After the lush fields of plants in Zion we drove on Eastward through Bryce and onto Arches National Park. Arches totally deserves it's name with beautiful natural arches everywhere and gorgeous desert terrain like petrified sand dunes. We camped at the park camp grounds and found a fantastic spot to erect an amazing "Radiation Deflector" = a piece of fabric for shade ; ) This turned out to be a super must as the temperatures rose to nearly 100F at lunch time ... ouch! There were massive sunburns earned along both of the longer trails we journeyed.
Negro Bill Trail | This trail is just off the highway and considered "highly shaded". This translates to at mid day nearly 30% of the trail being shaded. Given the other trails in the park this is tons of shade and most are full cover, but it still felt a little misleading. The trail runs along a stream for about 2 miles going over rocks and crossings over the stream in multiple places. The trail itself is well marked with signs and there is some over growth as we went rather late in the season. The trail ends into a beautiful large arch and a small pool. This was most non-existent as we were there in August, but there was plenty of stream to stop and soak the feets in.
Devils Canyon Trail | The trail head is just past the campgrounds inside the park. The trail is considered the major trail in the park and is totally worth the just over 4 miles round trip. All of the guide information will tell you to bring 2+ liters of water per person...you will want to do this. The trail is very poorly marked in places and it is quite easy to get yourself set on a side journey. The water is key to keep up your spirits and energy while you get through the minimal cover (7-10% morning and evening | less than 2% midday) and if you need to go back and find the real trail. Gorgeous arches at each of the off shoots and all are recommended. The view from on top of the fins is amazing as you can see across the entire valley to the north; this is a different view from the south facing camp grounds and adds to the beauty of the valley. The compass was *very* helpful for this one.
Negro Bill Trail | This trail is just off the highway and considered "highly shaded". This translates to at mid day nearly 30% of the trail being shaded. Given the other trails in the park this is tons of shade and most are full cover, but it still felt a little misleading. The trail runs along a stream for about 2 miles going over rocks and crossings over the stream in multiple places. The trail itself is well marked with signs and there is some over growth as we went rather late in the season. The trail ends into a beautiful large arch and a small pool. This was most non-existent as we were there in August, but there was plenty of stream to stop and soak the feets in.
Devils Canyon Trail | The trail head is just past the campgrounds inside the park. The trail is considered the major trail in the park and is totally worth the just over 4 miles round trip. All of the guide information will tell you to bring 2+ liters of water per person...you will want to do this. The trail is very poorly marked in places and it is quite easy to get yourself set on a side journey. The water is key to keep up your spirits and energy while you get through the minimal cover (7-10% morning and evening | less than 2% midday) and if you need to go back and find the real trail. Gorgeous arches at each of the off shoots and all are recommended. The view from on top of the fins is amazing as you can see across the entire valley to the north; this is a different view from the south facing camp grounds and adds to the beauty of the valley. The compass was *very* helpful for this one.
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