Arches National Park with Kids: A Complete Guide
Let’s visit Arches National Park with kids!
This incredible national park in southeastern Utah is an excellent destination for your family, thanks to its otherworldly red rock formations, seemingly delicate arches, and the rolling, multi-colored hills throughout that will keep adventurers young and old fascinated.
In this complete guide, I’m sharing everything you need to know about taking your kids to this park from what to do inside the parks, reservation information, when to visit, and how to make the most of your time here.
All of my suggestions are based on my own experiences in Arches National Park, which I’ve explored multiple times with my own kiddos. These tips and tricks below will help your kids stay engaged with everything they’ll see and do at what is sure to become one of their favorite national parks.
The Camping Kiddos at the visitors center sign in Arches National Park
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When is the Best Time to Visit Arches with Kids?
Arches is deceptively big: the property covers nearly 120 square miles, which feels vast, but only a small portion of that is available to the visitor via the park’s main road and off-shoot drives.
So, that ultimately means that timing is the name of the game when visiting with kids. I’m sure you want to avoid an hour (or more) wait at the entrance kiosk with kids waiting in the backseat, so here are my best tips on how to time your visit perfectly.
Arches National Park is one of the national parks with a current reservation system in place. While it’s not nearly as difficult to get an entrance time as places like Glacier National Park, you’ll still need to plan ahead.
You’ll need a reservation time if you plan to visit between 7 AM and 4 PM. (More on that below!)
North Windows Arch
Early Days and Late Nights
If you only have 1 day in Arches National Park, you’ll want to go as early as possible, nabbing that 7-8 AM entrance time if you’re confident that your family will be up and moving in time.
Honestly, an early start time is my recommendation regardless of how long you’re allotting to the park during your time in Moab.
Do NOT wait until 10 AM or later if you’re planning to visit in late spring or the summer as lines can get crazy long, even if you already have a pass. You’ll struggle to find parking, won’t have a peaceful moment on the trail, and will generally add unnecessary stress to your visit by starting your explorations between 10 AM and 1 PM.
We’ve even managed to get to the park before that 7 AM window, which is truly the sweet spot to go. Crowds are super low other than at popular places to see the sunrise like at Delicate Arch.
If you’re absolutely not a morning person—and your kids will never let you get an early start—I’d encourage you to hang around the campground, visit one of the area museums, or shop downtown until after 4 PM. The late afternoon and evening is also an excellent time to see the parks without having to fight people at every step of your hikes.
On our most recent visit to Arches, the entire Moab area was having a crazy heat wave (more than 20 degrees warmer than usual summer temperatures!), so we almost exclusively did hikes in the park after 4 or 5 PM in the afternoon.
I was stunned at how few people were in the park—we easily found parking, the trails were nearly empty, and we even had highly trafficked areas like Sand Dunes Arch completely to ourselves. This late-afternoon/evening approach does make for some long days, but it is a great way to beat the heat…and the crowds.
Arches, Season by Season
In terms of the best season to visit, Arches is ideal in the late spring and early fall. The temperatures are glorious for hiking and outdoor exploration, typically hovering in the low-70s mid-day.
This shoulder season before the summer vacation crowd is usually slower in general, so you’ve got fewer people to work around in the park.
That being said, I know it’s tough to pull your kids out of school in late April, May, late September, or early October. If they have a summer or fall break during those times and you can make it work, I’d recommend those times first.
If you cannot go until the summer, plan your vacation as close to the start of June as possible. The park’s summer season isn’t really in full swing yet, and the temperatures are less likely to be scorching.
Remember your reservation!
If you’re visiting from April to October, you will need a pre-planned timed reservation pass AND your entrance pass.
You’ll get the 1-day timed reservation pass on Recreation.gov for free, though there is a $2 transaction fee. You can make reservations for as many days as you need them, though you’ll need to complete each day separately. And yes, that means a separate fee each time.
When making your timed reservation, you’ll pick an hour period between 7 AM and 4 PM. This is when you HAVE to enter the park. If you make a 7 AM reservation, but you accidentally sleep through your alarm, you can’t enter the park then at 9 AM.
However, if you enter at 7:30 AM for your 7-8 AM reservation window, and then want to leave the park for lunch, you can re-enter at any time.
You DO NOT need a timed reservation if you are visiting between November and March.
Regardless of the time of year you visit, you will need to pay a separate entrance fee, which is currently $30 per car of up to 8 people. This fee is good for a 7-day visit.
However, you can get in for free if you have any of the interagency passes, which I highly recommend. We have gotten one of the standard $80 passes which allows unlimited access to any of the more than 400 NPS sites nationwide and have saved hundreds because of it.
What Can You Do in Arches with Kids?
Whether you’re a beginner to the national parks, or Arches will be your family’s 20th park, you’re sure to want your kids happy, engaged, and active during your visit here.
Unlike some national parks that are fairly light on activities (Black Canyon of the Gunnison, I’m looking at you), Arches National Park has plenty to fill up your family’s time.
Even compared to nearby Canyonlands National Park, Arches offers much more for kids. I still recommend doing both while you’re in the Moab area, though!
