Arches National Park

Arches National Park

ByChris Cagle

Arches National Park has more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches. The massive, red-hued Delicate Arch is in the east, and the long, thin Landscape Arch stands in Devils Garden to the north. Other geological formations inside the park include Balanced Rock, which towers over the desert landscape in the middle of the park.

If you are in Arches for only a day, drive to the Windows Section of the park. The 24-mile round trip drive gives you looks at some of the park’s largest and most spectacular arches. To visit all the stops and hike a few short trails would take an entire day. After a full day of hiking, find the perfect spot to watch the sunset here as well.

Arches National Park
Arches National Park

Staying in Arches National Park

There are a few towns to stay in when visiting Arches National Park.

  • Moab, UT (5 miles away)
  • Spanish Valley, UT (15 miles)
  • Castle Valley, UT (22 miles)
  • Thompson Springs, UT (34 miles)
  • La Sal, UT (37 miles away)
  • Green River, UT (48 miles away)

VISIT Arches National Park:

Park Details

Arches National Park was established on April 12, 1929, and has a total area of 76,679 acres (120 square miles, or 310 square kilometers).

Address US 191, Moab, UT, 84532
Phone435 719-2299
HoursOpen year-round, 24 hours a day
Entrance Fee$30 per vehicle, valid for 7 days
Learn MoreOfficial Website

When to Visit: Weather vs. Peak Visitation

Arches National Park is the 57th most visited park in the country.

We crunched 30 years of historical weather and/or park service data to find the best months to visit Arches National Park. We looked for the optimal temperatures, the least amount of snow and rain, and stayed away from peak visitation months if we could help it. All this data then helped us paint a picture as to what the absolute best time to visit Arches National Park is.

Our data shows the best months to visit Arches National Park are May, June, November & August.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Park Visits48,72553,986151,074193,912225,789238,499211,393166,747191,917169,93798,36253,900
Precipitation1611101052247141216
Avg Temp394556667787939081675240
Max Temp495770808896999691806652
Avg Temp262932374551616050393026
Min Temp131823273140495036281913
Temperature values in °F; Precipitation in Inches

Arches National Park Road Trips

Many family vacations consist of stringing one or more national parks together during a week-long trip. Creating these types of trips is our specialty! Here are the road trips we've created where Arches National Park is visited.

Trip NameTrip MilesTrip Days
Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde, Arches & Canyonlands7927
Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway Road Trip7008
Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Arches, Black Canyon to Rockies1,08612
Rocky Mountains, Arches to Canyonlands7169
Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon to Zion75010

Other Nearby National Park Sites

From national monuments, to historic sites to seashores and more, here are the other parks closest to Arches National Park.

NameDistance
Canyonlands National Park37 mi
Colorado National Monument53 mi
Natural Bridges National Monument79 mi
Capitol Reef National Park93 mi
Hovenweep National Monument94 mi
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park100 mi
Yucca House National Monument110 mi
Mesa Verde National Park119 mi
Curecanti National Recreation Area122 mi
Dinosaur National Monument131 mi

Nearby Campsites & RV Parks

If you are looking to pitch a tent or park an RV at a campsite near Arches National Park, here is a list of the closest campsites in the surrounding area. They all have slightly different amenitites, so its best to check them all out instead of just chosing the first on the list.

NameDetailsMiles Away
Upper Big BendMoab, UT more 5 miles
Goose IslandMoab, UT more 5 miles
Big BendMoab, UT more 5 miles
GranstaffMoab, UT more 5 miles
Hal CanyonMoab, UT more 6 miles
Oak GroveMoab, UT more 6 miles
Drinks CanyonMoab, UT more 6 miles
Willow Springs Trail DispersedMoab, UT more 6 miles
Devils Garden - Arches National ParkMoab, UT more 6 miles
Sand FlatsMoab, UT more 8 miles

Nearest Ski Resorts

For those of you who are the diehard outdoors type, visiting a national park on a ski trip can be quite the adventure. Here are the ski resorts within 100 miles of Arches National Park:

NameLocationSummitDifficulty Score™Distance
SnowbasinOrangeville, UT9,350 ft79%93 mi

Nearest Airports

When visiting a National park, many people are faced with either a very long drive across country, or a much shorter flight. For those of you looking to fly into Arches National Park, we've listed the closest airports in the area.

Large Airports

A large airport has scheduled major airline service with millions of passengers per year. This type of airport always accepts international flights. Here are the closest large airports to Arches National Park.

NameCodeCityDistance
Salt Lake City International AirportSLCSalt Lake City, UT194 mi
Denver International AirportDENDenver, CO274 mi
Harry Reid International AirportLASLas Vegas, NV355 mi
Phoenix Sky Harbor International AirportPHXPhoenix, AZ387 mi
Lake Havasu City International AirportLHSLake Havasu City, AZ390 mi
Medium Airports

A medium-sized airport has scheduled regional airline service. This type of airport may or may not accept international flights. Here are the closest medium-sized airports to Arches National Park.

NameCodeCityDistance
Grand Junction Regional AirportGJTGrand Junction, CO64 mi
Durango-La Plata County AirportDRODurango, CO145 mi
Aspen-Pitkin Co/Sardy FieldASEAspen, CO150 mi
Provo-Utah Lake International AirportPVUProvo, UT156 mi
Eagle County Regional AirportEGEEagle, CO157 mi
Southwest Wyoming Regional AirportRKSRock Springs, WY203 mi
Cedar City Regional AirportCDCCedar City, UT203 mi

Credits: Campground data provided by USCampgrounds.info. Map shapes from CartographyVectors. Weather data from NOAA. Airport data from OurAirports.com. Images from Unsplash, Flickr and Parks&Trips. All data has also been updated and augmented by Parks&Trips.