Overview
About Tunnel Arch
Why stop
- Two openings share one high sandstone fin.
Heads up
- The view stays at a distance; it works best as a short add-on.
Map
Where it is
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Arches Tour Guide
Your drive to Tunnel Arch, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Arches National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Arches audio tourRecorded for this place
Devils Garden and Landscape Arch“Devils Garden is coming up, with a walk through tall sandstone fins to Landscape Arch. It's my pick for a shorter outing: one point nine miles round trip, allowing an hour to an hour and a half with stops.”
Plays as you drive up to Tunnel Arch in the Parkwolf Arches Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Devils Garden Campground and Tapestry Arch
- Skyline Arch
- Ears That Shed Heat
- Sand Dune Arch and Broken Arch
- 35 audio storiesacross Arches’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Bighorn Sheep, Pronghorn, Raven, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 28 trails, 41 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“I can’t believe how helpful this app is and how interesting the information is for each highlight along the Arches Scenic Drive! This is the first park I’ve used it in.”
Guide
More about Tunnel Arch
A quick stop on the way to Landscape ArchTunnel Arch is a high window through a thick sandstone fin along the Devils Garden Trail.
Tunnel Arch is a high window through a thick sandstone fin along the Devils Garden Trail. It sits on an optional spur between the trailhead and Landscape Arch; the easy Landscape Arch out-and-back is 1.9 miles, and both the Tunnel and Pine Tree Arch spurs together add about 0.5 mile. Take the short look if you're already hiking to Landscape Arch; skip it if the extra detour is all you're after.
What you seeThe arch is set back high in the fin.
The arch is set back high in the fin. Its large opening has a smaller window nearby, and you view both from the trail rather than walking up to or through the rock. It's an easy add-on, but the spur drops from the main path and climbs back up.
Catch the opening in the lightTry later afternoon if you want light through the high opening.
Try later afternoon if you want light through the high opening. Leave some of the fin around it in your frame; you can't get a close-up from beneath the arch, and the effect depends on the light.
How the fins openThe arches here sit in long sandstone fins.
The arches here sit in long sandstone fins. Underground salt shifted and cracked the layers above into parallel fractures; rain dissolves the natural cement in porous Entrada Sandstone, and winter freeze-thaw widens the gaps. Tunnel Arch is one result of that slow erosion.
Plan for the trailheadStart at Devils Garden Trailhead at the end of the park road, 18 miles north of Arches Visitor…
Start at Devils Garden Trailhead at the end of the park road, 18 miles north of Arches Visitor Center. The lot can fill for hours during peak season, weekends and holidays. Trailhead toilets are open year-round, and drinking water is available spring through fall. Avoid midday summer heat and stay on the marked trail.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Arches
14 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
10 sightingsPronghornMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
610 sightingsRavenMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
188 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
51 sightingsPrairie DogMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
15 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Arches. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
