explore utah: part three (the end)

Last post on Utah - I promise.

After exploring Zion and getting our feet wet (literally) we hopped in the car and drove back east to Moab, Utah, which is right outside of Arches National Park.

The drive was stunning. We took the scenic route through Capital Reef, which I absolutely recommend. It was an extra two hours in the car, but it was two hours of gorgeousness. Like this:

Arches is probably the most famous of Utah's national parks, but it's not huge. You can definitely cover the must-see sights in a day.

We started out hiking all around the Devil's Garden area. There are so many arches packed into a very small space, and a lot of them are extremely close to the parking lot. Super do-able even if you don't want to strap on some hiking shoes. Not that you need hiking shoes for any of this. We sure don't have them, but supposedly they're a good idea.

It's amazing how unique each arch is. For example, you have Landscape Arch:

Quickly followed by Partition Arch. Thin and narrow vs. thick and chunky.

And while a lot of arches are short trails from the parking lot you can also get your hike on with some longer trails. We hiked all of Devils Garden, taking the primitive trail back. It's really beautiful and really quiet - a lot less people than the main path. Plus, you get to see an extra arch! BONUS!

Double O Arch is a family favorite. I visited Arches several times as a kid, and with a maiden name of "Ooms" you've gotta soak up those double o's.

However, all you height-haters be warned - Nick is just starting off on the top of a rock fin. You have to walk a couple hundred feet across the top of the fin, which is about 4 feet wide. It's crazy windy up there and it's a long way down. You've been warned.

It is, of course, totally worth it, though. And not that bad. So do it.

And...here's Double O.

Like I said, the primitive trail has some really beautiful landscape that you don't see the same way from the main trail. Views like this one:

That whole hike was 6 or 7 miles long, so we hung out in the car and chowed down on some Larabars for a little while before our next adventure - Delicate Arch.

If you only do one hike in Arches, make it Delicate Arch. It's a 3.5 mile hike, and I think they call it strenuous but it's really not. Plus, the rock ledges they make a big deal about are actually no big deal and it'd be pretty hard to fall off of them (Michelle, you'd be fine). And the view at the end makes it worth every step.

Delicate Arch is perched on the edge of a cliff. It's a long LONG way down on the other side of the arch.

Unlike many of the other arches in the park, Delicate Arch stands completely on its own, not surrounded by other rocks.

 So basically, DO THIS HIKE. The end. You're welcome.

Our last National Park on the tour was Canyonlands. It's right next to Arches but totally different.

After checking out Mesa Arch we headed to the Lathrop trail. It's a 20 mile trail (one way?) but we only tackled 6 miles of it. The first mile is through a grass field (wear long pants. not capris. this is from experience), but by mile three you're on the edge of the canyon. And it's incredible.

 Our last day in Moab we drove south to the Needles District of Canyonlands. It's 2 hours south of Moab, and in our humble opinion....totally not worth it. The Needles Overlook is only about an hour south and that's a gorgeous view. The actual district is fantastic if you have a four wheel drive vehicle, but otherwise there's only 8 miles of paved roads in the park and it (honestly) looks fairly similar to the main part of Canyonlands.

There were some beautiful views along the road, though!

This last picture is from the overlook. It's really really beautiful, we were just a little done with all the driving at that point.

And that's it! Our Utah trip in a (rather large) nutshell. Without a doubt we'd recommend adding Utah to your must-visit list. It's such a beautiful and unique part of the country. We absolutely loved it and I've been planning our next trip since we got back. Suggestions welcome!