Hike to Ring Arch to Escape Crowds at Arches National Park
If you are looking to escape the crowds while visiting Arches National Park, a hike to Ring Arch is your best bet in my opinion. It’s an easy 2.9 mile out-and-back hike where there’s a good chance you won’t see any other humans.
Ring Arch spans about 50 feet.
While Ring Arch may not be as impressive as some of the main attractions in the park, I personally feel it definitely tops some of them. So why does the hike to it get so little traffic? The reasons it’s not very popular is mostly due to the fact that it’s not “marketed” by the park service at all. It’s not listed on their website, nor on the brochure visitors are given when entering the park. There’s also no signage or parking lot for it, nor is it a maintained trail, so while all the other sites in the park see a continuous stream of visitors, you can enjoy the Ring Arch hike in solitude. Keep in mind that like other hikes in the area, there is essentially no shade, so if you’re attempting it in the middle of summer, make sure you’re prepared and carry plenty of water and protect yourself from the sun.
So if there’s no parking lot, where does the hike start? At a little more than 4.5 miles past the park entrance on the main park road, you’ll cross a small bridge over the signed Courthouse Wash, and then there’s a pullout on the left side (Google Maps). From that pullout, there’s only one trail which heads Westward, back towards the wash.
Along the trail, you’ll be greeted by some great views of the Park Avenue area.
The trail is flat and fairly sandy, and offers open views of cliffs and rock formations in all directions. It starts by parallelling the wash, but then you’ll cross it at about a half mile in. This is the only place I lost the path a bit, but after a quick search I picked it back up on the other side. While I’ve seen this hike listed as “Off trail” on multiple websites, I think that’s a stretch. Aside from the wash crossing I found the trail easy to follow, even if part of it may be a bit overgrown since it doesn’t get maintained.
You’ll have a clear view to Ring Arch well before you arrive, however depending on time of day and weather, it may not be so easy to see as it is here due to its shadow.
After crossing the wash, continue along the trail until about 1.25 miles into the hike, where you’ll leave the sand and shrubs you’ve been in most of the way to cross an expanse of flat rock. There are rock piles marking the way, however at this point Ring Arch is visible and you’re essentially heading straight to it. Depending on the time of day, it may be difficult to spot the arch from a distance as it can blend into the cliffs, but do see if you can find it as then you know exactly where you’re going. After crossing the sea of rock, you’ll be back to the same sandy terrain, and it’s only a short walk before reaching the base of the cliffs under Ring Arch. Look for a trail shooting into the bushes to the right, as that will take you to the easy way up for a closer look. It is quite a steep climb and may look intimidating, but it’s nothing you can’t handle as long as you have shoes with good traction.
It’s fun to move around and get different perspectives of the arch.
The arch itself spans nearly 50 feet and being only a few feet thick is one of a couple arches in the park that I think are more deserving of the title “Delicate Arch” than the one that actually has that name. I suppose “Ring Arch” works too though. If the views from here aren’t good enough for you, and if you’re comfortable scrambling further up, there is a way to get closer. I won’t attempt to describe the way up as there’s really only one logical way to do it, but I do recommend taking a good look before deciding if you’re personally comfortable not just going up, but coming back down, which is a little bit more challenging. If you do make that scramble, it would be great to have your wide angle lens as you can actually get behind the arch some and take shots outward.
The arch is only a few feet thick.
As with anything, you can find many different perspectives by moving around, so try various positions for different views and photos. After enjoying the arch simply head back the way you came. Actually, after coming back over the rock sea, there is a different route that essentially parallels the path you took in until it meets back up with it shortly before getting back to the wash crossing. The two paths have the same distance and terrain, and only slightly different views, so it’s up to you whether you want to take the same way back or not.
A nice view of the La Sal Mountains from the trail.
This Ring Arch hike is my favorite way to get away from the crowds encountered on most other trails in Arches National Park since it offers great views and a unique arch to see. If you do enjoy escaping the crowds like this, you might also be interested in hiking to Broken Arch. If you have any questions on the hike feel free to leave a comment.
