the end. Cool morning light and thin crowds are the reason to do it first.

Back at the car by mid-morning, let the scenic drive set the pace; it is 36 miles round trip and every named pullout is on it. Balanced Rock is a 0.3-mile walk, about 15 minutes. The Windows Section is the park's best return on effort: a gravel loop to North Window, South Window, and Turret Arch, with Double Arch a short walk away, so three major arches sit in one location. The old guides send you here late in the afternoon when angled light turns the sandstone gold, and that advice holds.

Fill the middle of the day with Park Avenue, 1.8 miles with 322 feet of gain through the Courthouse Towers, and the La Sal Mountains Viewpoint for the snow-capped range behind the red rock. Carry at least 1 gallon of water per person per day; the only refill stations are at the Visitor Center and the Devils Garden trailhead, and there are no restaurants in the park, so pack lunch. Finish with sunset at Balanced Rock or back at the Windows, then drive the 5 miles down to Moab.

Drive 18 miles from the Visitor Center to the end of the road. Devils Garden shares Delicate Arch's parking problem, so the same rule applies: parked before 7:30 a.m. on weekends or arriving after 3 p.m. The first stretch to Landscape Arch is easy and nearly flat, and the arch is among the longest natural spans on Earth, a ribbon of stone that looks like it should not be standing. For a lot of visitors this is the whole hike, and that is a fine choice on a hot day.

Past Landscape Arch the trail changes character. Rocky ledges and scrambles lead to Double O Arch, 4.1 miles round trip from the trailhead, with Dark Angel beyond it. The return on the Primitive Trail, 2.1 miles one way, is off-trail route-finding with narrow ledges above drop-offs. Budget 4 to 5 hours for the full experience. Plan B if the weather is hot or energy is low: hike to Landscape Arch only and skip the Primitive Trail scramble.

On the drive back, stop for the short walks you passed on the way in: Skyline Arch, then Sand Dune Arch and Broken Arch, which together run 0.4 to 2.3 miles depending on how far you go, easy to moderate. Refill water at the Devils Garden trailhead before you leave; it is one of only two refill points in the park.

This is the day you book before you leave home. Ranger-led Fiery Furnace hikes run May through September, cost $16 per person, last 2.5 hours, and are reserved on Recreation.gov 7 days ahead; they sell out in the May to June rush. The self-guided permit is the alternative, limited to 75 people a day, released a week prior and picked up in person with a video orientation. Either way the hike means climbing through narrow cracks, walking ledges above drop-offs, and jumping small gaps between fins. It is the most unusual thing you can do in Arches, and the reason it sits at Day 3 rather than Day 1 is that it needs the reservation.

You are out of the furnace by early afternoon. Drive back to Moab for a sunset Colorado River float; the old five-day guide names Paddle Moab and Adrift Adventures, and the Moab Adventure Center is the other booking desk in town. Dinner on the patio at Moab Diner, or at Sunset Grill or Desert Bistro, closes the day. If the Fiery Furnace tours are gone, take in the Fiery Furnace Viewpoint from the road, move Day 4's Tower Arch up to today, and keep the river for the evening.

Three days on the marquee trails earns a day with almost nobody on them. Tower Arch sits on the park's northwest edge at the end of an 8-mile unpaved road through the Klondike Bluffs, about 40 minutes of driving. A standard sedan handles it in dry conditions; after rain, high clearance is safer, so check road conditions at the Visitor Center first, and if your rental is low-clearance, choose another hike. The trail is 2.6 miles round trip with 290 feet of gain, and the steep part is a 200-foot climb in the first quarter mile. The final ridge walk delivers the 92-foot arch and a panorama back over the fins and the Colorado River valley.

The return drive is about 40 minutes, which leaves the afternoon for the pullouts you skipped on Day 1: the Moab Fault Viewpoint near the entrance, Panorama Point, and the Courthouse Wash panel of rock art. For the evening, walk the lower Delicate Arch Viewpoint trail, 0.8 miles with 187 feet of gain, to watch last light hit the arch you stood under on Day 1 from across the canyon.

The fifth day leaves the park. Dead Horse Point State Park is 32 miles from Arches, about 45 minutes, and its overlook stands 2,000 feet above a bend of the Colorado River, with rim trails and some of the darkest skies in the area for stargazing after dinner. Canyonlands National Park's Island in the Sky district is another 15 minutes beyond it; the $30 Arches pass does not cover Canyonlands, but the $80 America the Beautiful annual pass covers both, so buy that at the gate on Day 1 if this day is in your plan.

The departure version of this day is shorter. With an afternoon flight, hike Sand Dune Arch and Broken Arch in the early morning or revisit a favorite viewpoint from the scenic drive, then eat in Moab. With a morning flight, grab breakfast in town and go: Canyonlands Regional Airport is 18 miles from Moab. The Moab Information Center downtown is the place to ask about road conditions before the Dead Horse Point drive.