Get ready to cover my must see items, the do’s and don’ts in order for you to maximize your time in one day and get to exploring! You’re probably wondering, “Grace, how is it even possible to explore two parks in one day?!” Don’t fret my friend, because I’ve got you covered. It helps that these National Parks are so close in proximity to one another, about 30 minutes to be exact. Spend your first half at Arches and then for the second half head on over to Canyonlands. With so much to see and hardly much time to explore it all here is my ultimate adventure itinerary for exploring Arches and Canyonlands in one day.
Table of Contents
Arches National Park
Arches National Park is the main reason why I decided to road trip out to Utah, because of its beautiful sandstone formations I had seen online. Once we got here, I didn’t realize how accessible everything was and how fairly easy it was to see most of what this park has to offer; Making this a great place for the entire family. With several large arches all through the park these can be easily seen from your car, but of course can be reached by hiking as well.
When to Visit
Look, I love taking advantage of long days in the summer, but would I explore Arches during that time? Personally, no and here’s why. Yes, you get longer days in the summer. However, everybody and their mother is going to be exploring during this time so parks are going to be super crowded. I would recommend visiting anywhere from April through May and September through October. One, you get to visit without the crowds and crazy lines to the restroom. Two, it’s not as hot when you visit during these times.
Where is Arches National Park?
As mentioned before Arches is about 30 minutes from Canyonlands, 1 hour and a half from Grand Junction Regional airport, about 3 hours and a half from Salt Lake City and about 2 hours from Capital Reef National Park, if you’re driving from there. The park doesn’t offer any food or lodging facilities for that matter, which is fine since Moab is only 10 minutes south of the park.
What To Do?
Here’s what I recommend, wake up EARLY to get the most out of your day. I’m sorry to all who love to sleep in on vacation, but we are on a mission to get in on as many adventures as possible. Start by heading out to Arches first thing in the morning since this one is the more popular one out of the two.
Viewpoints
Arches National Park has a main road that leads you to all the major viewpoints/ sites, which again can be viewed from your car, all though out the park. I recommend spending about 10 minutes at each viewpoint, with the exception of two, which I’ll go into more detail down below. For now, here’s a list of all the major viewpoints to keep an eye out for along the road:
Delicate Arch
This beautiful arch right here is the poster child for Arches. If you’ve ever Googled Arches National Park more often than not this is the first image you’d see come up. Now there are two ways you can view this arch. One, you can drive to either the upper or lower Delicate Arch viewpoints. Note, you can’t hike to the arch from here. If you’d like to do that, which is what I recommend, you’d need to head down to Wolfe Ranch where you can park and start at the trailhead.
- Viewpoints: If you’d rather check out Delicate arch from the viewpoints you can very much do so. These views can be accessed by flat trails. However, to get to the upper viewpoint you must hike about 0.5 mile from lower viewpoint, which can be steep.
- Hike: As mentioned, to get to the trailhead you must head down to Wolfe Ranch and park. This trail is about 3 miles roundtrip, which sounds like a walk in the park, but note there is a steep climb close to the beginning of trail, and there is no shade all through out. Depending on your pace the trail can take anywhere from 2-3 hours. Once you arrive you will most likely have to wait in line to get your picture with the arch so get there EARLy as this is a popular trail.
Devil’s Garden
Lastly head on over to Devil’s Garden, which has a lot to offer. The best way to explore this area is by taking an 8 mile round trip hike. Along this trail you will see Landscape Arch, Double O Arch, and many more on the primitive trail. To check out all the trails in the garden this can take anywhere from 3 to 5 hours. Depending on where you are with time you can cut the trail down to your liking if you only want to make your way out to a certain point rather than do the entire trail; Especially since this is one of the longest trails in the park.
Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands can be found about 30 minutes from Arches, almost right across the street from it. So getting here will be no issue. The park is made up of 3 parts, Island in the Sky, The Needles, and The Maze. For our purposes, I will only recommend to do things in the more popular area of the park, Island in the Sky.
Take A Hike!
Now that we are headed into the second half of the one day adventure at Arches and Canyonlands I would recommend to not do any long hikes since you don’t want to get caught in the dark. This has happened to me and trust me it’s no fun. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a short hike or two. Here are my top short hikes (less than an hour) I recommend checking out:
- Mesa Arch – This is a must see as it is the park’s popular trail. Luckily, it’s short and easy to get to. It’s about 0.5 miles roundtrip and takes about 30 minutes to complete.
- Upheavel Dome – Rated as moderate for it’s steep climb this 1 mile trail leads you to the first overlook of the Dome, which can take about 30 minutes to complete. It’s another mile to the second overlook from here.
- Whale Rock – This short trail is about a mile, which can take about an hour to complete due to its steep climbs. It’s a great way to see an overview of Island in the Sky
Overlooks
Just like Arches National Park, Canyonlands has two main roads, Grand View Point Road and Upheavel Dome Road, that offers various lookout points all through the park:
- Shafer Canyon – This is a beautiful, breathtaking site that can be found shortly after the visitor center off of the Grand View Point Road
- Gooseneck – This overlook can only be seen after driving on the 20 mile Shafer Trail Road. From here you can see the back side of Dead Horse Point
- Holeman Spring Canyon – Off of Upheavel Dome Road
- Green River – This scenic 0.2 mile trail is rated easy with great views and is right off the road
- Candlestick Tower
- Buck Canyon
- Orange Cliffs
Check out my Canyonlands post for more details on the park!
Exploring Arches and Canyonlands in one day can be pretty hectic if you don’t plan ahead. My hope is that this post helps you out by making it easier to figure out the top things to do at each park with the time you have. The good thing is if you don’t get to see everything you want that’s a great excuse to come back.
Map of Attractions
More Travel Tips
- Download a map of Arches and Canyonlands before you go!
- Remember with every National Park there is a fee to enter. It’s typically $30 for a 7-day pass for private vehicles. If you’re on your way to explore the Mighty Five I’d recommend buying the America The Beautiful Pass, which $80 and gets you into all the National Parks for a year
- Fuel up at Moab! There are no gas stations in either of these parks so plan accordingly
- Don’t forget your water and sunscreen!
- I sound like a broken record player, but to get the most out of your day start EARLY!
- And as always please leave no trace behind
Don’t Forget to Pin It For Later!
