Arches National Park Itinerary: Spend One Day at Arches

Last updated on July 12th, 2026

Looking for the best way to spend one day at Arches National Park? In this Arches National Park itinerary we’re including everything you need to know for your visit, plus where to stay, tips for the area, and more!

Arches National Park is a place unlike anywhere else. Here you can find 2,000 natural arches of all shapes and sizes, the highest concentration in the world!

Partition Arch Things to do in Arches National Park

While seeing all 2,000 arches would take a lifetime, it is possible to experience many of them (at least 9!) with just one day at Arches National Park. In one day you can see the sunrise illuminate the famous Delicate Arch, discover hidden arches, and so much more!

But if you’re feeling overwhelmed planning your one day at Arches National Park, we’ve taken all of our favorite stops from our visit to the park to craft the perfect Arches National Park itinerary for your trip. Plus, we’re sharing important information that you’ll need to know before you go!

Arches National Park Itinerary: One Day in Arches National Park

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Want to Learn More as you explore?

We highly suggest downloading the Guide Along – Arches or the Utah Bundle (totally worth the cost!!) audio tours to navigate you on the road. Even when you don’t have service it knows where you are and provides commentary and history about the area. As well as alerts you when to stop for specific sights. These guides are fun to listen to and the narrator feels like a fun friend in the car with you!

One Day at Arches National Park Itinerary

In this one day at Arches National Park itinerary, you’ll see some of the park’s most famous sights, go for a mix of hikes, and check out quick viewpoints. It will be a busy day, so get plenty of rest the night before so you can get started as early as possible.

Watch the sunrise at Delicate Arch

Start off your Arches National Park itinerary with a sunrise hike to the park’s most iconic arch, Delicate Arch! Since it is the most famous arch, it is always super busy, but sunrise is when there are the least amount of people, so we recommend taking advantage of that. Plus the morning glow makes for beautiful photos!

Make sure to pack a headlamp, as the trail is very dark and has some narrow sections.

Hike to Landscape Arch

For your second hike on this Arches National Park itinerary, head to Landscape Arch. This is the second most popular arch to see in the park since it’s one of the longest natural arches in all of North America. Because of this, it can get busy quickly and the parking lot is not huge. But if you go right after Delicate Arch, then you’ll have the best chance to find a spot.

Note: if you’re doing well on time or are willing to skip things later in the day, you could squeeze in the entire Devils Garden Loop with Landscape Arch. It’s a beautiful 7.9 mile trail that takes you to 7 different arches. But if you have more than one day at Arches National Park, we suggest saving it for another day so you don’t have to rush!

See three more arches

Sand Dune Arch Arches National Park — Sand Dune Arch

With an easy, 2.8 mile hike, you’ll get to see three more cool arches! The Sand Dune, Broken Arch, and Tapestry Arch Loop is a great way to see a handful of arches in a short amount of time. This is one of the less popular trails in the park, but it totally took us by surprise with how beautiful and fun it was!

Eat a picnic lunch

Since Arches National Park can have very long lines to get into the park, we suggest staying in the park for lunch and having a picnic. They have some picnic tables across from Balanced Rock (your next stop!), down a side road.

Stop by Balanced Rock

After lunch, continue your one day at Arches National Park with a quick stop at Balanced Rock. This is a 3,600 ton boulder that looks like it is balancing on top of other rocks. While you can see it from the road, a super short 0.3 mile round-trip walk will take you closer to it and allow you to see it from multiple angles.

Admire Park Avenue

Next up, walk among the tall rock walls on the Park Avenue trail, a 1.8 mile trail through a canyon. While there are no arches on this trail, Park Avenue was one of our favorite stops in the park! You’ll be surrounded by tall rock walls and formations, making you feel like you’re walking among skyscrapers on New York City’s Park Avenue.

If you’re short on time during your one day at Arches National Park, you could just stop at the Park Avenue overlook. It is right off the main road in the park. But if you have the time, walking among these rock “skyscrapers” is incredible and will make you feel tiny.

Hike the Loop Trail to Windows and Turret Arch

For another great afternoon hike, head to the Windows and Turret Arch and hike the loop trail around them. This short loop consists of the North and South Windows, which are openings with views through them.

But our favorite part of this trail was the Turret Arch, which has a small opening and a larger opening, which you can climb under. It was unlike any arch we had seen in the park!

On your way to and from these arches you can stop at the Garden of Eden, an open area with sandstone formations. We saw a lot of people taking sunset photos here as we left the park.

See Double Arch at sunset

Double Arch Arches National Park-Things to do in Arches National Park

End the day at our favorite arch in the park, Double Arch, a huge arch that consists of two arches, whose legs have the same foundation.

This arch, or should we say arches, is a very short walk from Windows and Turret Arch, making it an easy addition to the end of your day. Just make sure to get here before sunset to see the golden light illuminate this arch. It’s magical to see!

Eat dinner in Moab

After a very busy one day at Arches National Park, head into the town of Moab for dinner. For a small town, there are a lot of great dining options. But some of our favorites include Antica Forma for Neapolitan style pizza and Thai Bella for Thai food. We love their Panang Curry and Khao Soi!

