you are not its prey.
REDUCING YOUR IMPACT IN THE DESERT
Considering the significance of national parks to our nation’s heritage, it’s particularly important that you familiarize yourself with the Leave No Trace principles as you plan your visit to Utah’s national parks. Visit lnt.org for more information. Follow the philosophy of “pack it in; pack it out.” Here are a few additional pointers:
Follow park regulations. Do not collect rocks, plants, or artifacts.
Check the weather forecast, and plan your hike accordingly. Be prepared for emergencies.
Deposit solid human waste in a hole 4–6 inches deep, at least 200 feet away from water, camps, and trails.
Do not approach or feed wildlife.
Yield to others on the trail. Step to the downhill side of the trail when encountering horses.
Additionally, in many parts of Utah’s national parks, you’ll encounter biological soil crusts, which are an important part of the desert ecosystem. They prevent soil erosion, absorb and hold water, and provide nutrients to plants. But one footstep can destroy hundreds of years of growth. Please help protect these fragile crusts by learning to recognize them (you’ll be instructed in the park’s visitor information and on interpretive signage) and by walking on designated trails, bare rock, or streambeds.
Exciting experiences and vistas await, so now it’s time to lace up your boots and hit the trail.
Canyon Overlook Trail in Zion National Park (see Hike 40)
ARCHES NATIONAL PARK
Park Overview
Arches National Park showcases the highest concentration of natural stone arches in the world—more than 2,400 of them. Along with the arches, you’re treated to an amazing landscape of balanced rocks, soaring red-rock cliffs, monumental towers, and stately sandstone fins. It’s inspiring scenery, with routes that are accessible to hikers of all ages and skill levels.
The arches and varied landforms spawn from an underground salt bed deposited 300 million years ago, when a sea flowed into the region and then evaporated. Subsequently, residue from floods, winds, and the ocean covered the salt bed and became compressed as rock, up to a mile thick in some places. Under this heavy rock layer, the salt bed shifted, liquefied, and buckled, causing domes to form and vertical cracks to appear in what we now see as fins.
Before being designated as a national monument in 1929 and a national park in 1971, the area had been inhabited for nearly 10,000 years, most recently by Fremont Indians and ancestral Puebloans, followed by Paiute and Ute tribes, Spanish missionaries, and Mormon pioneers.
JUST ONE DAY?
Arches is a compact park, ideally suited for visitors who want to take in the natural spectacle on short walks and hikes. Starting at the visitor center, continue into the park on what may be the most dramatic entrance to any national park in America as you ascend a road cut through sandstone to the Park Avenue Viewpoint. Continue on to Balanced Rock for a quick leg-stretcher, and then travel into the Windows section for a walk to the North and South Windows before heading up to Double Arch.
The must-do hike in Arches is Delicate Arch, the most iconic arch in Utah, if not the world. If you have any time and energy remaining, head to Devils Garden and pay a visit to Landscape Arch—quickly, before it collapses. This seemingly razor-thin span of rock continues to defy gravity and delight visitors.
Park Avenue
1 Park Avenue
Trailhead Location: Park Avenue Viewpoint and parking area
Trail Use: Walking, hiking
Distance & Configuration: 2.0-mile out-and-back or 1.0-mile point-to-point with shuttle
Elevation Range: 4,550' at Park Avenue Viewpoint and Trailhead to 4,230' at Courthouse Towers Viewpoint
Facilities: None
Highlights: The perfect introductory hike in Arches National Park—a downhill walk along a canyon floor with towering walls and balanced rocks on both sides
DESCRIPTION
The Arches experience gets off to an impressive start as you leave the Arches Visitor Center and ascend a road carved below sandstone cliffs. Arriving at the Park Avenue Viewpoint and Trailhead, you’ll need to decide whether to do this hike as a one-way—in which case you’ll need a shuttle driver to meet you at the Courthouse Towers Viewpoint—or as a round-trip. If you have limited time and hope to pack as much hiking into your day as possible, do this as a one-way hike.
Park Avenue is a good introduction to desert hiking in general, where you’ll discover sandy washes, slickrock, and immense sandstone cliffs. You’ll encounter cacti and other desert plants and learn to recognize and avoid stepping on biological soil crusts. You’ll learn to navigate by watching for cairns (small rock piles). The hike also exposes you to full sunlight, so you’ll want to quickly establish the habit of packing water and staying hydrated. It’s best to learn the ropes of desert hiking on a short and easy stretch such as Park Avenue, so you’ll be prepared for bigger adventures deeper in the park. From observation points at either end of the trail, you’ll be able to view most of the towers and walls of Park Avenue. But nothing can match the experience of hiking Park Avenue dwarfed by these monuments on all sides.
ROUTE
The observation deck at the trailhead captures a panorama not only of the canyon you’re about to enter but also of the frequently snowcapped La Sal Mountains, in the distance to the east. Walking down the paved sidewalk to the Park Avenue Viewpoint, you descend far enough into the canyon that the view and perspective of the Courthouse Towers and the canyon walls become even more dramatic.
From the observation deck, backtrack several paces; take the well-worn trail that veers left as it descends steeply into the canyon’s wash. You will be on a slope dotted with Utah junipers and cacti. Continuing on, you’ll find blackbrush, wavyleaf oak, Mormon tea, cliff rose, and single-leaf ash.
Once you reach the canyon floor, you’ll be walking on dirt and sand on a bedrock layer of Navajo Sandstone. While the scenic beauty draws your eyes upward, you’ll need to carefully watch your step, as potholed slickrock and sand can disguise parts of your route. To stay on the trail, watch for the occasional cairns,
