Parking
At the end of Arches' park road, use Devils Garden Trailhead parking. The lot can be very busy in peak season and on holiday weekends.
Overview
About Private Arch Trail
Why go
- A secluded arch reached through the wilder side of Devils Garden
Heads up
- A long, exposed approach for an arch some hikers find modest
Private Arch Trail is a 5.5-mile out-and-back from Devils Garden Trailhead, following the Primitive Trail to a tucked-away sandstone arch. Allow about 3 to 4 hours. Take it on if the rough route is part of the appeal; if you want an easier arch stop, enjoy the better-known formations from the main trail. The often-quoted 0.52-mile distance covers only the final spur and return, not the whole hike.
Parkwolf’s verdictIs this the hike for you?Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Arches map
Full mapElevation5,033–5,289 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Arches Tour Guide
Your drive to Private Arch Trail, 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 trailhead
Devils Garden and Landscape Arch0:00 / 0:27
“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 this trailhead 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.”
Trail guide
Hiking Private Arch Trail
Follow the Primitive TrailWalk the main Devils Garden trail to the Primitive Trail junction, continue along the loop to…
Walk the main Devils Garden trail to the Primitive Trail junction, continue along the loop to the Private Arch branch, then return the same way. The approach starts on the park's established trail; beyond Landscape Arch, expect a much slower walk across steep, uneven sandstone. The final arch can be easy to overlook among the fins, so pay attention as you reach the spur.
Know what the terrain asksThe Primitive Trail is the hardest Devils Garden segment, with difficult route-finding, steep…
The Primitive Trail is the hardest Devils Garden segment, with difficult route-finding, steep slopes, narrow drop-offs and scrambling. One crossing passes a pool that may contain water. The park advises against this route when rock is wet or icy, and for people uncomfortable with heights. Ordinary pets are not allowed on Arches hiking trails.
How fins become archesDevils Garden's narrow sandstone fins follow parallel fractures formed as underground salt…
Devils Garden's narrow sandstone fins follow parallel fractures formed as underground salt shifted the rock above it. Rainwater widens the fractures; continued erosion can open a fin into an arch. That explains the wider landscape, though a specific origin story for Private Arch was not found.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Arches
14 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
10 sightingsPronghornMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
608 sightingsRavenMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
187 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.