Have two days at Arches National Park?

Devils Garden Trail Arches National Park

If you have more than one day at Arches National Park, then we recommend you hike the Devils Garden Loop Trail on your second day in the park. This hike can take around 4-5 hours and can get busy, so you’ll want to start early to find parking, plus beat the heat and the crowds.

Once you’re done with the hike, spend the rest of the day checking off more of the best things to do in Arches National Park or explore some fun activities in Moab!

Arches National Park Tips and Information

Getting to and around Arches National Park

Arches National Park is near the town of Moab, Utah, in the southern part of the state. It will take 3 hours and 40 minutes to get here from Salt Lake City if you plan on flying into that airport.

Unlike Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, Arches National Park does not have a park shuttle. You will need to either rent a car or drive your own to get around. Or hire a tour to show you the top sites!

When to visit Arches National Park

Along with the rest of the Southern Utah National Parks, the best time to visit are the shoulder seasons. This means April–May or September–October. This is when the park will be less busy, and offer gorgeous weather, with daytime highs averaging between 60-80ºF.

We visited Arches National Park during the last couple days of April. The mornings were cooler, but the afternoons were in the 80s. It felt a lot hotter with all of the sunshine and no tree coverage. Just make sure to avoid Spring Break weeks and Memorial Day weekend if at all possible!

Whenever we go back, we’d love to visit in October, when crowds have died down some, the weather is still nice, and spots in town are still open.

We highly recommend avoiding the summer months, as the temperatures routinely climb over 100ºF in the summer. If you do plan to visit in the summer, pack LOTS of water, get started early, stay somewhere with a pool to cool down, and wear tons of sunscreen.

Winter can be a great time to visit to beat the crowds. But you may run into closed businesses, plus some very cold weather and very occasional snow and ice shutting down the roads. If you choose to visit in the winter, make sure to bring microspikes for the trails.

The best time of day to visit Arches National Park

No matter what time of year you are visiting, be sure to always arrive early in the day! The park can reach its capacity limits by 7:30 AM and the National Park Service will limit visitors entering the park for 3-5 hours sometimes.

To avoid this, make sure you get an early start and enter the park before 7:30 AM, preferably right before sunrise if possible. This is also a good way to beat the heat!

The late afternoon can be a great time to enjoy the park as well. Lighting will be better for photography than the midday sun, the temperatures will be a little lower, and there will be slightly less crowds on trails and in parking lots. We have left Arches National Park before to grab an early dinner and had no issues getting back in, or finding parking, around 5 PM.

Cost to visit Arches

It costs $30 per vehicle ($25 for motorcycles) to enter Arches National Park, which covers 7 days. This fee does not cover you at any of the other Utah National Parks, so you will have to pay to visit each park, even if you visit them within 7 days.

America the Beautiful Pass

While you’re in Utah, you should definitely make the most of it and visit all five of the parks in a big Utah National Parks Road Trip. In fact, Canyonlands National Park is just a quick drive away!

Because you’ll be visiting multiple parks in one year, we highly recommend buying the America the Beautiful pass in advance. This pass gets you free entry to all National Parks for one year. So use it as much as you can and explore multiple National Parks!

Looking to visit more National Parks? Check out our guides to the best West Coast, East Coast, and Southwest National Parks!

Where to stay in Arches National Park

The best place to stay when visiting Arches National Park is in Moab! Just minutes from the park entrance, Moab offers everything you need, including food, gas, groceries, and shops. You can see all of our suggestions for the 24 Best Places to Stay Near Arches National Park for All Budgets and the best places to stay in Moab here!

But if you want to stay in the park itself, Devils Garden is the only campground in Arches National Park and has 51 reservable sites from March 1 to October 31 (the reservations open 6 months in advance). Between November and February the campground is first-come, first-served. They do not offer any water or electrical hookups, but they do have drinking water, picnic tables, grills, and flush toilets. For our ultimate list of the best campsites in Utah, visit our sister site Stoked to Camp!

What to bring to Arches National Park

First and foremost, we always recommend that you pack the 10 essentials. You can see all of our hiking gear here, but a few key items that are important to have for your one day in Arches National Park are hiking shoes, layers (the mornings can be cool!), sunscreen, plenty of water, and AllTrails maps!

We highly recommend the AllTrails+ membership so you can download the map in advance and use it offline. There’s not usually great service on the trails. You can use our code aplusk30 for 30% your membership!

Looking for more things to do in Southern Utah?

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About the Author

This article was written by Tori, one of our Adventures of A+K team members. Learn a bit about her below!

Hi, I’m Tori! I live in Nashville, TN with my husband and two daughters. We travel as much as possible throughout the year, around a 9-5 schedule and with babies in tow! My travel blog, Tori Pines Travels, aims to help people plan action-packed and culture-rich vacations around their busy jobs, fitting in as much exploring as possible. When I’m not working for Adam and Kathryn or entertaining my little ones, I’m writing, cooking, crafting or exploring Music City!