2014-25 Arches National Park, Utah
Hello All,
In November we departed Idaho heading towards sunny Arizona. En route we decided to stop and spend a few days visiting Arches and Canyonlands National Parks in Utah.
Our last visit to Arches National Park was in 2003. It was mid July and the temperature was in the triple digits. We swore at that time that we would never make that mistake again! However, the third week in November might have been pushing the envelope a bit in the other direction!
We decided to give it a try anyway. As it turned out, the weather held beautifully for us. Early morning temperatures were a bit brisk, but as the day moved on, it warmed up nicely with mostly blue skies.
Moab, Utah, was our home away from home while visiting the parks. Our last time in the area, it was nothing more than a wide spot in the road. It is now a nice small town with a western theme. And, at least twenty new chain motels have been added to handle visitors during the busy summer tourist season. During this time of year we had our choice of places to stay with most having reasonable rates.
On April 12, 1929, President Herbert Hoover signed a presidential proclamation establishing 4520 acres as Arches National Monument. Since that time, the park's boundaries have been expanded several times. In 1971, Congress changed the status from a monument to that of a national park.
Arches National Park is truly a red rock wonderland unlike any other in the world. Within the park there are over twenty miles of paved scenic roads to drive. You will discover a landscape of contrasting colors, landforms, and textures unlike no other. In addition to its natural stone arches, you will see hundreds of soaring pinnacles, massive fins, and giant balanced rocks. It is an amazing place to visit.
In November we departed Idaho heading towards sunny Arizona. En route we decided to stop and spend a few days visiting Arches and Canyonlands National Parks in Utah.
Our last visit to Arches National Park was in 2003. It was mid July and the temperature was in the triple digits. We swore at that time that we would never make that mistake again! However, the third week in November might have been pushing the envelope a bit in the other direction!
We decided to give it a try anyway. As it turned out, the weather held beautifully for us. Early morning temperatures were a bit brisk, but as the day moved on, it warmed up nicely with mostly blue skies.
Moab, Utah, was our home away from home while visiting the parks. Our last time in the area, it was nothing more than a wide spot in the road. It is now a nice small town with a western theme. And, at least twenty new chain motels have been added to handle visitors during the busy summer tourist season. During this time of year we had our choice of places to stay with most having reasonable rates.
On April 12, 1929, President Herbert Hoover signed a presidential proclamation establishing 4520 acres as Arches National Monument. Since that time, the park's boundaries have been expanded several times. In 1971, Congress changed the status from a monument to that of a national park.
Arches National Park is truly a red rock wonderland unlike any other in the world. Within the park there are over twenty miles of paved scenic roads to drive. You will discover a landscape of contrasting colors, landforms, and textures unlike no other. In addition to its natural stone arches, you will see hundreds of soaring pinnacles, massive fins, and giant balanced rocks. It is an amazing place to visit.
You can see why the road sign in the following photo is advising of a 180-degree U-turn.
These amazing formations have been here for thousands of years.
The red rock landscapes are mind boggling.
The scenic drives wind their way in, around, and through these amazing diverse landscapes. Numerous pull-offs are available for taking photos.
For folks that like landscape photography there is an amazing shot around each corner. The opportunities seem endless.
These formations are really different—not something you see on the typical Sunday afternoon drive.
This is a wonderful national park to take someone that is unable to get too far away from the car for one reason or another. You can see some truly amazing sites driving the scenic byway. And, most of the major attractions have good paved or gravel trails from the parking lots.
There are trails into rocky areas like in the following photo. However, permits are required in many as it is easy to get lost within these mazes.
Advantages of a fall visit are that the park isn’t crowded, there are comfortable temperatures, and visitors are less apt to encounter rattlesnakes. In the summertime traffic on the roads can be bumper to bumper.
This shot just wouldn’t look the same with a string of vehicles in it.
Here is a shot of some fins. We find them fascinating.
Arches National Park is one that we highly recommend visiting. If you like the outdoors and the wonders of Mother Nature we don’t think you will be disappointed.
As you can see the Juniper Tree in this photo has a good number of berries on it. Nothing beats clear blue sky when capturing a nice landscape.
Barb always says that it makes her want to get back to oil painting.
We can’t stress it enough—it is truly an awesome drive.
You might be asking yourselves “…where are the arches?” Well in fact, the park has over 2,000 natural stone arches. But, in this write-up we wanted to show you some of the scenic beauty the park has to offer. Next time we will cover some of the many arches and hope you will consider riding along with us.
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns