Ken’s Lake Campground in Moab, Utah May 22

Thursday morning, May 23, 2024 we were up early, had a good breakfast and were out the door of Nomad at 6:30 am for our visit to Arches National Park. From April 1st until October 31st, the flow of visitors is SO heavy that the National Park Service has instituted Timed Entry requirements during that date span. We had secured a Timed Entry permit months ago that allowed us to enter between 7 am and 8 am.

I’m sure you already know; we were there at 7 am, lol!

Arches National Park

This area was originally named a National Monument on April 12, 1929 and was designated a National Park on November 12, 1971. The park is 76,359 acres in size and is included in The Mighty Five National Parks within the State of Utah. In 2023 more than 1.4 million people passed through the gates at Arches.

Sitting high above the Colorado River, Arches is part of southern Utah’s canyon country. This area has been shaped by ages and ages of weather and erosion. To look out on this expanse of dry sand and weathered rocks it is hard to believe that millions of years ago this was an inland sea of salt water. That water evaporated during and refilled many, many times over the eons leaving behind massively thick salt beds, sand and boulders.

Within the boundaries of this park there are more than 2,000 natural arches and it is the greatest concentration of such arches in our country. To be classified as an arch the opening must measure at least three feet across. New arches form and old ones collapse, so the view changes over the years. They are joined by a magnificent landscape of spires, pinnacles, slickrock domes and giant balanced rocks that all vie for your attention as you drive through the park or walk among their grandeur.

We started our drive through the park with the intention of stopping at each viewpoint. But as we came upon areas where we could get out and hike to or even through arches and rock formations, our plan changed. We stopped at SO many along the route that before we were halfway through we were pretty exhausted. So we decided to finish out the drive by going to the end and taking photos as we drove or used pulloffs, and then we would return the following week for more hiking to some of the latter trails, arches and formations.

By the time we left the park four hours later we were pretty wiped out, but also filled with exhilaration from all the unbelievable views we had seen. I’ve tried to include only the best photos in this post’s album. But, as I’ve stated before about Zion and Bryce, they are no comparison to actually being there to see with your own eyes and experience the full effect of the sight, sounds, smells and feelings of being in the presence of such splendor.

As we passed through the exit gate around 11 am we could see the entrance lanes were filled with long lines of vehicles that were waiting to get in and were glad, once again, that we arrived as early as possible.

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