Itinerary - Day 6

This morning, we'll be leaving Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and will drive to our second destination, Arches National Park, which is located near Moab, Utah. Aside from its proximity to Arches and Bryce Canyon National Parks, Moab is probably most well known for mountain biking. The Slickrock Trail is one of the most well known and most difficult biking trails in the United States.

Our drive today will be approximately 200 miles, and should take about 3 hours and 15 minutes. Arches National Park is known to be quite busy in the summer months, so I'm hoping to get on the road as early as possible, so that we'll have as much time as possible for hiking and sightseeing in the park.

The main attractions in Arches National Park are ... the rock arches!!! The arches have been created by the forces of erosion on the sandstone rock over thousands and thousands of years.

Many of the most impressive arches in the park can be seen from viewpoints along the main park road. There are also numerous hiking trails that provide access to see them up close, and to see some that can't be seen from the road.

Josh and I are hoping to do a lot of hiking this afternoon, however, the combination of crowds and weather may influence our plans. First, in order to hike, we'll have to be able to park our car, and from what I've read, this may be difficult at some of the more popular hiking spots. Second, the average daytime temperature in Arches National Park during the month of July is 100 degrees, and temperatures of 110 to 115 degrees are not uncommon. I guess that on the bright side, it will be a "dry heat".

We'll be spending the night at the Devil's Garden Campground in the park. There are several arches and hiking trails near the campground, so maybe in the late afternoon or early evening, after we've set up our camp and rested a bit, we'll do some more hiking. The good news about the dessert is that at night time, the temperature drops to the lower 60's, so we should have good sleeping weather!

That should pretty much finish our day here. In the morning, we'll be leaving for our next destination, Bryce Canyon National Park, and its famed "hoodoos"!