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Located in southeastern Utah, Arches National Park is one of the state’s five national parks. With over 2,000 arches it has the largest concentration of natural sandstone arches anywhere in the world. In addition to arches, the desert park is full of other amazing red rock formations.

These natural wonders can be seen from viewpoints throughout the park, but they are best viewed from the Arches National Park trails. In this post I included the best hikes at Arches National Park. They are listed in order from the closest to the visitor center to the farthest point in the park. All of the trail stats are from the NPS and cover the round-trip distances of each trail.

Another one of Utah’s Mighty 5, Canyonlands National Park, is only a short drive away and can easily be visited alongside Arches NP. The nearby city of Moab is the perfect place to base yourself to visit Arches NP and Canyonlands NP. Before setting out on the best hikes at Arches National Park make sure to check out my full guide to the park within my complete Moab guide.

If you are wondering what to wear or what to bring while hiking at Arches, check out the best hiking attire for women and the complete day pack hiking checklist.

The Best Hikes at Arches National Park

Park Avenue Viewpoint & Trail

Difficulty: Moderate

Distance: 1.8 miles

Elevation Change: 322ft

Parking: Park Avenue Viewpoint Parking Lot with about 20 spaces. The Courthouse Towers Viewpoint Parking Lot with about 23 spaces.

Trailhead: Park Avenue Trailhead (or from the Courthouse Towers Trailhead)

Restrooms: None – closest are at the visitor center at the entrance.

After leaving the visitor center your first opportunity to hike is on the Park Avenue Trail. The trailhead starts with a short, paved section to an overlook. Many people only stop here for a few minutes to check out the view and then return back to their vehicles.

Past the viewpoint is a rock stairway that leads into the valley. The majority of the trail is in the valley and fairly flat until the staircase to the main road. Unless you walk on the road (which isn’t recommended) or have an additional driver to pick you up you will need to take the same trail back to the original trailhead. Before returning, cross the street to see the Courthouse Towers Viewpoint.

While it doesn’t have any iconic arches on the trail it is still one of the best hikes in Arches National Park because of the unique rock formations. The name comes from the well-known street in NYC as some of the rock formations are said to look like buildings on Park Avenue. Another added bonus of this trail is that it doesn’t have as many hikers.

Windows Trail

Difficulty: Easy

Distance: 1 mile

Elevation Change: 99ft

Parking: The Windows Section Parking Lot with 92 spaces

Trailhead: Windows Trailhead

Restrooms: Pit toilets at the trailhead

The Windows section is located along the end of Windows Rd. The road forms a loop. The Windows Trailhead is located on the south side and leads to a loop trail. You only need to hike a few hundred feet to the highlights of the trail: North Window Arch, South Window Arch, and Turret Arch.

It’s a great spot to see several arches without a long or strenuous hike. It’s also ideal for sunrise and sunset hiking in Arches National Park. The light goes through the arches perfectly and you don’t have to hike very far in the dark.

Many people turn around after seeing the arches, but continue the rest of the way on the primitive section of the 1 mile loop back to the trailhead. You’ll get a behind the scenes look at the arches as well as some other cool rock formations.

The Double Arch Trail begins on the other side of the Windows Rd loop. There is more parking on the side, but you can also easily reach it by walking the .1 mile connector trail. The short .6 mile Double Arch trail leads to two side by side arches. The southern one at 112 feet is the tallest in the park!

Delicate Arch Trail

Difficulty: Strenuous

Distance: 3 miles

Elevation Change: 538ft

Parking: Wolf Ranch Parking Lot with 157 spots

Trailhead: Delicate Arch

Restrooms: Pit toilets at the trailhead

Delicate Arch is definitely the most well-known arch in the world! It’s even one of the standard choices for Utah state license plates. It should be no surprise that the Delicate Arch Trail is one of the best hikes at Arches National Park.

The majority of this heavily trafficked trail is climbing up a steep slick rock slope without any shade. Before reaching the arch the trail becomes a somewhat narrow rock ledge. The terrain is fairly flat so I didn’t find it too treacherous, but it is a high drop-off without any guardrails.

While the views everywhere in the park are interesting, there isn’t as much to see throughout this hike. A little before the end of the trail there is an arch with a view of Delicate Arch. It is a slight climb off the trail. It’s not the easiest getting up and down, but it does offer a cool vantage point. I recommend climbing up here on your way back.

The big attraction is the arch at the end of the trail! Coming around the corner and getting your very first view of Delicate Arch is a real treat. The area can get crowded during peak times, but it is a big space with many different angles to take photos. Fellow hikers are usually very respectful about waiting in line to take a photo under the arch.

From a separate trailhead there is a short Delicate Arch Viewpoint trail.

Devils Garden Trail

Difficulty: Strenuous

Distance: 7.9 miles

Elevation Change: 286ft

Parking: Devils Garden Parking Lot with 160 spots

Trailhead: Devils Garden Trailhead

Restrooms: Pit toilets at the trailhead

As the Devils Garden Trail can be an easy, moderate, or strenuous hike it may be the very best hike at Arches National Park! Not to mention it has more arches than any other hike at Arches National Park.

The main trail with several short spurs features numerous arches. One of them, the Landscape Arch, is the longest arch in North America!

The primitive trail is full of narrow rock walls known as fins, narrow ledges, and steep drop-offs. It’s a challenging, yet fun trail to follow. You need to keep your eye open for cairns, rock piles, to make sure you don’t get lost.

My Devils Garden Trail guide details all the arches you can see on this trail. Read more about all the different hiking options and what you can expect from every part of the trail.

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