Here are my kids’ favorite things to do in Arches National Park. We’ve included suggestions throughout the park, so you can do as many or as few as you have time for.
Visitors Center Interpretive Materials
While the visitors centers at the national parks can vary greatly, Arches National Park has one that you’ll want to linger in.
The materials here are wide reaching and engaging, with many of them having interactive materials. These make for some great educational materials as they invite kids to learn through hands-on experiences.
My son learns about different rocks and topography formations in the Arches National Park visitors center
My kids loved the Q+A flipboards about the different kinds of rocks in the park, as well as the touch screen database on the animals they might see.
Take your time here and wander around. There’s also a huge picture window looking up to the entrance road, and a not-quite-life-sized replica of Delicate Arch.
This area of the Visitors Center is free to guests of the park, and it is typically open from around 7:30 AM to 6 PM. Check the official NPS site for Arches National Park for specific times during your visit.
Visitors Center Animals
My daughter is shocked by my son’s new girlfriend at the Arches National Park visitors center.
Going into the visitors center, you’ll see a collection of metal animal sculptures near the bathroom area.
These are an attraction to any kid who walks by, and they will climb on, crawl under, peer at, and try to ride them.
My kids’ favorite is the goat, which they can’t ever walk by without a quick hug, ride, or even a kiss. (On our most recent trip, my son wanted to smooch all of the animals. Probably not the most sanitary thing, but perhaps it’s boosting his immune system?)
You can see that the bronze finish of the animals has slowly been tarnished to a bright gold by all of the kids who’ve crawled all over them.
The park doesn’t mind the visitor interaction with the animal sculptures, so feel free to snap a picture.
Just be careful if you’re visiting this area of the park mid-day in the summer as the golden exterior of the sculptures can get very hot.
Scenic Drive
If you do only one more things at the park with kids other than the visitors center, make it the scenic drive.
The 18-mile long Arches National Park Road stretches from the visitors center to the Devil’s Garden, and it is beautiful.
The scenic drive through Arches National Park near Fiery Furnace
Along the way, you’ll pass by awe-inspiring rock formations, including Courthouse Rocks, the petrified dunes, and Balancing Rock.
On our first visit to Arches when the kids were just babies, we didn’t have the capacity to do much more than just drive the main park road and do a couple of short hikes. (Sleep deprived mamas and daddies know what I’m talking about!)
And you know what? We fell in love with Arches with only that experience.
Stop at several of the overlooks along the way to let your kids stretch their legs. We particularly love the following overlooks:
the La Sal Mountain Overlook, where you can get the best views of the mountains that tower of Moab,
Courthouse Rocks Overlook, where your family can stand in the shadow of these massive red rock towers, and
Balanced Rock Overlook, where you’ll see a rock that seems to defy gravity (but don’t worry—it’s not going anywhere!).
Hiking
The Camping Kiddos LOVE everything about Sand Dune Arch!
If you want to introduce your kids to Arches National Park without making them suffer through a long, hot hike to get to one of the arches, here are some suggestions for you!
All of these hikes are a great way to get your kids excited about desert hiking in general.
My kids’ number one favorite arch hike is also super short with nearly immediate gratification. Because of this, Sand Dune Arch is a perfect first arch to introduce your kids to the park.
Prepare to stay forever at Sand Dune Arch, which is accessible via a short, flat hike from the parking area and then a cool, sandy hike to the actual arch.
Windows Arch is another great one for families as you can get a lot of bang for your proverbial buck here.
The most popular hike is the Windows Arch hike to the right of the parking area.
This path takes you past both North and South Windows, as well as Turret Arch.
On the other side of the parking lot to Windows is the short, flat hike to the eye-catching Double Arch.
You could easily spend a couple of hours in this area of the park alone.
Balanced Rock isn’t really a hike; it’s more of a short walk from the parking area, but it’s such a fun spot that I had to include it. My kids LOVE spotting this unusual feature in the park: it is instantly recognizable and a wonder for all ages. Really, how doesn’t it fall?! (The boring answer: the base is still firmly attached.)
Another great kid-friendly hike is the Native Plants Trail. This short, informative hike starts behind the visitors center, which makes it an excellent introduction to the park. Plus, the trailhead is right off of the parking area for the visitors center and just a few feet from the picnic tables here.
We also enjoy the Broken Arch trail, which shares a trailhead with Sand Dune Arch (above). You’ll cut across a wide, flat area before reaching a few fun and easy rock scrambles along the portion of the trail that hugs the red rocks. The arch is bigger than what you’ll find at Sand Dune with a manageable trail length that will get kids excited about hiking in the Moab area.
Junior Ranger badges
I can’t recommend the Junior Ranger programs at the national parks enough!
The Camping Kiddos get sworn in as Arches National Park Junior Rangers
We love these as they get our kids involved in hands-on learning about each park’s animals, plants, geology, and history.
The booklets are usually free—other than a few like at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park which cost a dollar or two—and the ones at Arches are, too.
