A nice thing about Arches is that "easy" doesn't mean, "boring", at least as far as the beautiful scenery that surrounds the park. The Balanced Rock Loop is one of the easier hikes around the base of a fragile and highly improbable geological rarity. Park Avenue is a medium hike where the trail descends steeply into a spectacular canyon. A slightly longer hike to the Windows takes you to two massive sandstone portals you can climb through. A half-mile trail takes you to the rim of a steep canyon where you can glimpse one of the nation's most photographed natural features.

• Long Hikes

Delicate Arch • Starting Point: Wolfe Ranch parking area • Length: 3 miles round trip • Time: 2 to 3 hours • Elevation change: 480 feet     Take at least 1 quart (1 liter) of water per person! There is no shade. Open slickrock with some exposure to heights. The first half-mile is a wide, well-defined trail. Upon reaching the slickrock, follow the rock cairns. The trail climbs gradually and levels out toward the top of this rock face. Just before you get to Delicate Arch, the trail goes along a rock ledge for about 200 yards.

Devils Garden Primitive Loop • Starting Point: Devils Garden Trailhead parking area • Length: 7.2 miles (11.5 km) round trip, including all spur trails to points of interest • Time: 3 to 5 hours     Longest of the maintained trails in the park, the Devils Garden Trail leads to eight awe-inspiring arches. Expect narrow ledges with rocky surface hiking and scrambling on slickrock. Not recommended when rock is wet or snowy. Trail guide available at trailhead.

Fiery Furnace (Fee Area)     The Fiery Furnace is a labyrinth of narrow sandstone canyons and fins. Visitors who want to explore the Fiery Furnace must obtain a hiking permit at the visitor center (fee charged), or sign up for a ranger-guided hike.

Double O Arch • Starting Point: Devils Garden Trailhead parking area • Length: 4 miles (6.4 km) round trip • Time: 2 to 3 hours     Beyond Landscape Arch, the trail becomes more challenging as it climbs over sandstone slabs; footing is rocky; there are narrow ledges with exposure to heights. Spur trails lead to Partition and Navajo Arches. Dark Angel is one-half mile (0.8 km) farther. Trail guide available at trailhead.

Medium Hikes

Park Avenue • Starting Point: Park Avenue parking area • Ending Point: Courthouse Towers parking area • Length: 1 mile (1.6 km) one way • Time: 30 to 60 minutes • Elevation change: 320 feet (98 meters)     From Park Avenue parking area, the trail descends steeply into a spectacular canyon and continues down the wash to Courthouse Towers. If you have a shuttle driver, you can begin at one point and be picked up at the other. For round-trip hiking, retrace your steps along the trail rather than walk along the park road.

Tower Arch • Starting Point: Klondike Bluffs parking area, via the Salt Valley road • Length: 3.4 miles (5.6 km) round trip • Time: 2 to 3 hours     The trail climbs a steep, but short, rock wall, cuts across a valley and then meanders through sandstone fins and sand dunes. An alternate, shorter trail (0.3 mile [0.4 km] one way), begins at the end of the four-wheel-drive road on the west side of Tower Arch. This unpaved road washes out quickly in rainstorms; inquire at the visitor center about road conditions before heading out.

Easy Hikes

Broken Arch • Starting Point: Sand Dune Arch parking area or Devils Garden campground across from campsite #40 • Length: 1.2 miles (2 km) round trip; 2 miles (3.2 km) including the loop • Time: 30 to 60 minutes     From the Sand Dune Arch parking area, the trail cuts across a large meadow to the arch and continues to the campground. Loop trail leads through fin canyons with sand dunes and slickrock.

Balanced Rock • Starting Point: Balanced Rock parking area • Length: 0.3 mile (0.5 km) round trip • Time: 15 to 30 minutes A loop trail around the base of a fragile, picturesque rock formation.

The Windows • Starting Point: Windows parking area • Length: 1 mile (1.6 km) round trip • Time: 30 to 60 minutes     A gentle climb up a gravel loop trail leads to three massive arches (North and South Windows and Turret Arch). An alternate return, slightly longer, is by way of the primitive loop around the back of the two Windows. The primitive loop trail starts at the South Window viewpoint.

Double Arch • Starting Point: Double Arch parking area • Length: 0.5 mile (0.8 km) round trip • Time: 15 to 30 minutes     A relatively flat, sandy trail leads to the base of two giant arch spans which are joined at one end.

Delicate Arch Viewpoint • Starting Point: Delicate Arch Viewpoint parking area • Length: 100 yards (91 meters) round trip • Time: 10 to 15 minutes     In addition to the short accessible trail, another (moderately strenuous) hiking trail climbs one-half mile (0.8 km) toward Delicate Arch and ends at the rim of a steep canyon that separates the viewpoint from the arch. (This is not the popular trail to Delicate Arch, which starts at the Wolfe Ranch parking area.)

Sand Dune Arch • Starting Point: Sand Dune Arch parking area • Length: 0.4 mile (0.6 km) round trip • Time: 15 to 30 minutes     Trail leads through deep sand to a secluded arch among sandstone fins.

Desert Nature Trail • Starting Point: Arches Visitor Center • Length: 0.2 mile (0.3 km) round trip • Time: 15 to 30 minutes     Discover the adaptations of plants and animals in the desert on a self-guided nature walk. Trail guide available at the trailhead.

Skyline Arch • Starting Point: Skyline Arch parking area • Length: 0.4 mile (0.6 km) round trip • Time: 10 to 20 minutes     A short hike on a flat, well-defined trail. On a cold November night in 1940, a large chunk fell out of the arch, instantly doubling the size of its opening.