Arches National park

We Visited Arches National Park on the way through from Boulder to Las Vegs. Arches National Park is a really accessible park, a lot of which can be seen from the road, however if you have made the effort to get there most of the trails are quite short so it is really worth the while to get out of the car and get close up to the rocks. You will find the entrance to the park off the 191, and you soon pass the visitors centre as you proceed along Arches National Park Road. The road rises quickly out of the valley and meets the base of the red entrada sandstone walls and then continues to wind its way through some impressive sandstone monoliths, many of which have been named individually

There are various trails along the road before you get to the Devils Garden Trailhead loop. Our first stop was at the Balance Rock Trail head. This is a short trail that takes you to Balance Rock, a large rock outcrop that stands on a smaller column. We took the short walk and were quite impressed how this large rock had not yet toppled over.

From Balance Rock Trail, we drove on to Sand Dune Trail which you can also link to Broke Arches Trail. Again even combining these trails together they remain quite short, but they gave us our first close up of the arches. When you walk up to Sand Dune Arch you have to pass through a tight canyon and then return the same way, then you cross over an area of open desert until you reach the rock formation that contains Broken Arch. This is a huge arch that you can walk into and be dwarfed by.

We continued on along Arches NP Road, again stopping at Skyline Arch Trailhead to take the short walk to see the Skyline Arch. This arch is high up in the rocks but you still get a good view from the trail.

Finally we drove down to the Devils Garden Trailhead and car park. Devils Garden is a longer trail at around 8 Miles. The circular route takes you past some of the most iconic arches in the park including Landscape Arch which is the longest arch in North America with a light opening of 306ft and considered the jewel of Devils Garden. The trail initially takes you through a canyon area and past Pine Tree Arch and then on to Landscape arch which surprises you, just how thin it actually is.

Moving on from Landscape Arch you come across Wall Arch and then a little further on you can turn left off the trail and opt to walk up to both Partition and Navajo arches or carry on along the trail to Mirador Del Arco Negro and then Double O Arch. From here you can choose to go left on a long trail back to the road passed Dark Angel Arch or continue the route right and this will take you passed Top Story Window, Private Arch and Black Cave Arch then White Fin Arch with Crystal Arch in the distance before returning you to the trail head and car park.

When we had finished the Devils Garden Trail we drove out of Arches National Park, its about 18 miles back to the visitors center and then we drove on north up the 191 to to the left turn which takes you through to Canyonlands National Park. It was getting quite late when we started down the Canyonlands Road and were loosing light on the road through the canyons so we didn't drive far before deciding to stop for a short break and then turning around and heading towards the Grand Canyon via Monument Valley

Whilst driving through monument Valley on highway 163 you pass through what has become one of the most iconic spots in America, Forest Gump Point. Its the exact point on the road that after Forest Gump had crossed the country several times and after three years, two months, 14 days, and 16 hours he suddenly remembered a quote from his mother, “Put the past behind you and move on" so he stopped running and moved on with his life! You can see why Hollywood chose this point, he sight of the sandstone monoliths in the distance is quite breathtaking.

The drive through Monument Valley is beautiful and on a grand scale, the red sandstone monoliths tower over the landscape and it is one landscape that lives up to your expectations. We continued on through Monument Valley and headed towards the Grand Canyon and an entirely different landscape altogether.