Your child can pick one up at the visitors center information desk, select the number of pages for the appropriate age group, and then complete them while you’re adventuring around the park.
The Arches booklet is very cute with pages with park-centric word searches, animal environment identification, and more.
You can also complete 3 suggested adventures to round out your experience: choose from a free ranger program, picking up litter in the park, star gazing, and more.
When you’re done, come back to the information desk with your completed booklet to get sworn in as an official Junior Ranger and get your free park badge.
My kids collect them from all of the places we’ve visited. While we’re traveling, they’ll put them on their Junior Ranger vests, and then transfer them to a canvas Junior Ranger badge holder at our house.
Tips for Visiting Arches National Park with Kids
So, hopefully, you’re feeling more confident on what you’re doing in Arches with your family. Now, let’s chat about how to accomplish all of it!
Pace yourself.
The park is big and it would be easy to overdo it. There are 18 miles of main road to drive as well as side roads for various hikes and areas like Delicate Arch and The Windows.
While you can do Arches in a single day, you’ll get much more out of the experience if you devote more time for additional hikes, ranger programs, and exploration of the desert landscape.
The entrance road is dramatic.
One of the many displays in the visitors center overlooking the winding main entrance road
Once you leave the visitors center, you’ll climb up and up—and rapidly.
You’ll find a couple of sharp switchbacks that require you to take the road at 15 MPH.
These areas also have intimidating drop-offs, which can be scary if you have kids who are afraid of heights.
My 7 year old falls into that category, and he did NOT enjoy the steady climb from the visitors center and drop-offs.
I’d recommend kids who might be spooked by that first mile or so to ride on the left side of the car both on the way in the park and out again.
This seating configuration will keep them closest to the center line and not the dramatic landscapes on that first section of the road.
Take plenty of water.
Whether you’re visiting in December, April, or September, you’re going to want to up your water intake.
Arches National Park is in the desert, which means the air here is dry year-round with soaring temperatures in the summer.
Water is limited in the park, so you’re going to want to bring your own.
You can find 2 water bottle refills stations inside Arches: one is at visitors center and the other is in the Devil’s Garden parking area.
This is the only water in park and either could be a long way away depending on where you’re exploring. I’d recommend packing at least a gallon of water per person per day—and that’s if you’re only doing basic exercise in moderate temperatures.
We always have a packed cooler of ice whenever we’re exploring more remote areas. We then add Gatorades (great for the electrolytes when you’re sweating!), gallons of water, juice boxes, and soft drinks to keep us cool and hydrated all day.
You can get ice at one of the many convenience stores in Moab, but the cheapest we found it was at the City Market on Main Street. The Market also has a wide variety of sports drinks, bottled water, and the like for far cheaper than you’ll find in the Maverick gas station or others.
Watch those temps.
Heat stress and heat stroke are a very real possibility when visiting the Moab area in the late spring and summer.
When you’re hiking out here, you’ll find sparse shelter or shady places, which can make for some long, hot hikes.
The distances in Arches can be deceiving, and what looks like a short 2 mile hike might actually be double or triple that.
Always check the weather, and don’t hike when it’s over 90. When hiking in lower temps, drink water constantly, and encourage your children to drink water or electrolyte drinks, too.
It’s also good to offer up snacks with a high moisture content like GoGo Squeeze pouches if your kids aren’t super excited about guzzling water. Adding in a salty snack—of any sort, including potato chips!—will help keep their electrolyte balance in check as they’re sweating.
Babies and toddlers can quickly overheat, so use cooling cloths, a breathable mesh carrier, and frequent breaks in the A/C of the car.
If you see signs of lethargy, a red heat rash, or other possible signs of heat distress, cut your visit short and come back in the cooler evening hours.
NOTE: I’ve usually adept at higher temperatures as I’m from coastal South Carolina and even lifeguarded for years there. Even with that experience—and my outdoor experiences in general—I’ve gotten a heat rash while hiking leisurely. It will sneak up on you quickly, and it can be miserable at best and dangerous at worse.
Pack lunch.
Small covered picnic area near the visitors center parking lot
There aren’t any facilities in the park, and Moab is far enough away that it would be a pain to drive from the back of the park mid-day just for lunch.
Depending on how to you time your visit, you can picnic either at the very front or the very back of the park. There are a couple of covered picnic tables near the Native Plants walk behind the visitors center.
There are also several covered and a handful of uncovered picnic tables at the parking area for Devil’s Gardens all the way at the end of Arches National Park Road.
Time your arrival with care.
I know I covered this above, but it’s worth repeating.
Your arrival time in Arches can make or break your trip.
Come prepared with your time arrival (preferably early in the morning), or go without a reservation before 7 AM or after 4 PM.
If you’re worried about missing out on the Junior Ranger badges or Visitors Center information, keep in mind that the visitor center stays open until 6 PM during the summer. This should give you plenty of time to see everything there before heading into the park if you choose a late afternoon/evening arrival.
See starry skies.
The park never closes, so you can stay as last as your kiddos will last. Arches—and the city of Moab—are Dark Sky Certified, making this is perfect place to practice constellation spotting with your kids.
