ARCHES NATIONAL PARK 

For years, we’d heard friends talk about the extraordinary beauty of places like Arches, Zion, and the Grand Canyon. We were fortunate to visit all three this fall… and were pretty blown away. So far, Arches and Zion have been our favorite places to hike. Both were truly immersive adventures, offering lots of ways to explore according to one’s preferred pace and interests. On our first day in Arches, we did the very popular hike to Delicate Arch, climbing over slickrock (which sounds scarier than it really is), and along narrow cliffside paths (as scary as it sounds).

On day two, we visited Devil’s Garden, where we hiked in to see Landscape Arch — the longest arch in North America with a light opening of 306 feet (93.3 meters). According to the National Park Service, “this awe-inspiring expanse is only 6 feet (1.8 meters) in diameter at its narrowest. Large segments of the arch came crashing down in the 1990s – proof that the park’s landscape can change dramatically in an instant. Although other arches have fallen, Landscape Arch still hangs on by a very thin thread.”

ZION NATIONAL PARK

Zion was a very different experience. Where Arches is a sparse landscape dominated by huge red rock structures rising from the earth in bizarre configurations, Zion is a lush canyon with a river at its center and waterfalls throughout. Arches was also much more of a “choose your own” adventure… one can drive through the park, stop at various sites, and get out and hike. Other than at the entrance, we only saw one ranger over the course of two days. In Zion, no cars are allowed past the Visitor Center, there’s a shuttle that takes you from trailhead to trailhead, and there’s a lot more visitor infrastructure (in a good way).

We hiked a number of trails in Zion, but our focus was on the Emerald Pools, where we marveled at a waterfall that turned to snow in mid-air, saw our first prickly pear fruit (which we now look for on margarita menus!), and observed herds of mule deer close up. Michele also had her first experience driving the BAT (Big Ass Truck) along winding canyon roads!

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK

At the Grand Canyon, we felt much more like observers. There are limited options for hiking down into the canyon, all of which require more conditioning than we currently have (although we are now fully inspired to up our hiking miles and challenge level!). We very much enjoyed walking around the South Rim, but it was definitely more of a walk than a hike. 

We continue to be impressed by the National Park Service — the care they take of our national treasures, and the passion they have for sharing them with the rest of us. While we do a fair amount of research before starting off on a hike, we’ve also gotten into the habit of asking the rangers their opinions on the best places to hike. They have not steered us wrong yet!