Moab double: Mesa Arch at sunrise, Delicate Arch in the afternoon

Moab

1. 5:45 am1

   Drive out to Island in the Sky in the darkMoab

   About 45 minutes from Moab: north on 191, then Highway 313 up onto the mesa. In February the road ices on the switchbacks and there is no gas, no food and no signal past the turn. Cost is the $30 seven-day Canyonlands vehicle pass — a separate fee from Arches this afternoon.

   13 min walk · 1000 m
2. 6:45 am2

   Mesa Arch for the underglowMoab

   Held because it needs a clear eastern horizon — under cloud the famous orange underside simply does not happen and you have got up at 05:00 for a nice view. The trail is a half-mile loop from the lot. In February sunrise is about 07:20; be at the arch by 06:45 for a front-row spot, and in summer that means arriving two hours early because the tripods interlock. The sunstar is at the instant the sun clears the rim, and the whole show lasts about ten minutes. Grand View Point is another 20 minutes down the road if you want the canyon without anybody in it.

   12 min by train or taxi · 12 km
3. 8:15 am3

   Green River Overlook and the drive back downMoab

   Five minutes off the main road and the best cheap view in the district — you look down two levels of canyon onto the White Rim. Uncommitted: skip it if the light has gone flat and get to breakfast.

   13 min by train or taxi · 13 km
4. 10:15 am4

   Brunch at Love Muffin CaféMoab

   Breakfast burritos and proper coffee on Main. Fill water bottles here — Arches has drinking water only at the visitor center and Devils Garden.

   18 min by train or taxi · 18 km
5. 11:40 am5

   Into Arches, up to Wolfe RanchMoab

   Arches dropped its timed-entry reservation for 2026 — announced 18 February, nothing to book, no $2 fee. What did not change is the entrance queue: between May and October the line at the booth can run 30 minutes from about 09:00 to 11:00, and the Wolfe Ranch lot fills. Winter has neither problem. $30 per vehicle, seven days.

   17 min walk · 1.3 km
6. 12:15 pm6

   Delicate Arch by the slickrock routeMoab

   Three miles round trip and about 480 feet, most of it one unshaded slickrock slab with cairns instead of a trail — allow two to three hours. Stop at the Wolfe Ranch cabin and take the 100-yard spur to the Ute petroglyph panel; almost everyone walks past it. The last 200 yards is a ledge cut into the cliff that ices over in winter, so carry microspikes between December and March. Late afternoon is when the arch glows, but that is also when fifty people are queuing under it for a photo; midday in winter you may have it to yourself.

   19 min by train or taxi · 19 km
7. 3:30 pm7

   The Windows and Double Arch on the way outMoab

   Big arches, tiny walk — a mile of sand gets you North Window, South Window and Turret Arch, and Double Arch is a five-minute stroll opposite. Take the primitive loop behind the Windows for the back side of North Window with nobody in it.

   14 min walk · 1.1 km
8. 6:15 pm8

   Dinner at the Moab BreweryMoab

   Loud, quick and it feeds everyone who has been on rock all day. If you want the good meal instead, Desert Bistro is four blocks north and needs a reservation days out in season.