Article Overview: Devils Garden Hike in Arches National Park
The Devils Garden hike in Arches National Park is a hellacious hike through fiery red and orange sandstone sensations. Whether you want to tackle just the first mile or go the distance through the nearly eight-mile loop hike through exquisite, otherworldly terrain, it turns out the road to hell is really paved with arches. And there’s a Dark Angel along the way.
At some point along my hiking adventures, I made a point to visit as many national park locations with the words devil or hell in the name. These locations feel so raw and primal. The erosive structures around you at Arches are millennia-aged generations of formations. Some are just babies (geologically speaking), while others are dominant fixtures, like Landscape Arch, the largest in the world.
Arches National Park is one of Utah’s Mighty 5, alongside Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capital Reef, and Zion. I’ve been to all five, and I can tell you that the devil is in the details when it comes to planning. As we pulled into a crowded parking lot, I couldn’t help but quote Shakespeare, “Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.”
Devils Garden Hike in Arches National Park
Table of Contents: Devils Garden Hike in Arches National Park
Table of Contents: Devils Garden Hike in Arches National Park
- Devils Garden Hike in Arches National Park
- Where to Stay in Arches National Park
- Map of Devils Garden Hike in Arches
- Getting to Devils Garden Trailhead in Arches
- Safety at Devils Garden Hike in Arches
- Devils Garden Hike in Arches Words to Know
- The Layout of Devils Garden Hike in Arches
- Arch-by-Arch Devils Garden Hike
- FAQ: Devils Garden Hike in Arches
Things to Know Before You Visit Arches National Park
Entrance Fees
$30 per vehicle or $15 per person. If you plan to visit more National Parks within the next 12 months (and there are so many near Arhces!), I suggest you purchase the America the Beautiful Pass (which can be found at the entrance gates to most national parks). This pass gets you into all National Parks, Forests, Monuments, and more, including 2,000 sites for free after a one-time $80 fee.
Sunscreen
Use it. Lots of it. Especially this one, which I never leave the house without because it it’s eco-friendly and effective in the extreme desert environment.
Insect Repellent
If you’re looking for a good insect repellent that plays nice with our good friend Earth, we recommend this one or this one if you’re a DEET person. The gnarly gnats of Arches will plot against you without it.
Guide Book
The Best Guide Book for Arches National Park is this one, which we’ve marked up and highlighted quite a bit.
Map
The Best Map: I like this map best for Arches National Park.
National Parks Checklist Map: This beautiful National Parks Checklist Map can be ordered to your house.
Framed National Parks Map: We’re a sucker for maps; this framed national parks map is the best.
Where to Stay in Arches National Park
Where to Stay: This is our favorite hotel in/around Arches National Park.
Map of Devils Garden Hike in Arches
Getting to Devils Garden Trailhead in Arches
Arches National Park is just north of Moab, Utah, in the remote southeastern section of the state. How remote?
- Salt Lake City: 230 miles
- Denver: 350 miles
- Las Vegas: 454 miles
Canyonlands Regional Airport in Moab sits just 20 minutes north of the park entrance, offering the easiest access to the park unless you love long road trips as much as I do.
With nearly 1.5 million people visiting Arches National Park each year, getting to the park is half the travel battle. Arches National Park started a timed-entry system implemented in April 2023 to reduce crowds and overflowing parking lots. The pilot program ends on October 31 but could become standard for the busiest visitation months.
Timed entry at Arches National Park runs from 7am – 4 pm. Anyone arrive before 7 am or after 4pm does not need a timed-entry ticket.
WATCH: See the crowded roads, parking lots, and trails that led to the time-entry program
Even once you’re in Arches National Park, you still have a 45-minute drive (18 miles) ahead of you to get to the Devils Garden hike trailhead. The parking lot has 160 spaces available, and even with timed entry, there’s no guarantee you’ll get a spot. The busiest times of the day are between 9 am and 1 pm.
Devils Garden Hike in Arches Supply List
Hiking boots with good traction for scrambling or walking on slick sandstone. Your regular tennis shoes won’t do here.
Climbing gloves are helpful for the scrambling sections. Sandstone can wear down your skin like sandpaper.
Sunglasses for the relentless and habitually sunny skies of the Utah desert.
Binoculars since some of the arches can’t be accessed from the trail.
Stargazing Flashlight to help you find your way to the celestial show without creating light pollution.
Cooling towels due to the extreme heat here in late spring and summer.
