Our first hike of our 2011 visit to Arches National Park was the 3.0 mile (4.8 km) round-trip trek to Delicate Arch on September 21. We had done this hike almost exactly 4 years before, so we knew what we were getting into.
The trail begins at the parking lot adjacent to the old Wolfe Ranch cabin. A side trail near the cabin leads to some petroglyphs.
The Delicate Arch trail has very little shade. Most of the trail is over open “slickrock” sandstone – a term given by early settlers because of the difficulty of their horses’ metal shoes getting traction on the sloping surfaces of the rock. There is some exposure to heights. The trail can be a brutal hike during the summer, when temperatures can exceed 100°F (37.7°C). The park service recommends at least a quart of water per person on this trail. Across the rock, the trail is marked by rock cairns.
We had planned the southwestern part of our trip for late September into October to take advantage of cooler weather. The high temperature for our hike was probably in the low 70s.
The trail to Delicate Arch is a nice hike and I heartily recommend it for a spring or autumn hike, or even an early summer morning hike provided you’re off the rock before the extreme heat of the day.
Selected Information Resources:
Arches National Park.
Click for Exit78 Pinterest policy.
{ 12 comments }
I was there both in July and in October.
What a difference a few month makes. In October, the place is crawling with tourists! Especially Germans!
There were a lot a folks on the trails later in the day, but more than once we were on our way back to the parking lot when the crush was heading to the “attraction.”
Mike, I think I will content myself with reading about. Way too hot and open for my pale skin.
We probably won’t be going to places like this when it’s brutally hot and preferably when it’s cool. When we were there in 2007, we started the hike out in sweatshirts. Our biggest challenge is keeping fit to be able to do things like this and we’ve not always done well at it. Since we’ve been home this time, we’ve been very good about making it to the gym several times a week, except for a couple of weeks.
Well, that’s one advantage of hiking in Northern Ireland – it’s never too hot! On the other hand, in the winter months it can be wet, cold and miserable, which is when I stay at home and catch up on my reading! I’ve walked many times in the Mourne Mountains, which are about 30 miles south of Belfast and very spectacular.
I’ve never been to Ireland, but on my six visits to Scotland, I remember a lot of cool or comfortable weather — even downright cold. (I was on one of the missile submarines out of Holy Loch, Scotland.) I only took one hike into the hills there. I can honestly that, here in Arkansas, it does get too hot… and humid at the same time.
This was fabulous, Mike!
I’d love to see the petroglyphs. Not sure how I’d do with the heights tho. I could get into the heat though. Love the heat! Even when I’m hiking.
Thanks. There’s an upcoming post with even more petroglyph… way more. The exposure to heights was actually pretty minimal, especially compared to some of the later trails on this trip.
i’ve just stumbled across this site by clicking on people’s comments on other sites
Where is this place, the rock colour looks like Utah, am I right? (Not very experience with US stuff, I’m all the way in New Zealand)
Hi Lewis,
Yes, it’s Utah, though there are other places with similarly colored sandstone in the western United States.
Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting.
Hi Mike .. great video .. and looking forward to seeing more Petroglyphs … a great sandstone natural column tumbled a few years in Namibia … wear and tear, and the hot and the cold … loved seeing the Delicate Arch .. and the slickrock term .. it does look so smooth – I hate to think of the conditions of opening up that region years ago – pioneers are extraordinary .. driven peoples.
Cheers Hilary
Thanks. I think it’s part of the natural process that these things collapse. There was an arch lost not that long ago in Arches. Another arch up behind our campsite just a few years ago had part of the rock fall away, which just made the opening bigger.
Comments on this entry are closed.