Arches National Park, Moab

Over the weekend, Ankit and I traveled to Moab to visit Arches National Park. It was about a 4 hours drive from South Ogden (where we live). We left at 6 in the morning. 

Arches National Park is situated in Eastern Utah and preserves about 2000 natural sandstone arches. The park lies on an underground salt bed. It is said that some 300 million  years ago, the sea flowed through this region and evaporated over time. Now there is a whole scientific explanation over how the arches were formed which I can't explain. If you're really interested, open up wikipedia or just go to Arches National Park. There is a very informative video at the visitor's center which explains it all. 

Ankit at the park entrance

Arches National Park is open 24 hours, seven days a week, all year round.  

The entrance fees are cheaper than it is in most national parks. Getting the annual pass was the best thing we did because there are sooo many parks in and around Utah. There are a bunch of parks in just Moab.

Park Avenue View Point

Many of the rocks form to make faces. Really cool.

How cool is that?

Me at Park Avenue

Ankit at Balanced Rock

The Balanced Rock has a short and easy trail which takes you around the rock. 

North Window

Here is the first arch we hiked to. You can do a Windows loop trail and get a close view of the North, South and Turret Arches. 

Ankit sitting under the arch

After this, we decided to do a trail to the world-famous Delicate Arch. Delicate Arch happens to have become the unofficial symbol of Utah. If you ever come to Utah, you'll see that the number plates on the cars here have a picture of the Delicate Arch. It is rated the most beautiful arch in the world. The trail took us about 2.5 hours round trip because we stopped a lot to take pictures. It is absolutely beautiful. And once you reach the arch, it'll make your trip worthwhile. I suggest everyone who visits Arches to do this trail for sure.

Ankit and I stopped half way to take a break and enjoy the scenery

It is super windy up here and the sun is hot. Remember to take at least a gallon of water per person because this is the desert after all. Keep your throat from being parched and stay hydrated throughout the trip. Bring a sunscreen. I'm brown enough and still got tanned even though I put sunscreen (30 SPF). So if you have sensitive skin, I'd recommend you bring the 50 SPF. 

Delicate Arch

There it is. It is huge and looks very grand. It is totally worth all the effort to come up here and the backdrop is absolutely beautiful. 

Ankit and I under the Delicate Arch

There are so many more beautiful Arches in this park. This was the main, long trail that Ankit and I chose to do. The sole of my shoe slid out after I hiked back down from here. It gets pretty steep on the way back down. I saw many people hiking in sandals, too. I thought that was very brave of them (lol). But it's not a hard trail; lots of little kids were doing it, too. 

Sand Dune Arch

While we were visiting, we stayed a night at the Super 8 motel. The room was cheap and one of the few which were available. Book in advance unlike us, who booked a night before leaving. Super 8 did impress us though. 

Check the room out.

We've  stayed at Super 8 before, but this was by far the nicest Super 8 motels we've stayed at. 

For $79, we got this room with flat screen TV (with HBO), very comfortable beds with clean sheets, microwave, fridge, coffee maker (with coffee, tea, sugar and creamer), lots of towels and a bathtub (with hot shower). There is a pool and hot tub in the motel, too, along with complimentary breakfast. The price would be a lot lot cheaper had we booked in advance. This place is just five minutes from the park and a really nice place to stay. Don't believe in those snobby reviews you read about this place on websites. To those who thought this place was dirty or stinky-- What more were you expecting for such a low price? Chill and be happy.

There are lots of places to eat. If you are looking online to find a place to eat, don't bother. Just drive down and you'll see lots of places which aren't even listed online. It's a nice, little touristy town which looks very pretty at night. We took a stroll around the town after dinner and it was beautiful. 

If you live in Utah, I'd suggest you get out this weekend. The weather is just perfect for hiking right now. Going a little later in the year might be too hot to visit. I'm sure it gets as nice as this time in September and October as well. 

Have a great day :)

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