Today we visited Arches National Park by taking the morning adventure tour with Moab Adventure Center.
Our tour guide, Molly, has been in the Moab area for thirty years and knows the park very well, and she spent the entire four hours explaining everything about the park , arches , and rock formaitons. Molly also does the Hummer tour, as well as the Colorado River rafting tour. We couldn’t have asked for a better guide. Thank you Mollly for a great time today.
Our first stop was the Park Avenue viewpoint,. It was a short walk up to the viewpoint where we saw the massive canyon.
We then stopped at the Courthouse Towers where we saw the Three Gossipsm Sheep Rock, and Tower of Babel.
Three Gossips 
Sheep Rock
We then went up to the Windows Section and after a short hike uphill, saw the North Window, South Window, and Turret Arch.
North Window 
South Window 
Turret Arch
Before leaving the are we made a quick stop to the Double Arch, which really isn’t an open arch. It’s looks more like caves.
Our next stop was the Sand Dune Arch. This stop was very cool. you enter through the sandstone fins into a secluded area filled with red sand.
Entrance 
Sand Dune Arch 
Sand Dune Arch 
Exit
We then took a drive to the Devils Garden area which is the end of the paved roads in the park. At the point the outside temperature was up there so the air conditioning felt really good.
Our our way back we did a little off-roading past the view point parking lot to see the Delicate Arch. Molly said it is one of only four free-formed arches in the world. On our way back we did a little off-roading past the view point parking lot to see the Delicate Arch. Molly said it is one of only four free-formed arches in the world. The arch is 46 feet high and 32 feet wide.
We also made a quick stop to see the Wolfe Ranch, the homestead of John Wesley Wolfe who settled in this area in the late 1800’s.
One room cabin 
Inside cabin 
Cold Room 
Corral
Our last stop on the tour was at one of the most iconic features in the park, The Balance Rock, which stands a staggering 128 feet tall. We were really happy that it didn’t decide to fall when we were there today.
So our Utah National Park tour has come to an end. Debbie asked me today which one I liked the best and I couldn’t answer. They were all uniquely different, and all rated high marks.
We’ll leave Moab tomorrow and after a quick stop in Provo, spend the next couple of weeks in Salt Lake City area. We’re looking forward to seeing the City, the Tabernacle, as well as get a few maintenance items done.
Until then.