First aid kit to help with cuts and scrapes from the rocks along the way.
Safety at Devils Garden Hike in Arches
As an experienced hiker, especially in desert climates, I prepare for the worst at all times (much to the dismay of my lower back). Whether you need a stick of gum, a swig of water, or an epi-pen, I’ve got your back. That’s what makes one of the risks in Arches National Park a little unsettling. You can’t collaborate with erosion or gravity.
Those arches will fall eventually; don’t let their millennia of birthdays fool you. Hikers watched in horror in 1991 when part of the famed Landscape Arch crumbled. (Fast forward the video to the 1:00 mark to see the falls; otherwise, watch the whole thing to hear the cracking noises that preceded the crash.) Two more rockfalls happened in 1995, leading to the closure of the trail that used to take you under the Landscape Arch.
About 0.2 miles up the trail from Landscape Arch, look for the two pillars where Wall Arch was until August 5, 2008, when a 71-foot gap was created by a thunderous fall heard from the campground.
Devils Garden Hike in Arches Words to Know
By now, you know that Arches National Park is full of arches, right? Those arches started with the bedrock of Entrada and Slickrock Sandstone deposited more than 300 million years ago. Entrada Sandstone is much more susceptible to erosion than Slickrock.
The wearing away of weak points mixed with freeze/thaw cycles in this extreme climate led to the creation of arches. Let’s go through some of the other features of Arches National Park.
Types of Formations
Fins
A fin is a tall, narrow ridge of resistant sandstone rock that protrudes vertically from the ground. Fins form over long periods of time when softer surrounding rock erodes away, leaving the harder fin rock behind as dramatic vertical walls.
In this photo, you can see how thin the fins look in the distance while getting a closer look at the top of a fin where hikers are walking.
Landscape Arch is formed on a fin, but fins don’t always become arches.
Natural Bridge
Can you tell the difference between a natural bridge and an arch? The differentiation is an “erosion valley.” What the heck does that mean?
An erosion valley is a stream, creek, wash, or river (even if the river isn’t there anymore!) that carves away at the bottom of the rock to build a natural bridge.
An arch not near an erosion valley is worn down by rain, snow, ice, freeze/thaw cycles, wind, etc.
Windows
A window is an opening eroded through a wall of rock fin. Windows form when flowing water or weathering erodes a hole from one side of a fin completely to the other side. Windows are similar to arches but do not have a free-standing space underneath..
Hoodoos
Odd-shaped pillars of rock are left standing when softer rock erodes away around the fin. Hoodoos cluster in some areas.
If you love hoodoos as much as I do, consider a Bryce Canyon National Park trip. It is the “greatest concentration of hoodoos found anywhere on Earth.”
Spire
A spire is a tall, narrow rock tower that tapers to a point at the top. Spires form when a fin of resistant rock is left standing as softer surrounding rock erodes away over time.
Dark Angel is a spire on the Devils Garden hike in Arches.
The darkened color is due to a process known as Desert Varnish.
(Other sources at NPS call Dark Angel a monolith, which is usually a much larger formation.)
Slickrock
Slickrock refers to expanses of bedrock with a smooth, polished appearance caused by wind and water eroding the surface over time. It is typically found in landscapes made of sandstone that has had overlying sediments worn away.
Much of the Primitive Trail section of Devils Garden is giant sections of slick rock.
The Layout of Devils Garden Hike in Arches
Devils Garden hike in Arches National Park is a loop with several spur trails that add up to a 7.9 roundtrip hike. However, it’s only a loop if you opt to use the Primitive Trail, which requires scrambling and sliding down sandstone.
You can use the arches as benchmarks along the way to cut your hike shorter if need be.
| Distance | Difficulty | Options | ||
| Trailhead to Landscape Arch | 1.9 miles out and back | Easy | Spur trails to Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch add 0.5 miles. | |
| Trailhead to Double O Arch | 4.1 miles out and back | Moderate | Spur trails to Navajo Arch and Partition Arch add 0.8 miles. | |
| Trailhead to Dark Angel | 4.9 miles out and back 6.6 miles via Primitive Trail | Moderate/Strenuous | Dark Angel is a spire, not an arch. | |
| Trailhead through all spur trails and Primitive Trail | 7.9 miles | Strenuous | Reconsider Primitive Trail when it’s wet, snowy, or icy. |
For those taking the full loop, you’ll come to the fork in the trail about .8 miles. Most people choose to go clockwise, where you’ll pass the most arches early on and then tackle the toughest part of the trail halfway through. You can go counter-clockwise, but you’ll face the toughest part of the trail first, AND you’ll have to tackle it going uphill. At least coming from the other direction, you’re going down.
