Day 1

Day 1 - Sunday, September 17, 2017

We start the day in Moab, Utah conveniently located next to the days travels! This is not so much a day of riding as much as a day of exploring and hiking.

The entrance to Arches National Park is just north of Moab. There is one road in and out of the Park with a couple of shorter roads and parking areas to park and hike to view many of the rock arches and oddly shaped geological formations which dot the landscape. While the maximum speed limit is 45 mph within the Park, this scenic road is full of nice curves and awesome scenery. With so much to see our heads will be on a swivel trying to take it all in. We have the whole day to explore the Park and take in some hikes and take photos of the arches and rock formations. Despite having over 2000 natural occurring rock arches within the Park, only one arch (Skyline Arch) is visible from the main road. For this reason it is anticipated that much of our travels on this day will be on foot! There are a variety of hikes to consider depending upon our available time and our hiking experience.

The features listed in the table below will serve as a suggested starting point for our photographic odyssey.

Food is not available within the Park. We will have to decide on whether to travel back to Moab for lunch or pack some food for a picnic. Water is available at the Visitors Center, Devils Garden Campground, and at the Devils Garden Trailhead. Since we will be leaving much of our gear back at the hotel we will have extra room in our saddle bags for food and water.

Arches National Park is best viewed and photographed during the morning or late afternoon hours (see table above). There are also less crowds at these times. During the mid-day hours some parking lots may also run out of room.

Based upon the recommendations above I suggest viewing many of the morning suggestions (Moab Fault, The Three Gossips, Sheep Rock, and The Great Wall) as we ride north and turn into the Windows Section to view Turret Arch, The Spectacles, and Double Arch and then north again heading to the Devils Garden Trailhead for some longer mid-day hikes in the area. Before or after our hikes in the Devils Garden area we can eat lunch and then start our ride back south hitting the Skyline Arch, Fiery Furnace area and Delicate Arch which are best viewed in the late afternoon to sunset. On our ride out of the Park we will be able to view the Balanced Rock, Petrified Dunes, Courthouse Towers, and Park Avenue in their best light. Using the above guide, only Cache Valley, Wolfe Ranch, The Garden of Eden, and the North and South Windows would be seen in less than ideal light conditions. (Tower Arch is in the far northwest area of the Park and probably will not be viewed)

Will we be able to take every suggested hike with one day to view the Park? Probably not. However, here is a suggested itinerary for travel, viewing, and hiking:

Arrive early and perhaps stop for a short visit to the Visitors Center and then proceed up the canyon wall road as we are viewing the Moab Fault area. Our first hike may be the short 1 mile (2 mile round trip) hike from the Park Avenue Viewpoint and Trailhead. Park Avenue and Courthouse Towers are viewed from this trail and are monolithic spires and ridges of rock standing isolated in largely fat terrain. Along the trail we will also be able to visit and view the Three Gossips, Sheep Rock, the Organ, and Tower of Babel.

We then continue our journey into the Park riding along the Great Wall and the Rock Pinnacles to our west and the Petrified Dunes to our east. As we approach the Balanced Rock we turn east into the Windows Section area, the first major concentration of arches and spires within the Park, that bear self-explanatory names such as Double Arch, Cove Arch, Turret Arch, and the North and South Window Arches. Everything in this area can be seen by short hikes.

We now head back to the main Park road and continue our journey northward bypassing the Wolfe Ranch and Delicate Arch area which will be viewed later in the day. We proceed further north past the Fiery Furnace, perhaps taking short hikes to Sand Dune Arch, Skyline Arch, and Broken Arch, until we reach the Devils Garden Trail.

From the Devils Garden Trailhead we can take the 4.5 mile hike to the Double O Arch viewing the Tunnel Arch, the Pine Tree Arch, the Landscape Arch (at 290 feet, the largest arch in the world), Partition Arch, and the Navajo Arch along the way. An optional Primitive Trail extends the hike to 7.2 miles and allows us to view the Private Arch. The Primitive Trail is listed as difficult as it is more challenging as it climb over sandstone slabs and footing is rocky and there are narrow ledges with exposure to heights.

Our journey now proceeds back south stopping to see the Fiery Furnace (not arches, but an intricate maze of eroded red and cream colored ridge with narrow gullies between them) which are best viewed in the afternoon light before turning into the Wolfe Ranch area. From the ranch we will take the 1.5 mile (3 mile round trip) Delicate Arch foot trail that crosses a creek via a small, swaying suspension bridge and leads us across smooth exposed slickrock to the especially scenic Delicate Arch; perched precariously on the edge of a small canyon. This arch is the most famous arch in the Park. As well as the arch, the trail also offers magnificent views of the rocky, multicolored land that characterizes the park, and views of the La Sal mountains near the Colorado border. This hike is listed as moderate to difficult as we will encounter 480 feet of elevation change and open slickrock with no shade. The first half mile is well defined trail, after that we will follow the rock cairns. The trail climbs steadily and levels out toward the top of this rock face. Just before we get to Delicate Arch the trail traverses a narrow rock ledge for about 200 yards. Here is a video of what the trail looks like if you're unsure (it's really not that bad...). The Delicate Arch can also be viewed from about a mile away at the Delicate Arch Viewpoint.

We may encounter some road construction in Arches and Canyonlands National Parks as they resurface the roads and parking areas in 2017, but hopefully most of this work will be completed by fall or being done during the evening hours.

See Day 2 for other optional rides in the Moab area if we prefer to do a mid-day ride.

(If the Day 1 weather forecast is for storms or overcast skies I suggest switching the order of the Day 1 and Day 2 travels, as Canyonlands National Park is better viewed during such weather while Arches tends to lend itself better to sunny clear days.)

Twilight: 6:35 am (MDT)

Sunrise: 7:01 am (MDT)

Sunset: 7:24 pm (MDT)

Twilight: 7:49 pm (MDT)

Day 1: 51 miles 1.5 hours saddle time

Continue to Day 2