Hiking Park Avenue

Arches

Overview

( Rated 3.0 / 2 Ratings )

12 Todo Lists / 3 Ticks

RATING: Easy Hiking

LENGTH: 1 hour (One Way 1.1 miles)

MAPS: MOAB, UT; THE WINDOWS SECTION, UT;

Sat

48 | 22

Sun

48 | 24

Mon

51 | 28

Tue

48 | 27

Wed

46 | 28

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SEASON: Any

GEAR: Standard Hiking Gear

WATER: None

Sat

48 | 22

Sun

48 | 24

Mon

51 | 28

Tue

48 | 27

Wed

46 | 28

View Full Weather Details

hike

family friendly

beginner

access: paved

Evening light on Park Avenue

While most people visit Arches National Park to see.. well.. arches, however, the Park Avenue Trail is one of my personal favorites despite its lack of arches. The trail, a 1 mile "through" hike between stops on the main park road, is exquisitely lined with soaring walls and towers.

The scale of the scenery really makes this hike special. Though you can see the entire trail from the trailhead, nothing beats actually hiking down near the towering walls.

Note: The hike is a pleasure anytime, however, morning and evening lighting can be particularly photogenic.

Note 2: The hike is 2 miles round-trip. Most just do this from the top down and use either two cars or hitchhike back to the start.

The side canyon off Park Avenue

Getting There

From the Arches visitor drive into the park, stopping at the well signed Park Avenue trailhead approximately 2 miles inside the park on the left side of the road. This is the Park Avenue Trail starting trailhead.

If you have two cars, continue 1.4 miles to the exit trailhead and leave the 2nd car there.

Park Avenue on a winter day.

Towers along Park Avenue. The little one is called the Twinkie.

Route

From the trailhead, the trail is visible as it meanders down the valley between towering walls. About 1/2 way down, a side canyon comes in on the left. This makes a nice, short side trip to get off the beaten path a bit. Be sure to stay in the wash bottom to avoid erosion and minimize impacts.

Near the bottom of the hike, Courthouse Towers come into view right before the exit trailhead and park road. The Three Gossips are also visible on the left of the hike near the end. Magnificent!