For me, the most difficult thing about the Delicate Arch hike was the lack of shade. Try to go early in the morning, be sure you have some nice cold water, and if you see a rock, sit down and take a break. Have a wonderful trip!

Thanks to everyone for your input as to what we should try to see. We are really getting excited about our trip. We appreciate all the comments on Delicate Arch and the best places to see petroglyphs. We need to get out walking with our walking sticks. We have already ramped up our walking around the neighborhood. Have our water bottles out and ready to pack!! I will let you know how it all turns out. If anyone has any more suggestions, I would appreciate hearing from you!!

I disagree with vaga about Tower Arch. Roundtrip hike to Delicate Arch is 3 miles with almost 500 ft elevation change.
http://www.pbase.com/peterb/image/146154632

The hike to Tower Arch is 3.4 miles with a steep but short ascent at the beginning. After that, its a flat easy hike with few tourists and an incredible arch at the end.
http://www.pbase.com/peterb/image/35043483

A picture from Tower arch trail: http://www.pbase.com/peterb/image/35042118

Another short but very scenic hike in Arches is Park Avenue - only 2 mi roundtrip.
http://www.pbase.com/peterb/image/146182944

There is no shortage of amazing hikes, fascinating rock art and ruins, and incredible scenery around Moab.

Thanks again for all the info. Anyone feel there is another area as impressive as Delicate Arch at sunset?

Just about anywhere there are rocks/arches/formations/etc sticking up is pretty decent for a Sunrise or Sunset

As impressive? Probably not but, just driving out of Arches at sunset is amazing. The hard part is picking which pullout you prefer is the hard part.

I'd think the Fiery Furnace overlook would catch some nice rays...the Tower Arch area as well.

No hiking in the dark either.

Did I mention that I work at the Department of Redundancy Department? ;)

Uh...I meant Turret Arch Area not Tower Arch area.


Also, don't get tempted by the Delicate Arch Viewpoint. You'll be way down below looking west (on the opposite side that the sun will be lighting up) with the Arch tiny in the distance...all you'll get is a black silhouette of the arch.

Here it is earlier in the day and it was a little bit of a hike even to see this:

http://www.pbase.com/peterb/image/21346288

All those little bumps to the left of the arch are people (being where you want to be).

Peterboy,

DORD lol

You even got department in the title twice.

That's how we roll at the DoRD spiro ;)

I hike the southern Utah NP's in the winter, and I don't remember any scary areas on the way to Delicate Arch. Once you get past it, though, there are a few higher, kind of bald ribs on the 5 or 7 mile loop, but they aren't slippery unless icy. Both of the major areas of Canyonlands are worth seeing.

Well, we had a wonderful trip to Arches, Canyonlands, and Dead Horse state Park. I am so glad we did the Dead Horse State Park stop. It was really beautiful there and I think I liked it better than Canyonlands.
After all my fears of hiking to Delicate Arch, I was most happy to see it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated! It was warm, but we stopped several times and had some water. The cliff area right before the Arch wasn't that bad either. I am SO glad I made that hike. We rested there, ate a snack, then headed back down. We stopped at Wolfe Ranch to see the petroglyphs. They were great. We saw the ones at the golf course as well as we stayed at a wonderful B and B just down the road from there. It is Desert Hills B and B and a wonderful place to use as your home base for the area. The young couple that run the place are terrific about good ideas for hikes. They suggested the ride along Rte. 128 on the Monday we were there as it rained ALL day! Not much hiking to be done that day! We actually went back another time to see it without all the fog and rain. The second time, we stopped at Fisher Towers and hiked that area. We got to the ladder, then heard thunder and rain drops started to fall, so we decided it was best to head back. We didn't get to the view point , but got plenty of beautiful pictures along the way. It was definitely a more challenging hike than Delicate Arch. We were VERY thankful for our walking sticks on that hike.
We did the whole Windows section. It was most impressive. We hiked to Pine Arch and Tunnel Arch, then back to the main trail and ended up at the Landscape Arch. This was really something to see. We saw people going up the rocks to another arch, but decided not to press our luck! Balanced Rock was really something too. We hiked all around that. We still don't see how it stays there! Our last hike was Park Avenue. It was a little warm that day, but the sky was so blue and the rocks really showed off there stuff in the sunlight!
We did the Island in the Sky area in Canyonlands and did go to Mesa Arch.
This entire area is just breathtaking. We are so glad we made the trip. We had some rain the day we went to see Double Arch, but came back later to see it. What an amazing sight! That next day it rained all day, but just driving along the Colorado and seeing all the strange cloud formations against the high cliffs was something to see as well. We did make the mistake of taking the La Sal Loop. Here in Ohio a loop road is not a big deal. THIS loop road was 62 miles and straight up. Our Innkeepers thought the elevation was probably 10,000 feet, which is probably why I couldn't wait to get to the end of that loop!! It was rainy and foggy, so looking out below wasn't really an option. We did see lots of people riding their bikes up there and lots of camping spots as well.
We are so thankful for all your suggestions and encouraging words. We had a grand time and have some wonderful pictures to remember it all by! We are 71 and almost 69, so if we can do it, anyone can!!

Glad you made it to Delicate and sounds like you had a nice trip.

I went to Utah the first time about 7 years ago and have returned6 or 7 times since then. Arches is probably my favorite park, but Bryce and Zion and very nice/unusual too. Another favorite spot of mine is Goblin Valley. I just love all of the parks of the west. You do realize that the area you are looking at from Deadhorse Point is Islands in the Sky of Canyonlands?

Yes we did know that was Canyonlands. Still a spectacular view!!!

I also liked Dead Horse Point better than Canyonlands.

Are you confusing Fisher Rtowers with Corona Arch.

So glad you had a wonderful trip and didn't let a little rain get in the way.

Did you post pictures anywhere?

Thanks for reporting back

It's always nice to hear back from posters. Sounds like you had a wonderful trip...makes wish I could hit the road right now! :)

Sounds like a fantastic trip, landfree1! You guys had some fun adventures! We're headed back in a few weeks and can't wait!

It was Fisher Towers on Route 128. Corona Arch is off Potash (279) and we did not get there unfortunately. We heard it was really beautiful. Maybe next time!!!