Arches National Park Part 1: Park Blvd, Dinosaur Tracks, and The Windows Section

Park Boulevard, Arches National Park

We only had 24 hours to spend in Arches National Park and I wanted to make the best of it. The first half of the day was spend exploring the southern half of the park, where we strolled Park Boulevard, 4×4’d to some dinosaur tracks, and wandered some enormous arches in the Windows Section.

Park Boulevard

After a brief stop at the Visitor Center to pick up our pre-reserved Fiery Furnace tickets for an afternoon tour, we headed to the Park Boulevard area for a short and scenic stroll among the towering red rock formations. The clouds were rolling in (forecasted rain later in the day) making for some nice contrast in the blue sky against the red rock.

Park Boulevard, Arches National Park

The scenery wasn’t just in macro format. The patterns and erosion in the rock beneath our feet were just as fascinating.

Erosion underfoot

Dinosaur Tracks

Just outside the park boundary are some dinosaur tracks. The Willow Flats road is rough dirt and rock but the Tundra had no problems. It’s neat to see the footprints as the critter ran across the land 165 million years ago. This side trip was definitely worth it, even though it was mostly just hopping out of the car to take some pictures. A nice place to get away from the typical national park crowds.

My Big Feet next to the dinosaur’s slightly larger feet

The Windows Section: Double Arch, Window Arches, Turret Arch

Back in the main part of the park we joined the crowds again in the Windows Section. This is an area with trails winding through clusters of rock formations and arches. We wandered and scrambled through them snapping photos and enjoying the beautiful day. As we hiked around the backside of Window Arches I noticed some neat smooth rock in the distance. Later, a close inspection of the photo I took revealed a distant Delicate Arch, our sunset destination that night. Cool!