Our Adventure To Arches NP September 2021

Arches National Park Sept 2021

We totally enjoyed visiting Arches National Park in September of 2021. We stayed at a rv park in Moab due to the high temps as we travel with our dog Chloe. We have found that the best way to visit the national parks and monuments is to go in early i.e. before dawn as it allows us to take the best pictures due to the wonderful lighting conditions at dawn and sunrise. Another caveat of the early arrival is getting to enjoy our surroundings without the large volume of people. Kept us from waiting in line also at the entry gate. The rv park itself was nothing fancy but served the purpose which we needed, which was power for ac to keep Chloe cool.

We started our adventure going through the gate at around 5am, and driving to the far end of the park. The road was deserted which made for easy travel and we did not have to stop at the gate entrance. We had our national park pass with us so we would have had no charge for entry if the gate had been manned by someone at the time of our entry. We arrived at Skyline arch as the horizon was just beginning to get light. We walked the short distance to the arch and waited about 10 minutes to get enough light for taking pictures. After enjoying viewing these arch we moved along to Sand Dune arch. We took the short hike into the arch, which literally has a floor of sand that is so fine that barefoot walking is pleasurable. After getting our photos we moved on down the line stopping to take pictures when something grabbed our fancy. Stopping at Fiery Furnace and Salt Valley overlooks, great views to be had. We only had the single day for our time in Arches so we did not take any of the longer hikes. That will have to wait for our next time we visit.

Our next turn took us to lower Delicate Arch where we got pics and enjoyed the view. By now the park was starting to fill up and the upper Delicate Arch viewing area was jammed packed with people, making us quite happy to not have been jostling with that many folks for a view. Next on the trip were pothole arch, garden of Eden, elephant butte, double arch, turret arch and the north and south window arches. This area was extremely busy as well but we were able to get pictures and enjoy the abundant eye candy that these areas offer. Balance Rock was next on our excursion as we made our way south out of the park. Stopped at the petrified dunes viewpoint next for photo opportunity followed by tower of babel, sheep rock, courthouse towers viewpoint, three gossips and the organ, all excellent places for taking pictures and enjoying the grandeur of the park. Our last two stops inside of the park were the La Sal Mountains Viewpoint and Park Avenue Viewpoint. It was nice approaching the park as we did because the large majority of the traffic was headed in so made for easy driving.

From here we headed down to the Park gift shop and entrance area. Cindy went into the gift shop area and got her booked stamped as well as getting our obligatory sticker for decorating our slide. We have our states map on our living room slide and so we also get stickers from the areas we have been to and add those to the slide as well. Kind of our graphical representation of where we have been. We left the park then and the line of cars waiting to get into the park stretched clear out onto the highway, making us quite glad that we had gone into the park early.

From the park webpage
To enter the park from April 3 to October 3, 2022, visitors will need a Timed Entry Ticket. We encourage you to reserve yours on Recreation.gov up to three months prior to visiting. Limited tickets will be available for day-before purchase. Spring and fall bring pleasant weather. These are the busiest seasons in the park thanks to the mild conditions. Summers can be hot with daytime temperatures over 100 degrees. Winters can be cold, with occasional snowy or icy conditions. You can make reservations for campsites March through October. The campground is usually full each night during the summer. If you don't have a reservation when you arrive in Moab, you will need to camp outside the park. In winter, sites are first-come, first-served.
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