Arches National Park Self Guided Driving Audio Tour

What's Included

Meeting and pickup

Itinerary

• 1

  The tour starts at the entrance to Arches National Park at the Sign. Here you'll get a chance to stretch your legs and hear about the park before driving in.

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 2
  Arches National Park Scenic Drive

  The tour will follow the scenic drive through the park stopping at pull offs for views, sites and stories about the land. Even some linked to Indiana Jones.

  1 hour 20 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 3

  Inside, you'll find exhibits explaining how these arches formed and why this spot has the highest concentration of natural stone arches anywhere on the planet with over 2,000 of them carved by wind, water, and time.

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• (Pass by)

  Notice how the rock layers don't line up? That's the Moab Fault doing its work, one of the most dramatic geological scars in the American West.

  Admission ticket free
• Devils Garden Trailhead (Pass by)

  You've reached Devil's Garden, the end of the scenic drive and home to the highest concentration of arches in the park.

  Admission ticket free
• (Pass by)

  Welcome to one of the park's most spectacular canyons—a place early visitors thought looked just like New York City's famous street lined with skyscrapers.

  Admission ticket free
• La Sal Mountain Loop (Pass by)

  Ever mistaken snow for salt? Spanish explorers did exactly that in 1776—which is how these mountains got their rather salty name.

  Admission ticket free
• (Pass by)

  Courthouse Towers is a cluster of tall sandstone monoliths rising several hundred feet above the canyon floor. Their name comes from the way the vertical faces and grouped columns resemble grand courthouse façades and big‑city skyscrapers, much like buildings along New York’s Park Avenue.

  Admission ticket free
• Balanced Rock Trail (Pass by)

  Look at that massive boulder perched on its narrow pedestal, the whole structure stands 128 feet tall and weighs about 3,600 tons. The top boulder is 55 feet high by itself, made of hard Entrada Sandstone, while the pedestal underneath is softer Dewey Bridge mudstone that's eroding faster.

  Admission ticket free
• (Pass by)

  Double Arch dominates the landscape. This is two separate arches sharing the same stone base, creating a formation you won't see anywhere else on Earth. The larger arch spans 144 feet and stands 112 feet tall, while the smaller one reaches 86 feet. What makes this truly unique is that the two arches formed through different processes but ended up connected. In 1989, scenes from "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" were filmed right here, with Harrison Ford riding through on horseback searching for the Holy Grail. The trail to Double Arch is only 0.5 miles roundtrip and takes about 15-30 minutes—you can actually see the arch from the parking lot.

  Admission ticket free
• (Pass by)

  The word "petroglyph" comes from Greek—"petro" meaning rock and "glyph" meaning carving. These are images carved or pecked into the rock surface, not painted. The Ute people created these carvings showing bighorn sheep and horses, depicting their hunts and daily life centuries ago. That is very interesting.

  Admission ticket free
• (Pass by)

  Early settlers knew it as "the Schoolmarm's Bloomers," which gives you an idea of what Victorian-era pioneers thought it looked like. It was also called "Old Maid's Bloomers" and "Cowboy Chaps" before Frank Beckwith finally settled on the more dignified name during a 1933 expedition. The arch achieved icon status when it appeared on Utah license plates and postage stamps, and the Olympic torch passed through it during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

  Admission ticket free
• (Pass by)

  The turnoff for Fiery Furnace is on your right. Want to see this maze-like cluster of narrow, orange-red fins that glow like fire at sunset? Turn right and hit the dig deeper button once you're parked. Restrooms are available at this viewpoint.

  Admission ticket free
• Sand Dune Arch Trail (Pass by)

  The trail to Sand Dune Arch is only 0.3 miles roundtrip and takes about 15-30 minutes. You'll walk through a narrow passage between towering sandstone fins that rise 60 feet on either side, creating what feels like a natural slot canyon. The passage opens into a shaded alcove where the arch sits, completely enclosed like a room built specifically to display it. The soft sand covering the ground here gives the arch its name—it's actually millions of grains that have eroded from the surrounding Entrada Sandstone walls and collected here over thousands of years. Because the alcove is so protected from wind, the sand doesn't blow away like it does in open desert areas. This sheltered spot creates a microclimate that's often 15-20 degrees cooler than the surrounding desert, which is why families with small children love it here. I bet you’ll love it, too.

  Admission ticket free

Additional info

• Service animals allowed
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Tags