Arches National Park

This was the place that started it all. A little more than six months ago, I was able to beat the odds and book three nights in the Devil’s Garden Campsite inside Arches National Park. It’s easy to see now why these places are in such high demand. They are beautiful, of course. But, also, of the more than 5000+ visitors to Arches each day, only about 100 get to sleep in the park.

This was our first time “boondocking” or dry-camping, meaning that we are relying on our own resources for power and water while we’re out here. We got to set up our solar battery for the first time and found that we had no problems managing our needs.

For us, it’s like the best of both worlds…access to some of the most beautiful scenery in the country with all the comforts of home.

Our first evening in Arches we made the pilgrimage to Delicate Arch, the most famous and iconic part of the park. It wasn’t our easiest hike, around three miles round trip, with a fair bit of climbing. We joined a few hundred others to watch the sunset, lighting up the arch and the La Sal mountain range in the distance.

The next morning, we set out to hike the Devil’s Garden Trail which is the longest and one of the most strenuous hikes in the park.

We didn’t complete the full loop, but between the kind of terrain we were traveling and the distance we went, I was satisfied with our family effort.

Later in the afternoon, I rallied the kids for a short visit to see a few other iconic arches in the park. We visited Balanced Rock and did a short pass through the Windows section, although at that point, they chose to just wait in the car and listen to the radio while I wandered around.

Eli decided to camp under the stars, taking Ben’s bed out for the evening, though the rest of his family declined to join. The full moon prevented us from doing the kind of stargazing we were hoping for, but it was still awfully pretty out there.

Our last day in the park, we visited the incredible Double Arch and returned to the Windows Section and Turret Arch to make a second attempt at exploring the area.

We did this early – to take advantage of cooler temperatures and better odds for a parking spot – while Eli returned to Devil’s Garden to run the trail loop that we had taken the day before. We are so glad that we got to explore this amazing place!