I always have a little giggle on the inside when folks say "we already saw all the arches."
"I did 'all of arches' yesterday."
oh, you did? 😏 that's mighty impressive!
especially considering there are 35+ miles of 'well-known' trails inside Arches Nat'l park; not to mention the dozens of trails into the 'back country' leading to hidden treasures with -0- tourists.
cue "Ring arch" 😀
our favorite places to go in the park for sunrise are devil's garden or delicate arch; but we had recently hiked both, so I found a new conquest. (directions at bottom of post) Seeing no less than 40 cars headed to the Delicate & Devil's led me to believe we had made the right decision. 🙌
The 'hike' to Ring arch isn't really a noteworthy collection of amazing views or excitement. It is literally a walk across a field of gullies for a mile, until you see the arch tucked away in a little sideways corner.
there was literally -0- humans anywhere to be seen on this hike.
I love our sunrise shadows .. they will forever be my favorite
In 2014, there was a pretty large chunk that fell off; on the right side you can see where it thins out. Please stay off the arches. arch guts are fine; cue bottom right picture above. Myself standing on some of the arch guts from the partial collapse.
ring arch can always be a part of your moab fun; instructions below.
leave no trace.
Ring Arch can be seen almost directly west from the park road at a long pullout on the west side of the road - 0.15 miles southwest of the center of the Courthouse Wash Bridge. Binoculars help, the arch is 1.3 miles from the road & the location isn't obvious.There is no established trail to Ring Arch. Walking directly to it from the park road view is not recommended since it is difficult to avoid disturbing sensitive desert soils. A better route starts on a trail at the parking area on the northwest side of Courthouse Wash