Arch-by-Arch Devils Garden Hike
Devils Garden hike in Arches wastes no time reminding you of how small you are in the grand scheme of things. Towering cliff walls rise above you on the first stretch of the trail. You’ll find helpful trail markers along the way in several forms.
- Arch/Trail Signs: Standard signs telling you how far something is from your current location.
- End of Trail Signs: Sometimes, you don’t know if the trail keeps going.
- Wooden Fences: When you’re standing by a wooden fence, you’re on an easy part of the trail.
- Cairns: The Primitive Trail becomes the invisible trail in some spots, and the cairns are lifesavers. Some are pretty small, so keep an eye out.
Pine Tree Arch & Tunnel Arch
After the canyon walls spit you out onto a wider section of the trail (0.2 miles), you’ll come to the spur trail for Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch.
You can walk through Pine Tree Arch, but Tunnel Arch is only visible in the distance. Take note of the unique trees and shrubs along the way, and keep an eye out for the lizards. They thrive in the hottest temperatures of the day.
How do trees grow out of rocks?
Pinyon pines and Utah junipers are boss trees. They weave their roots deep into the rock in search of water. Junipers keep growing when toppled and can live to be 1,000 years old! Pioyon pines produce a nut that has fed generations on this otherwise barren land.
Landscape Arch
Half a mile from the spur trails on Devils Garden hike in Arches, you’ll come to another fork in the road. This will be your most important decision for the hike. If you go hiker’s left (clockwise), you’ll be on the way to Landscape Arch. If you take a right (counterclockwise), you’ll take the toughest part of the Primitive Trail.
We’re going clockwise and can already see Landscape Arch. Landscape Arch is in clear view for the 1,000-foot walk to the scenic lookout. This area is fenced-in and can get crowded. Walking to or under Landscape Arch is not allowed.
This is where the easiest section of the trail ends. From here, the hike will get more extreme with scrambling, narrow edges, and steep dropoffs.
Landscape Arch reigns as the longest arch in North America. The opening is 306 feet long, a full 21 feet longer than Kolob Arch in Zion National Park.
NPS
Partition Arch & Navajo Arch
The path rises on a slickrock stretch, and you’ll walk right by where Wall Arch once stood before the collapse. At the top of the first incline, turn around and see one of the best scenic views on the trail thus far.
If you have trouble with this stretch of the trail, you will have a very hard time with the rest of the Primitive Trail.
No fresh water is available along the trail. Bring at least three liters with you to complete the full loop.
You should also avoid:
- Open-toed shoes
- Slick-bottomed shoes, like sneakers
- Hiking without checking the weather
- Drinking from Ephemeral Pools
In just a few steps, you’ll come to another fork in the road for the spur trails to Partition Arch and Navajo Arch. This area can be confusing since paths seem to reach in many directions. There is a sign there, but you have to look closely for it. We almost missed it in the bright sun.
In the map below, you can see that Partition Arch and Landscape Arch share the same fin.
Partition Arch is cool for two reasons. First, it jumps out as you are on the trail, going from an intimating wall, and then suddenly, you’re looking at the wide opening and smaller window opening in Primitive Arch. The views from this arch are incredible.
Navajo Arch is hands-down my favorite arch in the park, and not just because there’s a little shade on the way. It’s another “HERE I AM” arch that pops up after 10 seconds after you’re sure you’re going the wrong way. Walk through this arch to see the amazing deep cavern (crevasse?) behind it. You’re in a secluded spot with towering walls.
Black Arch Overlook & Double O Arch
Conveniently, I hike with a friend I’ve nicknamed Magellan because he can figure out the directions of any trail. The next half mile of Devils Garden hike in Arches made me repeatedly think he was lying to me. You’ll walk across tall fins, giving you the first dose of vertigo if you are prone to it, and climb up some rock walls.
Black Arch Overlook
The markers on the trail here are nothing more than small poles with tiny arrows. Half a mile from the previous trail junction, you’ll reach Black Arch Overlook and see a small dark arch toward the bottom of the canyon. Go as far as you can walk on the trail to see it.
