A day walking through Arches National Park
Summary
Closest thing you’re going to get to the Roadrunner Cartoon backdrop – Arches National Park has the highest density of rock arches anywhere in the world, with 2000 in total, and has some mesmerising scenery nearby as you look out through impossible rock arches across the desert and to the white snowcapped mountains in the distance. I was surprised this place doesn’t get more attention globally as a premier site in the US
Half a day to a full day is enough time because the full drive through the park and back is only 36miles / 58km, and the various key sites are only a short walk from the road. Be sure to drive all the way up to Devils Garden to see what we thought was the highlight – Landscape Arch at 290ft / 88m long. It would have been nice to have maybe a little longer to do a longer hike and get away from the crowds, but half a day to a full day felt about right
highlights
#1 Seeing the 290ft / 88m long Landscape Arch at the end of the drive by the Devils Garden. Stunning. Delicate. Worth the trip
#2 The vistas just outside the park, with the wonderful contrast between the red desert and the white snow-capped mountains in the distance
#3 The quirky, odd landscapes all around you as you drive through the park. Making you feel like you're in the set of the cartoon Roadrunner
#4 The short, but beautiful walks through the National Park itself and in between the star rock formations
Travel Tips
- Walking through Arches National Park was all part of a whirlwind road trip around the Western US states. See the itinerary and tips for this adventure here – Rapid 2 week roadtrip around the US West Coast States
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other stunning Rock Formations around the World
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone