The Best Easy Hikes in Arches National Park

Short trails, big payoffs: the low-effort hikes worth your time in Utah's red rock.

By Chris Hayworth, Nestward

Arches packs over 2,000 natural stone arches, balanced rocks, and soaring fins into a compact, drivable park outside Moab, which means you don't need to be a serious hiker to see the good stuff. Plenty of the best formations sit within a half mile of a paved parking lot. The catch is the desert: in summer the park regularly tops 100°F, there's almost no shade, and "easy" distance still means hot, exposed walking. Here are the short hikes that give you the most arch for the least effort.

The genuinely easy ones (under a mile)

Start here if you've got little kids, tired legs, or limited time. These are short, mostly flat, and deliver real scenery without a slog.

• Balanced Rock: 0.3 miles, flat loop. A 128-foot boulder perched on a narrow pedestal, right off the main road. The paved-then-gravel loop takes 15 minutes and is about as accessible as Arches gets. Great first stop to stretch legs after the entrance.
• The Windows (North and South): 1 mile, easy. Two enormous arches side by side, reached by a short gravel trail with a few steps. You can frame one arch through the other. This is the highest reward-to-effort ratio in the park.
• Turret Arch adds about 0.3 miles from the same Windows trailhead, so you can knock out three big arches in one short loop.
• Double Arch: 0.5 miles, easy. Two arches springing from the same rock, across the lot from the Windows. The trail is sandy and flat; kids love scrambling up to the base.

Park Avenue: the scenic short walk

If you only do one "real" hike, make it Park Avenue. It's a 1-mile downhill walk (one way) through a corridor of towering sandstone walls and monoliths that the NPS aptly compares to a city street of skyscrapers. Most people walk in from the upper viewpoint, soak it in, and turn around. The round trip is 2 miles with a moderate climb back up. If you've got two cars or a patient driver, you can do it one-way and get picked up at the Courthouse Towers lot. Go early; the canyon bakes by midday.

Delicate Arch: the famous one (and a clear-eyed take)

The arch on Utah's license plate is not an easy hike. It's 3 miles round trip with 480 feet of climbing across open, shadeless slickrock. It's worth it, but be honest with yourself and your kids about the effort and the heat. For the iconic view without the work, drive to the Lower Delicate Arch Viewpoint (50 yards, flat) or take the Upper Viewpoint trail (0.5 miles, moderate, some steps). You'll see the arch from a distance rather than standing under it, but nobody will be miserable.

Practical logistics

• Best time: Spring (April–May) and fall (mid-September–October), when highs run 60–80°F. Summer afternoons exceed 100°F and make even short hikes risky. Winter is cold but quiet and beautiful.
• Beat the crowds and heat: The park is busiest March through October. Enter before 8 a.m. or after 3 p.m., for both parking and survivable temperatures. Some peak seasons require a timed-entry reservation, so check nps.gov before you go.
• Getting there: The entrance is 5 miles north of Moab on US 191. Entry is $30 per vehicle, valid 7 days.
• Bring water, more than you think. There's essentially no shade on these trails. Hats, sunscreen, and a liter per person minimum.
• Junior Rangers: Kids can earn a badge through the park's Junior Ranger Program. Pick up a booklet at the visitor center to give short hikes a mission.

A note on dogs

This one's blunt: dogs are not allowed on any trails in Arches, including all of the easy ones above. Pets are restricted to paved roads, parking areas, and campgrounds, and must stay leashed. The Fiery Furnace and backcountry are off-limits too. If you're traveling with a dog, plan for a kennel in Moab or shaded crate time. A parked car in this heat is not an option.