Landscape Arch Trail

Landscape Arch Trail is a roughly 1.9-mile out-and-back from Devils Garden Trailhead to the fenced viewing area beneath Landscape Arch. The compact route rolls over hard-packed dirt and gravel among tall sandstone fins before a short, steep final approach. The reward is a long, delicate span stretched across the rock face, with open desert beneath it. It is one of the park’s headline hikes without taking half a day. The walking route is listed at 30 to 60 minutes; plan about an hour to an hour and a half if you want time at the viewpoint. The final slope can require help for some visitors.

From the parking lot, follow the established path as it winds between sandstone walls and spires. The grade comes in gentle ups and downs rather than a sustained climb, and the hard-packed surface makes the main approach straightforward. Two short side trails to Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch branch off before Landscape Arch; together they add about half a mile round trip. They are worthwhile if you want extra stops, but they are not part of this direct route. Stay on the signed Landscape Arch line. At the viewing area, turn around for the easy hike described here. The Devils Garden trail carries on beyond the arch, but becomes a different undertaking: a steep climb onto sandstone with rocky footing, scrambling, narrow ledges and exposure.

Landscape Arch spans 306 feet across its opening, the longest natural arch span in North America. Its thinnest section is only about six feet wide, so from the protected viewing area it can look more like a narrow ribbon than a solid bridge. A short viewing spur gives a closer angle; stay on the marked path and outside the protected area. For a photo, include part of the fenced path below the span so the frame shows how broad the opening is. The arch has not always looked as it does now: large sections fell away in the 1990s. The route ends at the official viewing area, not beneath the arch.

The trail passes through tall, parallel sandstone fins, the walls that give Devils Garden its narrow corridors. Rainwater enters fractures created as buried salt pushed the rock above it upward. As the cracks widen, the fins separate; erosion can then open a hole through a fin and leave an arch. Landscape Arch is one stage in that process, still unusually thin after the loss of large pieces. Look back along the fins on the way out: the same fractured sandstone that makes the corridor also explains how the arch formed.

The Devils Garden lot is at the end of the main park road, about 18 miles from the entrance station and a 40- to 45-minute drive from the visitor center. It has 160 spaces, including 10 oversized-vehicle spaces, but is often busy through much of the day and can fill on weekends and holidays. Toilets are open year-round. Drinking water is available at the trailhead from spring through fall; fill up there before setting out. Dogs are not allowed on park trails, though service animals are permitted.