Arches National Park

Why this park

Arches, just north of Moab in eastern Utah, has the greatest concentration of natural stone arches in the world — more than two thousand, from small holes to Landscape Arch with a span of almost ninety metres and the Delicate Arch that appears on Utah's licence plate. The park is compact: one paved road of almost thirty kilometres with short spurs, and nearly every highlight sits less than an hour's walk from the car park.

For an RV trip, Arches is a rewarding stop with a strong base. Moab is ten minutes from the entrance, with RV parks, supermarkets, bike rentals and rafting outfitters, and Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point State Park are around the corner. Two nights give one full day in Arches and half a day for Moab or a second park. If you stay at Devils Garden Campground inside the park itself, you walk to Landscape Arch at sunrise and the Milky Way hangs over your site at night.

With kids

Arches is made for short, spectacular walks. The Windows Section is the top pick: North and South Window and Turret Arch sit on a loop of a kilometre and a half, and across the car park you walk ten minutes to Double Arch, where kids can scramble beneath two gigantic arches. Sand Dune Arch, hidden between rock fins in cool sand, is the park's favourite half hour with toddlers. Balanced Rock has a paved loop of half a kilometre. In Devils Garden, Landscape Arch is a flat walk of a good two and a half kilometres return; the spectacular Delicate Arch is almost five kilometres with a climb over bare rock without shade — only with children who hike well, and then at the end of the day. Junior Ranger booklets are at the visitor centre.

The desert sets the rules here. From June through August it regularly tops 38 degrees and there is hardly any shade; hike before ten and after six, and spend the afternoon in the air-conditioned RV, in your RV park's pool or along the Colorado River. April, May, September and October are the months when you can be outside all day. The park advises at least a litre of water per person per two hours of hiking; carry more. Climbing on the arches themselves is prohibited, and on the rock fins the drop is sometimes higher than it looks. Arches is also an International Dark Sky Park: stay after sunset for the stars.

Camping and reservations

Arches has one campground inside the park: Devils Garden Campground, right at the end of the park road, 29 kilometres past the entrance, with sites among the rock fins, drinking water and toilets, but no hookups and no dump station. In season (roughly March through October) you reserve via Recreation.gov; in winter the sites are first-come, first-served. The maximum vehicle length varies per site and the longest sites are scarce — filter on that.

Sites are released on a rolling window; check the term on the campground page on Recreation.gov and search on the day itself, because in spring and autumn Devils Garden fills within minutes. Moab is the safety net, and a good one: dozens of RV parks with full hookups and pools ten to fifteen minutes from the entrance. If you prefer to camp in nature, look at the BLM campgrounds along the Colorado River on Highway 128 (mostly first-come, few facilities) or Dead Horse Point State Park, reserved through Utah State Parks, where you look out over the canyon.

Driving an RV

The park road is paved, wide enough and free of tunnels or height restrictions — the climb right after the entrance is steep with a few bends, but no problem for a rental RV. The challenge is parking: the lots at Devils Garden, the Windows and Delicate Arch are full from mid-morning until late afternoon and long vehicles do not fit in regular bays. Arrive at sunrise or after four, or do the park in two half days. Arches has used timed entry in high season in recent years — check nps.gov whether that applies this season and book the slot via Recreation.gov if needed. There is no shuttle; you drive yourself.

Frequently asked questions