Hiking the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park
Distance: 7.9 miles / 12.7 km
Among a sea of arches, towering sandstone walls, and unique rock formations, the Devils Garden Trail is often regarded as one of the best day hikes in Arches National Park!
That being said, the 7.9-mile (12.7 km) Devils Garden Loop Trail, with at least 10 different spurs off the main trail, is often not hiked in its entirety by most visitors.
By this, I mean that past the Landscape Arch, the Devils Garden Trail is referred to as the Devils Garden Primitive Trail, as the hike traverses a number of sections that require scrambling, good navigational skills, and most of all, good hiking gear!
In any case, it is very common among visitors to hike as far as the Double O Arch, as it—along with the Pine Tree and Navajo Arch—are among the most beautiful on the entire trail!
Devils Garden Trailhead Parking
Parking for the Devils Garden Trail is located at the very end of the 18.4-mile (29.6 km) Arches National Park Road.
That being said, the Devils Garden Trailhead is among the busiest in all of Arches, and by mid-morning throughout the year, finding a spot to park can be challenging, even with the advanced vehicle reservation system.
Google Maps Directions: Devils Garden Trailhead
Hiking Checklist - Arches
Here is a complete list of must-have things that you will want for any hike in Arches National Park.
Hiking the Devils Garden Trail
Since the Devils Garden Trail is one of the longest hikes in Arches National Park, it is strongly advised to begin the hike early in the day, especially if you are interested in completing all 7.9 miles (12.7 km).
This sentiment is even more true during the hot summer season, and it makes finding a spot to park that much easier.
In the beginning, the Devils Garden Trail begins on a mostly flat and easy trail until the Pine Tree Arch junction, located shortly ahead.
Devils Garden-Pine Tree Arch Junction
At the Pine Tree Arch junction, located about 0.3 miles (0.5 km) into the hike, you’ll either have the option to go right to visit the Tunnel and Pine Tree Arches, or go left to continue on the Devils Garden Trail.
On this day, I hiked all 10 spur trails off the main Devils Garden Trail.
Tunnel Arch
The 22-ft. (6.7 m) Tunnel Arch is the first and closest arch to the Devils Garden Trailhead.
I say this to say that both the Pine Tree and Tunnel Arch make for a great, quick, and easy hike if you are visiting Arches with young kids.
After the Tunnel Arch, I continued further down the spur trail for another 0.2 miles (0.3 km) to reach the Pine Tree Arch.
Pine Tree Arch
In my opinion, the Pine Tree Arch, along with the Navajo and Double O Arch, are among the most beautiful on the entire Devils Garden Trail.
Devils Garden-Pine Tree Arch Junction
Once back on the main Devils Garden Trail, go right to continue toward the Devils Garden Primitive Loop.
Devils Garden Primitive Loop Trail
At the 1.4-mile (2.3 km) mark, the Devils Garden Trail comes to the Devils Garden Primitive Loop Trail.
This is where the Landscape Arch becomes visible for the first time, and it’s where hikers are faced with the decision to continue further, as the trail undoubtedly becomes more challenging after the Landscape Arch.
However, other than the initial scramble shown after the Landscape Arch, the 'real' challenging parts of the loop begin after the Double O Arch, which is a popular turnaround point for many day hikers.
Since it is most popular to continue left on the Primitive Loop, this is the direction I chose to hike, and it’s the direction I recommend, as I feel that it’s better to hike all of the tedious spur trails in the beginning, rather than save them for the end of the hike.
Devils Garden-Landscape Arch Junction
At the Landscape Arch junction, go left to reach the viewpoint closest to the arch.
Landscape Arch
One of the most notable things about the Landscape Arch is that visitors used to be able to walk beneath it until numerous rock falls in 1995 prompted the National Park Service to close the trail after this point.
Devils Garden Primitive Trail
After the Landscape Arch, the National Park Service provides a warning about how the Primitive Trail becomes more challenging in the sections to come.
With that in mind, there are guided tours for the Devils Garden Primitive Trail, including options to have a guide for the entire loop.
This steeper section is generally regarded as the most challenging part of the Devils Garden Primitive Trail to the Double O Arch.
Navajo-Devils Garden Primitive Junction
At about a third of the way between the initial Devils Garden Loop junction and the Double O Arch, the trail splits once again into two more spurs for both the Partition and Navajo Arch.
Again, I highly recommend hiking the spur trails, as the Navajo Arch is one of the most beautiful and unique arches on the entire Devils Garden Trail.
Partition-Navajo Arch Junction
At the Partition-Navajo Arch junction, I chose to go left first toward the Partition Arch.
Partition Arch
In my experience, the Partition Arch can act like a wind funnel, making the temperature on either side starkly different from the other.
Partition-Navajo Arch Junction
Once back at the Partition-Navajo Arch junction, go left to continue to the Navajo Arch.
Navajo Arch
The Navajo Arch is undoubtedly a favorite on the Devils Garden Trail.
By this, I mean that when I first arrived to shoot some photos, I thought that I was the only one who thought the Navajo Arch was more unique than the rest. However, as each group came, it was interesting to see how many others found this uniquely beautiful arch to be one of their favorites compared to the many others.
I say all this to say that I can’t wait to return at a later part in the day to get photos with the light shining through the Navajo Arch!
Partition-Navajo Arch Junction
At the Partition-Navajo Arch junction, go straight to continue back to the Devils Garden Primitive Trail.
