The arrival at Arches after 3.5 driving days was simply spectacular. The scenery was so unique- very different from anything any of us had seen before. We drove into Arches, quickly stopped at the visitor's center, and then were on our way. We couldn't contain ourselves for long and pulled into an overlook parking spot to get out of our car and explore. I hope I always remember those 15 minutes of pure joy. We arrived! 5 days of traveling, 3.5 solid long driving days, and it was all worth it already. All 4 of us were giddy with excitement. Ollie, Zooey and I ran off to check out some rocks to climb and we just explored with absolutely no agenda. It was magnificent.
Then we meandered back to the trailer and car, turned on our Gypsy Guide app (highly recommend this paid app that gives historical and geologic/biologic info based on your GPS location-cell service not required), and excitedly drove to Devil's Garden Campground. Our campsite was top notch. The best campsite I've ever been to- and we got it by luck - it was the only one available on recreation.gov when I got around to planning our trip.
(An aside about trip planning to national parks. I'm a planner- I like to plan way in advance so I can do things the way I want to do them. But with national parks and especially the more and more competitive campsite reservation game I've learned to be very very flexible. Add COVID on top of that- you really just have to go with the flow. In the case of this particular campsite? Well I booked it in January for a March trip; this would be considered last minute in Utah national park world. I ended up building our whole trip itinerary around the days there happened to be a campsite available at Devil's Garden because I heard it was that great. And while our itinerary was likely not the most driving efficient, it was AWESOME and I'm so glad we did it the way we did.)
We enjoyed the campsite for the rest of the evening, did a bit of rock climbing, a LOT of pretending, some dish washing (camp chore for the kiddos) and some wine drinking (kids the former, me the latter). I could have stayed there for days.
The next morning we knew we needed to change campsites (within the campground; see last minute planing above), so we decided to do a little hike to Sand Dune Arch right from the campground. This was an amazing unplanned choice! We only saw two other people the entire hike. It went through desert brush then up on slick rock which the kids loved then over to the arch which we could climb into and around. It was silent. We had the place to ourselves. Just amazing to see such beauty with your loved ones surrounded only by the natural world.
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| Our Airstream is in yellow seen from the walk back from Sand Dune Arch. This really emphasizes the beauty of the Devil's Garden Campground. There is nothing human made to take away from the vast desert beauty. |
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| Along the Green River |
After we settled at our new campsite, we headed down for a bike ride along the Moab Canyon Pathway.This bike path was okay but not great. It was nice to be out and riding, the bit along the Green River was really pretty, but a lot of it was right along the highway and after the extreme quiet and peace of the past two nights the road noise was an affront to the senses. So I'm not sure I would do that again. But it was good to get the bikes out and the kids had fun. Once we learned how amazingly fun it is to mountain bike, I'd be hard pressed to ride near a road in Utah- there are so many amazing mountain bike options instead so maybe check those out:)
Due to campsite space constraints, we had to pack up and leave the next morning. First thing, we did the Delicate Arch hike. It was great, just great. I had read mixed reviews about safety with kids and even asked the ranger myself. I'm so glad we just went for it and most of you probably should too if you have 1) kids who listen and/or 2) kids who can be contained in a backpack. We have one of each and it went great. It is a climb up but I'd still consider this an easy hike. 0.3 miles of it is uphill on slick rock and might not be too fun if it's actively raining. But it only drizzled lightly for us and it was totally fine. Both kids really loved climbing up the rock and it's plenty wide so one doesn't need to worry about drop offs until the very end. The kids loved choosing the route rather than following a prescribed path- a theme throughout much of our Utah trip. The very last bit of the hike- a few hundred yards leading to the arch - definitely has a steep drop off, but Z was very careful staying near the side and Ollie was in the pack so I did not stress at all.
We then left Arches for 8 days but did come back to spend our last full day in the area. On that day we hiked to the Windows arches which were really neat but there were a lot of people. Over time and even more so with COVID, the less tolerance I have for sharing these natural areas with others. I'd rather follow the off the beaten path route and see fewer "big name" sites rather than stare at the famous named arch with many other people. The difference in the crowds was significant- the 2nd week of March was much busier than the first- so I was really grateful for the sparse crowds the first week.
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| View from our porch |
Our last night in the region we spent at Under Canvas Moab. My summary of this night was that I *think* I'm a fan of the Under Canvas brand but would not recommend this particular location. The road noise was significant. Maybe I was spoiled after so many days in the wilderness and maybe city dwellers would think nothing of it, but it seems a bit much to spend hundreds of dollars to "glamp" (which to me presumes some degree of love of nature) and hear the highway. The views were lovely (we could see Arches from our porch), the interior of the tents were amazing, but it's more work than RV camping at a higher cost with more noise;) That said the kids LOVED it and I enjoyed my first shower in 14 days:)
My take aways from Arches are that it's INCREDIBLE, Devil's Garden campground is magnificent with multiple lovely and less populated hikes right from the campground. I'd recommend the shoulder season because I can only imagine how crowded this place gets by late March, early April. Plus it's not hot in March! If we'd had more time I would have loved to explore more mountain biking in the area.
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