Hiking the Devils Garden Trail: The Best Trail in Arches

Arches National Park is famous for their arches, red rock, and unique rock structures.  All of these things, and more, can be seen while hiking the Devils Garden Trail.  

Located at the very end of Arches National Park Road is an 8 mile loop with some of the most beautiful views in the whole park.  And the best part?  Because this is a longer trail, there aren’t the crowds that you’ll experience around Delicate Arch or Double Arch.

So let’s discuss the location, the fees, and what to expect while hiking the Devils Garden Trail.  

Important Links (Map, State Park Website, Link to Camping Article)

• Devils Garden Detail – National Park website
• Devils Garden Trail – AllTrails Map
• Timed-Entry Permits – Recreation.gov 
• Hiking Journal – Never Forget the Details of Your Favorite Hikes Again!
• Hovenweep National Monument – Nearby Hiking

Location

The Devils Garden Trailhead is located at the very end of Arches National Park Road.  From the town of Moab, UT, it will take you about 45 minutes to get to the trailhead.

As for other major cities in the area, the trailhead is 2 hours from Grand Junction, CO and 4.5 hours from Salt Lake City, UT.  

Fees

Getting into Arches National Park requires a valid park pass.  A Standard Pass can be purchased at the entrance of the park for $30 and is good for 7 days.  

There is also an Annual Pass that is $55 for the year.  This pass gets you into Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, as well as Hovenweep and Natural Bridge National Monuments for free for 12 months.  

If you are planning to visit at least 3 national parks/seashores/monuments within a year, you’ll want to purchase an America the Beautiful Pass.  For just $80, you and a car-full of guests will be able to enter any park for free.  This pass is good for 12 months and an excellent investment to see the beauty of America.

A Park Pass is always required, however a Timed-Entry reservation is only required some of the time.  So let’s dive into the reservations for Arches National Park.

Timed-Entry Permits/Reservations

As the national parks have gained popularity, there has been a need to limit the number of visitors.  Arches National Park limits the number of visitors by having a required Timed-Entry Permit or Reservation.  

The exact dates change each year, but from Early April through Early July and the end of August through the end of October, reservations are required.  The reservations are required between 7am – 4pm during these months.

All the details for these reservations can be found on the recreation.gov website.  The price of this reservation is $2 per vehicle, and a reservation does NOT guarantee you parking throughout the park.  

No Reservation?  Now What!?

If you aren’t able to get a reservation for the dates of your trip, you can always go around the reservation.  Remember, reservations are required during a few months of the year, and between 7am and 4pm on those days.  

What do I mean by “Go Around the Reservation”? You have 2 options.

Your first option is to go into the park before 7am or after 4pm.  If it’s going to be a hot day, it’s a good idea to go into the park early anyway.  So if you enter the park by 6:30am or earlier, you’ll avoid the reservation and some of the heat.  

And your other option is to go during the off season (July, August, November, December, January, February or March).  You’ll want to check the exact dates, but if you go to Arches National Park during their “off-season”, you don’t need reservations at all.   

Now that most of the logistics about the park are out of the way, let’s jump into actually hiking the Devils Garden Trail!

Parking 

First thing’s first, let’s discuss the parking situation.  At the Devils Garden Trailhead there is a decent sized parking lot.  There are regular sized spots and Oversized/RV parking spots available.  

If you are going first thing in the morning, you shouldn’t have any issues with parking here.  However, if you are coming later in the day, you might not be able to get a spot.

The VERY popular Landscape Arch is located along this trail.  So even if others don’t plan on hiking past that arch, you’ll still be competing for a parking spot later in the day.  

Trail Stats

• Distance: 8.5 miles (Includes All Off-Shoots to Various Arches)
• Elevation Gain: 1,250 feet
• Time on Trail: 4 – 6 hours
• Difficulty: Moderately-Difficult

Trail Highlights – What Arches You’ll See!

There are over 2000 arches in Arches National Park (hence the name).  And while you can look in just about any direction and see various sized arches, here are the best ones you’ll be able to see on the Devils Garden Trail.  

I’ll cover the arches in the “Our Hike” section below, but I wanted you to be able to see some of the arches before we dive into our hike.  So here they are (labeled) below.

Along the trail, there are several highlights that can be seen from the main trail.  But, there are also a few off-shoot trails that you can take to see these interesting formations.

So let’s get into our hike and what we loved about the Devils Garden Trail.  

+Our Itinerary

• 6am – Parked at the Trailhead
• 6:20am – Started our Hike
• 8:10am – Snack Time at the Double O Arch
• 11:20am – Back at the Truck

Our Hike on the Devils Garden Trail

My husband and I hiked the Devils Garden Trail in August of 2025.  It was going to be in the 90’s by late morning, so we had to get an early start.  Once we were parked, we used the bathroom, and had our boots on, we started down the trail.

The trail is very obvious and started us walking between 2 fins (sandstone wall-like structures).  At around 0.25 miles, we reached the first trail-sign where we chose to turn to the right and see the Tunnel Arch and the Pine Tree Arch.

The Split

We continued on, and around 0.8 miles, we came to a split in the trail.  This is the beginning of the loop and I highly recommend that you hike clockwise.  This will take you toward the Landscape Arch and all the other highlights of this trail. 

Landscape Arch

Landscape Arch is a very popular stop along this trail, so you probably won’t be alone here.  We were lucky enough to see this arch at sunrise when the sun rays made it glow reddish-orange. And as a fun fact, did you know that Landscape Arch is as long as a football field!?

After exploring the beauty here, we continued on the main trail for another 0.4 miles before encountering another split.  This split is 2 off-shoot trails, where one leads you to the Partition Arch and the other leads you to Navajo Arch.  I highly recommend hiking to both!

Partition Arch and Navajo Arch

Partition Arch was my favorite arch along the Devils Garden Trail.  This arch offered an incredible window view of the surrounding area while being quite impressive in size.

The Navajo Arch was much smaller, but the shade felt AMAZING around this cool and beautifully hidden arch.  Hiking to both arches adds about 0.8miles to your hike, but this is included in the total of approximately 8.5 miles.

Black Arch and Double O Arch

After we had your fill of the Partition and Navajo arches, we continued on the main trail for about 0.4 more miles.  From here we were able to see the Black Arch, which is named for the black wall behind the arch.  

We then followed the trail toward the Double O Arch.  The Double O Arch is also a popular destination along the Devils Garden Trail, so we were far from alone when we reached it.  The Arch is beautiful from all angles and this was a great place for us to grab a mid-hike snack.  

Dark Angel

At the Double O Arch, you have a couple decisions you can make.  You can either choose to turn back the way you came, head to the Dark Angel structure, or you can continue on the primitive trail.  

We chose to hike to the Dark Angel. And if there is any part of the trail I would skip, it would be this part.  The Dark Angel is simply a tall rock, and has no resemblance to an angel if you ask me. You can see this structure if you stand to the right of the Double O Arch and simply skip the extra 0.8 miles.

After the disappointment of the Dark Angel, we hiked back to this crossroad in the trail and then continued on the Primitive Trail.  

The Primitive Trail

From here on out, we were following the primitive trail.  This means the trail was not maintained and became harder to follow.  I was very glad to have the trail downloaded to my phone so I could follow the green line on AllTrails.  

We continued on for another 0.4miles before reaching the final off-shoot.  This off-shoot part of the trail leads you to the Private Arch.  Honestly, I don’t know how anyone even found this arch, it truly is THAT private.  It’s beautifully hidden in a Fin and was beautiful to see in person.

After we hiked to Private Arch and then back to the trail, we continued to follow the primitive trail of the Devils Garden Trail.  The trail markers at this point became either arrow, or blue tape in the trees (see below).

Hot and Sandy Part of the Trail

As we continued in our clockwise direction, the trail became very sandy and hot.  There were also sections that had steep drop-offs as we followed along the trail.  If you are afraid of heights, you might want to hike to the Double O Arch and then back to the trailhead.

But if you are like us and want to finish the entire trail, you’ll have a sandy trail to follow for the next 1.7 miles.  This part of the trail has little shade and we found ourselves guzzling our water in the heat.

To the Parking Lot

However, we soon came to the original split, right by the Landscape Arch.  At this point, we were greeted by several dozen people all jockeying for position around the Landscape Arch.  (I am SOO glad we got there early and only saw 2 other guys viewing the arch).

From the split, it was less than a mile straight back to our vehicle.  This part was easy and a bit crowded, but we finished our hike right at the 5 hour mark.  

Once we started to cool off in our truck, we began looking for a place to have a celebratory drink.  This led us to the 2 breweries in town.  

Breweries and Food in the Area

After you’ve hiked all of, or part of, the Devils Garden Trail, you might be looking for some food or a drink.  In Moab there are 2 breweries that we really enjoyed visiting.  

The first brewery is the namesake and this place is a must-visit!  With affordable drinks and some great food, you’ll love Moab Brewery.  

The other brewery option is Proper Brewing Moab.  The brewery itself is based in Salt Lake City, but this branch is just minutes from the Arches National Park entrance.  The food wasn’t the best here, but the beer was delicious!

There are tons of bars and restaurants in the town so you can pretty much find anything that suits you!   From Mexican, to Indian, to pizza or burgers, there’s something for everyone in Moab, Utah.  

Conclusion

The Devils Garden Trail has some of the most beautiful arches and structures in the whole park.  This trail has fascinating red rock structures in nearly every direction.

My husband and I spent 5 hours on the 8ish mile trail. And I can confidently say I would hike this trail again and again if I was given the opportunity.  And if you are able-bodied and up for an incredible hike in the desert, you’ll love the Devils Garden Trail too!

As always, feel free to email me at averagewildexperience@gmail.com with any questions about the hike.

-Happy Hiking!