There are a lot of arches in Arches National Park…duh! But there is so much more than is written on the tourist map or than one can see from the road. Over the years I’ve had a chance to explore some of the lesser traveled canyons, climb some of the rock formations and stumble upon hidden arches, making me realize that within the craggy desert landscape lies so much more. So when I set out to map a route across Arches National Park I knew it was going to be an adventurous one; full of sand, route finding and a good bit of unknown.
The first half of the Arches NP Ultra route.
The second half of the Arches NP Ultra route.
I convinced Adam and Ben to join me on a toasty April day (28th, 2018), and we set out from the Sand Dune Arch trailhead deep within the park. We jogged our way across the nicely packed sand and slickrock, past Sand Dune arch, Broken arch and into the Devil’s Playground campground for the short section of road over to the Devil’s Garden trailhead. We chatted, oogled the pale red rock formations and posed in front of what seemed to be an endless stream of arches. Tunnel arch, Pine Tree arch, Landscape arch, Wall arch, Navajo arch, Partition arch…..and we were only 5miles into our 50k journey! As we continued around the primitive loop we ascended to the tops of the rock fins that make up the Devil’s Garden, by far the coolest trail in the park. We jogged past the tourist across a 6ft wide fin, hopped off and continued on our way toward the Dark Angel. From the Dark Angel came the first bit of real adventure, as we dropped down a rocky gulley to a plateau that sheltered some of the coolest petroglyphs I’ve seen!
Our first arch of many, Sand Dune arch.
Double O Arch, one of 13 arches we saw on the run.
Running the fins in the Devils Garden, weeee.
Petroglyphs hidden deep within Arches National Park.
The next section would prove to be pretty slow, as we descended a rocky wash (all off trail) then hacked our way through low brush down sandy washes all the way to the Salt Valley road. Once back on the road it was smooth jogging back up to Tower Arch and into the Klondike Bluffs. As the maintained sections of the park goes, this is probably the least traveled, and we saw all of two parties as we headed South along the spine of the ridge. The April sun was starting to beat us up, and temperatures were rising into the 80s as we trudged across the sandy hills. This 8mile section was definitely the mental crux of the route for us all. We finally approached Herdina Park, another cool set of rock formations that rise out of the sandy desert. We struck off trail again, hugging the rock walls, passing by the Eye of the Whale and soon arriving at our refill rendezvous point along Willow Flat Rd, except our crew (Amanda) was no where to be seen???
So begins the first off trail portion of the adventure, scrambling down the wash.
Running the dirt road to Tower Arch and the Klondike bluffs.
Tower Arch (below the tower on the right) and the remote backcountry of Arches.
After 15min of searching up and down the road we finally got a text that Amanda was on her way to us, pffeeww, cause we were all running out of water. I refilled all my water and food stores, but as I did it became apparent that both Adam and Ben were pretty beat up from the heat and sand and wouldn’t be continuing. So it was down to just me, the rocks, the sand, and the canyons. I jogged a short way down the Willow Flat rd then took a hard Southernly turn into Upper Courthouse wash. From here the route finding got really simple…head down the canyon until I reached the park road again, or so I thought.
The sculpted upper section of Courthouse Wash.
The spring in upper Courthouse Wash….
As I descended down Upper Courthouse I had to dodge a few dry falls, no biggy, then dropped into this cool sculpted canyon, where a few springs popped out of the rock walls. Then all of a sudden there was as pool of clear spring water right in front of me…huh, didn’t expect that out here. I waded on through and continued through the thicket on the other side, only to be confronted with a 20ft wide canyon that was water and thick brush from wall to wall…ok guess I’m wading. As I waded down stream the water got shin deep, then knee deep, then really murky…..ahead I could see a beaver dam, the reason for this pool. As I scampered over the dam and looked down the valley I quickly realized the adventure was far from over. The stream continued to flow down canyon and on all sides the valley was choked by dense brush and tamarisk, my favorite!
The beavers of Arches National Park????? That water was nasty!
Courthouse Wash, no longer flooded, but a delightful romp in the creek and shade.
The obvious choice was to just splash my way straight down the stream (only ankle deep now), which turned out to be amazingly refreshing in the 87F heat. When I plotted out the route I never anticipated running several miles through a flowing stream in the middle of Arches NP, but here I was none-the-less. I hadn’t seen a soul since I left my friends, and as I bushwacked and splashed my way down canyon, knew I wasn’t going to see anyone until I hit the pavement 7miles later. After a short section on the park road I dropped onto the Park Avenue trail, the grand finale. Even though I was again surrounded by tourist, the final 2.5miles was stunning and perfect. I was hot, tired, sore, but immensely happy. Towering sandstone walls rose hundreds of feet on either side of me, blooming desert cacti nestled in between the rocks, and I was finishing up another big project in my quest to run an ultra through each of America’s National Parks, my 13th National Park Ultra to date. As I climbed the last few stairs up to the trail head I was met by Ben, Adam, Amanda and baby Odessa. A few last photos, and my 8hour 40min journey across and through Arches National Park had been a success.
Descending into Park Avenue, home stretch!
At the finish of my Arches NP Ultra, 30miles and 8h40min later!
Arches may not have the big sweeping vistas one finds in the mountainous national parks, but its got all the subtle mystery and wonder of the desert, plus the grandeur of the massive stone arches and rock formations around every corner of the park. It’s truly a unique park, and holds its own spot within the National Parks system. The run was far more difficult than the 30miles and 3000ft of elevation gain my GPS recorded, primarily owing to many miles of sand. The nice thing about Arches is that it’s a part that’s runnable year round, and while there may not be an extensive trail system there opportunities for running off trail are almost endless. Special thanks to Adam, Ben, Amanda and baby Odessa for indulging my wild run creations (and putting up with the hot sandy desert), Vfuel for keeping me fueled on long adventures and our National Parks system for keeping places like Arches preserved so that all of us have a chance to experience them in our own way, now and in the future. Protect our public lands, support the parks and treat them like the special places they are.
Recovery day of rappelling and canyoneering.
Adam rapping down out of U-turn canyon, its a long way.