Trip Motivation
In March 2025, we took a Spring break trip to Salt Lake City, Utah. We visited some friends in the city, took a drive down to the Moab area for a few days of adventuring at Arches National Park and Canyonland Island in the Sky, and enjoyed several days of skiing in the Cottonwood area. For more on our week itinerary, see this post here
Arches National Park
Arches National Park is an easy drive from Salt Lake City. Just over a 3.5-hour drive, this iconic park sits right outside the adventure town of Moab, which has many hotels with beautiful views. Whether you’re road-tripping from the city or stopping on a larger Utah adventure, Arches offers a surreal playground of towering sandstone formations, gravity-defying arches, and fiery desert vistas—all within a short drive from civilization.
We had other things to do on this trip and were very limited on time on this portion. We arrived in SLC late Tuesday night, drove down to Moab early Wednesday morning, spent half a day in Arches, and stayed overnight for 1 night. The next day, we spent just a few hours visiting Canyonlands before heading back to SLC.
Tips for Visiting
Cost. A park pass costs $30 per vehicle. We have a 4th grader and were able to get a free pass at this website. Obama started this program where all 4th graders are eligible to get a national park pass valid for a year good for the whole car. At the website, there’s like 2 questions and then a paper to print out with a unique barcode. So fun! We’ve also visited Joshua Tree and are planning on a Yellowstone visit as well!
Water. Be sure to park water and hydration. We had 4 12 oz bottles per person and a few electrolyte drinks (Gatorades). The only places to get drinking water are at the visitor centers and entrances of the park, so fill up! It may also be worth packing a backpack water carrier if you anticipate long hikes. The weather when we visited in March was great 60-70 degrees.
Sun protection. Sunscreen, hat, sunglasses, and moisture wicking clothes are highly recommended out here.
Food. Pack snacks as there are no stores or restaurants in the park! Trail mix is always a fave along with fruit snack bribes
Cell service. There may be limited reception so its a good idea to download maps ahead of time. Maybe even walkie-talkies if you get separated from your group. For trips with lots of car time, I always have a car charger.
Be respectful. Remember to leave no trace and pack in what you pack out!
Visitors Center
We always stop for a potty break and updates from the rangers on conditions in the park at the visitor center. There’s a small gift shop and some interactive exhibits but we were ready to see the sites.
Free junior ranger booklets are available at the visitor center. Filled with fun activities, these books are good ways to fill the drives between stops or if you take a longer break. I don’t recommend taking them on walks. By completing pages in the book, participants earn a junior ranger badge and signed certificate.
Driving Viewpoints
Our biggest priority was the Delicate Arch so we started our journey by driving from the park entrance toward the Delicate Arch trailhead, making sure to stop at a few scenic viewpoints along the way. This took about 30 minutes. The La Sal Mountains Viewpoint was awesome with the snowy mountains in the back and red rocky desert in the foreground. There are always signs at different viewpoints that we make the kids read out loud. Both are learning about erosion and geology in their science classes. We passed by Balanced rock and counted arches even before we got to our main activity. The junior ranger books and brochure had some highlights as well. We parked at the Wolfe Ranch parking lot, the starting point for the Delicate Arch hike.
Delicate Arch Hike
The Delicate Arch hike is a moderate 3-mile round trip. For reference, our kids are 7 and 10 and did it with minimal whining. There were some areas where it did feel like the climb up didn’t have an end point but it was totally doable and we saw several families and pups making the trek. The trail is mostly pretty wide dessert and rocks with a few short distance ledge areas that made parents slightly nervous. The views at the end were absolutely worth it. On Ben and I’s previous trip without kids, we did the viewpoint far away and it does not compare. Delicate Arch was stunning. Snapped some frameable pics and rested with the views, soaking in the majesty and then worked our way back to the car.
Windows Section and Double Arch
We then went to the Windows Section, a short drive away and home to some of the park’s most accessible arches. A very quick walk brought us to the North and South Window Arches, and Turret Arch. Very cool seeing the giant stone arches up close.
Across the parking lot past the bathrooms is the double arch trail. Because we visited at a non-busy time (March), there was plenty of parking and we actually moved our car to be closer.
The trail was less than a mile and led to Double Arch, where two massive arches frame each other and make a really cool picturesque spot. This area was definitely pretty steep and you shouldn’t do it in a dress (Who does that?? :-P)
Canyonlands: Island in the Sky
The next morning, we did a quick stop at Canyonlands. The Island in the Sky mesa is a beautiful cliff area higher than the surrounding terrain. Every overlook offers a different perspective on Canyonlands’ spectacular landscape. Island in the Sky is the easiest area of Canyonlands to visit in a short period of time, offering many pullouts with spectacular views along the paved scenic drive.
From Moab to the Visitor Center took about 45 minutes and much of that drive was full of spectacular views. Like Arches, we grabbed a junior ranger notebook for the car and headed to 2 spots.
Green River Overlook: This viewpoint of the meeting of the rivers really highlighted the different landscape in the area. There was also some distant spots to see some of the other parts of the park we skipped on this visit.
Mesa Arch: We did a short <1 mile hike to see this long arch with views of the canyon and the La Sal Mountains in the distance. It was a very easy hike but does involve walking up and down a rocky hill and stone steps.
Final Thoughts
It is a family goal to see more National Parks and the Utah Parks were amazing. We definitely could have spent a few more days exploring more hikes and sites but I’m so glad we went, even for a short trip! <3
