I've been sharing hikes mostly from 2020-2021 and thought I should share something more recent. So, for the next few weeks, I'll be sharing the beautiful landscapes and scenery we saw during our March 2023 long ass road trip, where we drove 6500km and travelled through 7 states.
First up is Arches National Park in Utah, near the border of Utah and Colorado. Entrance fee to the park is $30 USD, but if you decide to visit three or more national parks within the next year, it is a better deal to buy the America the Beautiful national park annual pass. Most national parks have an entry price of about $30-$35 USD. The annual pass is $80 USD, which gives you unlimited access to all American national parks and many state parks as well.
It was early and cold when we reached the park, but we were just glad that it wasn't raining and we could see the blue sky. We wanted to hike the Delicate Arch trail and see the famous Utah license plate arch up close. The trail is an easy to moderate difficulty out and back trail that is 5km long with about 190m elevation gain. As it is a popular trail, to avoid the crowds and to find a parking spot easier, we decided to drive directly to the Delicate Arch trail trailhead right after our quick stop at the visitor center for picking up junior ranger workbooks. As we were driving to the trailhead, it started to fog up and the fog lingered even when we started our hike. Just as I was starting to worry that our views of the surrounding landscape will be obstructed, the sun did quick work of eliminating the fog and we had perfect visibility.
Eventually, we reached the Delicate Arch and took some photos. I'll let the pictures do the talking.
After hiking the Delicate Arch trail, we went to the Devil's Garden picnic area to have lunch and went a short distance into the Devil's Garden trail to see a couple more arches. Supposedly, Arches National Park has over 2000 stone arches. Due to our tight schedule and needing to reach the next destination (almost 400 km away), we helped the kids complete their junior ranger workbook, got their badges at the visitor center, and left Arches National park in the afternoon.
Check out my previous adventures: