San Juan County, Utah

From the Park Avenue Trail parking area, you can walk up towards the lookout and admire the beauty, or you can hike down the steep path towards the canyon. The trail takes you down the wash to Courthouse Towers. You can either hike round trip to Courthouse Towers and back, or have someone drop yo...

The Needles District of Canyonlands receives 6 times as many backpackers as its more popular neighbor across the Colorado River, Island in the Sky. The Needles has an excellent trail network that is incredibly diverse, featuring amazing rock features as well as grassy meadows and savannahs.  Whil...

Located in Southeast Utah, 5 miles North of Moab, Utah. From Hwy 70, take Exit 182 towards Crescent Jct/Moab, taking Hwy 191 S for about 25 miles until you reach Arches National Park on your left.From the Visitor Center, the La Sal Mountains Viewpoint area is about a 4 mile ride on your right. Th...

This canyon requires an Arches Canyoneering Permit, two 60m ropes, 100 ft of webbing, and your normal canyoneering kit. To reach the parking for the canyon, drive five miles or so into Arches until you reach a bridge.  Shortly after the bridge, there will be a pull-off to the left where you can ...

Arches National Park is a must see for all photographers, but especially for astrophotography. Many of the most common places to shoot are balanced rock, and Delicate Arch and there's a good reason, these are beautiful places. North Window Arch is much less common, and even on a moonless night,...

To get to the trailhead: After entering the park, keep driving along the main road until you see signs for The Windows Area (just past the Balanced Rock and a little over 9 miles from the Visitor Center).  Follow this road until it ends in a parking lot and you see the arches to your right. The ...

The hike to Double Arch is a relatively flat and easy hike of 0.5 miles roundtrip. You can add this to the rest of the quick spots you may want to visit on your visit to Arches.This arch is created by two arches that shares the same stone as the foundation for their outer legs. This arch was form...

Upheaval Dome is a geologic structure whose origins have remained hotly debated for years. Some scientists say it is the site of a meteorite impact while others theorize it is nothing more than a naturally occurring salt dome. No matter what the true answer is, there is no question that this shor...

Be advised, the NPS signs and maps that warn of a very difficult hike ahead are not hyperbole, as I thought at first. This hike is a loop around the famous Upheaval Dome on an unmaintained trail that leads you down over 1500 feet into the canyon, close to the Green River, then climbs back up 1500...

The Bar M Loop Trail is a popular, family-friendly trail system located just north of Moab, Utah, offering scenic views of red rock mesas and the La Sal Mountains. This well-maintained loop is a great introduction to Moab’s mountain biking terrain and is also open to hikers and trail runners. T...

Elephant Butte sits at 5653 ft. and is the highest point in Arches National Park. It requires two rappels using a 60m rope. In addition to this, it requires some short sections of low fifth class scrambling that can be difficult on wet rock. The approach starts at Garden of Eden trailhead. ...

Balanced rock is a short loop and can be done in a short amount of time. You can spend a few minutes walking around the rock and snap a few pictures with your family. Make sure to stay on the well marked trail in order to preserve the environment.

I headed out to the trailhead because I really wanted to shoot the super moon with the Delicate Arch. It was absolutely fantastic, especially during such a full moon. Everything was bathed in a soft glow, it was like I was on another planet actually. It was amazing to sit in silence and to try to...

Arches National Park is an incredible place with a variety of places to explore. One of the great places to explore is the Fiery Furnace. The Fiery Furnace requires a permit, which can be obtained at the Visitor Center after watching a short video. For the most part, they are making sure you are ...

...If you're in the MOAB area, this is an arch that's definitely worth checking out! This arch probably doesn't get the recognition that it deserves, mainly due to number of arches that are in the town of MOAB and inside Arches & Canyonlands National Park.  The hike itself was fairly easy, ...

For this descent you will need to be comfortable with 4th class slick rock, have two 60m ropes, and an Arches National Park canyoneering permit along with your usual canyon kit. MMI Canyon can be accessed with 4WD/AWD as long as it has not rained.  The pin on the map will take you to this locati...