Navajo-Devils Garden Primitive Junction
Then, go left to continue toward the famous Double O Arch, located about 0.8 miles (1.3 km) up the trail from this junction.
After about 0.25 miles (0.4 km) from the previous junction, the Devils Garden Trail will make a hard left turn up onto the ridge.
Then, continue on the ridge until the trail veers off to the left shortly ahead.
Black-Double O Arch Junction
At about two-thirds of the way to the Double O Arch, the Black Arch Overlook will be just off the trail on the right-hand side.
Black Arch Overlook
The Black Arch is one of the more difficult to see on the entire Devils Garden Trail, being that the sandstone behind the arch is obviously very dark.
Nevertheless, this short spur makes for a great place to sit and take a break on a hot day.
Once back on the Devils Garden Trail, the Double O Arch is only another 0.4 miles (0.6 km) from the Black Arch junction
As the trail descends toward the fins at the far end of the Devils Garden Primitive Trail, the Double O Arch will be located shortly ahead.
Double O Arch
The Double O Arch is often regarded as one of the best arches on the entire Devils Garden Trail. However, that doesn’t go without saying that climbing through the arch to get to the far side, as shown below, is more difficult than it may appear.
Simply making it up to the bottom O is challenging on its own, but climbing back from this far viewpoint may have been even more difficult than simply getting here.
Devils Garden Primitive-Dark Angel Junction
Once back on the trail side of the Double O Arch, the Devils Garden Primitive Trail splits again for the Dark Angel Trail.
In my experience, this first part of the Dark Angel Trail is a bit vague, but the trail becomes more defined as it gets closer to the Dark Angel.
Dark Angel
The Dark Angel is a 150-ft. (45.7 m) sandstone tower that essentially marks the very far end of the Devils Garden Trail.
To this point, this is even more evident from miles away on Arches National Park Road, as the Dark Angel is one of the most prominent landmarks in the Devils Garden area from afar.
Devils Garden Primitive-Dark Angel Junction
Past the Double O Arch, the Devils Garden Primitive Trail becomes noticeably more challenging than the sections up to this point.
This is all to say that there is much more scrambling and exposure, the trail is noticeably not as well-marked, and there is a significant drop in the amount of hikers, which can be nice to see to ensure that you’re hiking in the correct direction.
That said, I highly recommend proceeding if you think you’re up for the challenge, but it is for these reasons that the Double O Arch is the most popular turnaround point on the Devils Garden Trail.
Initially, the far side of the Devils Garden Primitive Loop will follow a typically dry wash, with various arrows indicating the correct direction.
Top Story Window
The Top Story Window is an arch only visible on the trail from afar, unless you decide to hike off-trail to get a better view.
Devils Garden-Private Arch Junction
Located on the far north corner of the Devils Garden Primitive Trail, the Private Arch Trail is the second-to-last spur trail off the main loop.
Private Arch
Among all the spurs on the Devils Garden Trail, the 0.6-mile (1.0 km) roundtrip Private Arch Trail is the second longest spur behind the Dark Angel.
However, I still feel that it’s worth the hike, as there are really unique angles of the arch, should you choose to continue through.
Devils Garden-Private Arch Junction
Once back on the Devils Garden Loop, go right to continue around the Primitive Trail.
At the next drop immediately after the Private Arch junction, go to the right around the drop, not the route that the woman in the photo below is taking.
Scrambling around this drop to the right is by far safer and quicker than trying to navigate the smooth sandstone, as she was struggling to do.
This is where the Devils Garden Trail truly feels like you’re hiking through the fins!
Devils Garden Primitive-Box Arch Junction
At this clearing, the Devils Garden Trail comes to this unmarked junction with the Box Arch Trail on the right-hand side.
Being that this final spur is only 0.1 miles (0.2 km) each way, I highly recommend checking it out, as few even notice the Box Arch because the main loop continues to the left.
Box Arch
The Box Arch is one of my favorites on a hot summer day, as it is typically one of the last places to find shade on the Devils Garden Trail before making the final return loop back to the beginning.
This is where the Devils Garden Primitive Loop continues past the Box Arch.
At about the 5.2-mile (8.4 km) mark from the beginning, the Devils Garden Trail comes to what most regard as the most challenging part of the entire hike.
This traverse along the smooth sandstone can be challenging for many, as slipping off the narrow trail shown below would likely have dangerous consequences.
After this narrow section, the Devils Garden Primitive Loop will continue along the bottom of the wash.
Then, at this unnamed junction, go left to continue on the Devils Garden Trail.
That being said, it is because of the tricky, unmarked turns like this that a hiking guide can be incredibly helpful!
At this split, go left again to stay in the wash.
This is where the Devils Garden Trail leaves the final wash on the right-hand side, which is where I feel that the hike back to the beginning moves significantly faster than all of the previous sections up to this point.
Devils Garden Primitive Loop Junction (Landscape Arch)
After 7.1 miles (11.4 km), the Devils Garden Primitive Loop returns back to the beginning portion of the trail, which is where the Landscape Arch first became visible.
Go left here to return to the Devils Garden Trailhead.
Overall, the Devils Garden Trail is one of the best and one of my personal favorite hikes in all of Arches National Park.
If you decide to hike the entire 7.9-mile (12.7 km) trail, be sure to come prepared with at least 3L of water, which cannot be understated during the hot summer months!
Furthermore, good shoes are highly recommended for good grip on the slippery sandstone. Personally, I love these road-to-trail shoes, which are a great hiking option for trails across Moab and much of southern Utah.
