Wide open spaces, 2,000 natural arches, and not too crowded!
Feel insignificant, in a really good way:
Our first official National Park visit during our month long summer roadtrip was at Arches NP in Utah. Momans optional, natural beauty was not. I wish I could capture the enormity of these arches but instead just enjoy the pretty colors. Our guide at Adrift Adventures told us that the park rangers took about 2 years to count the arches, defined as a whole in a rock big enough to pass a football. I guess things are pretty simple up here.
Solitude is difficult to come by in a national park. BTW, if you stop at some of the more popular pull offs, plan to wait on those sweet, sweet peeps grabbing the perfect 'gram. Yes, while hiking into the park we waited while this adorable French family snapped 'grams of their teenage daughter posing on a boulder over the only hiking path, ignoring the discrete signs placed by the National Parks Service saying "your steps matter." (stay on the path and don't climb our boulders.). I've decided two things, 1.) discrete is not good enough and 2.) the next time I visit France and a local snubs me for being from the US...
But, you should still visit Arches. Our jeep tour with Adrift steered us away from all of the chaos of the masses, and included lots of off roading. Also, go into the park after 5p to enjoy the sounds of nature, not Texas families!
The plain and simple promise:
- Wide open spaces
- Fresh air
- Natural beauty
The surprise:
A feeling of how the decades of millennium are more important than whatever we are worrying about. Reality check.
If you go:
- Arches National Park is in south eastern Utah, close to the Colorado border.
- The park entrance is located about 11 hours from downtown Palm Springs and 2 ½ hours from Salt Lake
- Open 7 days a week, 24 hours