Continuing on back to the main trail, you’ve got another 0.3 miles before you reach Double O Arch. This section of trail is very dangerous when there is snow or ice.
Double O Arch
I was ready to give up on Double O Arch, as I was certain Magellan got us very lost. As I nicknamed it, this was the first “Sandpaper Slide,” where you can either precariously walk down slickrock or slide on your bottom. Weaving through the trial brought us in full view of the Double O’s. One is large, and the other is small, almost looking like a sloppy number 8 from certain viewpoints. You can scramble or climb these arches.
Dark Angel
Up next, the spur trail takes you to Dark Angel, about 0.5 miles off the trail. If there were one spur trail to skip, it would be this one. That said, go for the view as much as (if not more than) the 150-foot tower named Dark Angel. The spur trail ends at Dark Angel, and you can either go back the way you came or continue to the most challenging part of the Primitive Trail ahead.
Primitive Trail and Private Arch
Once you’re committed to the Primitive Loop, you’ll go another 0.5 miles before you come to the spur trail for Private Arch. Additionally, this is also where some will choose to climb up the rocks to get a view of Top Story Window, a hole high above you on a tall fin.
In my opinion, the 0.3 miles of the Private Arch Spur Trail have spires that are just as compelling as Dark Angel. The trail ends at Private Arch, where you can walk under and around it.
You won’t see any famous arches for about two miles, but you’ll be eroding your energy levels as you slide on your bottom, jump across rock gaps, and teeter at the edge of steep dropoffs.
Watch Out for Water
I’m an overpacker by nature, and it came in handy. Water pools are common throughout this area, making scrambling and sliding a challenge to complete the task without ending up in water. My shoes were a pumice of sand and water after slding down slickrock into the water. I had extra socks packed to stop the wearing down of the skin on my feet.
Finally, the last section of the path is nearly ankle-deep in the sand, and that sand is HOT in the summer. I’m pretty sure I still have sand dug into my hiking boots from that trail.
Once you complete the loop, you’re back near Landscape Arch and just take the Devils Garden hike back to the parking area.
FAQ: Devils Garden Hike in Arches
Arches National Park is home to more than 2,000 arches, some too small to see and others so thin at the top they might not be around much longer.
Yes and no. The Primitive Trail section of the hike through Devils Garden is the most difficult, but you can get a great view of popular arches without taking the entire loop. The first mile is easy, and the difficulty level goes up from there. If you complete the full loop, then this is the most difficult trail in Arches National Park.
Arches National Park reports that the full Devils Garden Trail takes three to five hours. You can also do an out-and-back hike from various landmarks anywhere from 30 minutes to three hours round trip.
The park is busiest from March through October, but arrive early, and you’ll get the bonus of a sunrise while you hike the easiest section of the Devils Garden Trail. Summer temperatures soar to 100°+, and hiking midday should be avoided. The night skies are brilliant.
Spring hikes bring the potential for wildflowers, while fall brings some of the year’s best weather. Winter gives a new texture to the park, but the Devils Garden hike can be even more treacherous. Devils Garden hike is still open in the winter.
How Many Arches on Devils Garden Hike?
Undoubtedly, this is one of the top questions for hikers on Devils Garden hike in Arches. We actually spent a silly amount of time arguing this point on the trail based on various information sources. The final answer about the number of arches on the Devils Garden hike in Arches National Park comes from the map provided by the park.
There are seven major arches–Double O, Landscape, Navajo, Partition, Pine Tree, Private, and Tunnel.
Are there more arches, technically? Yes. It’s a land full of arches! Those are just the most prominent ones along the trail.
Found an Arch?
The visitor’s center has a documented list of the 2,000 arches. If you find one that isn’t in that book, you might have discovered a new arch! You don’t get a prize or anything, but it’s pretty cool to think you can discover something here.
Will Landscape Arch Be Protected from Collapse?
No human interference will be used to prevent arches, like the famed Landscape Arch, from collapsing. When the Landscape Arch rockfall happened in 1991, Noel Poe was the superintendent who firmly stated, “The whole idea of a park is to let natural processes continue. We couldn’t do anything of value anyway, and we may just hasten its falling.”
Arches are designed by nature to collapse as part of the circle of life and elements of nature. While you can help preserve the arches by not walking off the trail or climbing off-limits arches, nature will eventually win.
That’s exactly why we wanted to provide such a detailed guide to Devils Garden in Arches National Park, so you can appreciate it while it’s still in this stage of erosion.
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