Getting Oriented

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• Devils Garden. Eighteen miles from the visitor center, this is the end of the paved road in Arches. It has the park’s only campground, a picnic area, and access to drinking water. Trails in Devils Garden lead to Landscape Arch and several other noteworthy formations.
• Fiery Furnace. About 14 miles from the visitor center this area is so labeled because its orange spires of rock look much like tongues of flame. Reservations are required, and can be made up to six months in advance, to join the twice-daily ranger-guided treks. Or you can obtain a permit to visit Fiery Furnace on your own, but only experienced, well-prepared hikers should attempt this option.
• Delicate Arch/Wolfe Ranch. A spur road about 11.7 miles from the visitor center leads to the moderately strenuous 3-mile round-trip trail and viewpoints for the park's most famous feature—Delicate Arch. To see it from below, follow the road to the viewpoint, then walk to either easily accessible viewing area.
• The Windows. Reached on a spur 9.2 miles from the visitor center, here you can see many of the park's natural arches from your car or on an easy rolling trail.
• Balanced Rock. This giant rock teeters atop a pedestal, creating a 128-foot formation of red rock grandeur right along the roadside, about 9 miles from the visitor center.
• Petrified Dunes. Just a tiny pull-out about 5 miles from the visitor center, stop here for pictures of acres and acres of petrified sand dunes.
• Courthouse Towers. The Three Gossips, Sheep Rock, and Tower of Babel are all here. Enter this section of the park 3 miles past the visitor center. The Park Avenue Trail winds through the area.