7 Kid-Friendly Hikes In Arches National Park Your Kids Will Love

Arches National Park is one of the most family-friendly national parks you can visit. Almost every hike in Arches is kid-friendly, driving is limited and the rocks are a natural playground.

I’ve grown up visiting Arches, however, we recently took our kids (ages almost 6 years old, almost 3 years old, and 4 months old) for the first time and it was amazing.

They had a blast scampering on the trails, climbing on boulders, walking under arches, and looking out for cacti. We spent 3 days in the park spreading our hikes out to not push the kids too hard and to enjoy our evenings in Moab.

Check out my full guide to Arches with kids, which includes some of our favorite things to do in Moab, delicious places to eat, unique activities, and our amazing apartment hotel with a heated pool.

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✨ OUR ARCHES NATIONAL PARK FAVORITES ✨

WHERE WE STAYED:

😍 WORLDMARK MOAB: We loved our stay here! One-bedroom apartment style accomodations,free breakfast AND a beautiful heated pool and hot tub that you can even use in the dead of winter! 

EXCURSIONS TO BOOK:

🛻 Adventurous Off-Road Jeep Adventure: Discover another side of Moab on this thrilling (yet safe) off-roading Jeep experience! Crazy good reviews!

🏎️ Hell's Revenge U-Drive 4x4 Tour + Petroglyphs: Be your own driver in a 4x4 guided by a professional navigating the adventurous Hell's Revenge landscape!

🚲 2-Hour Ebike Petroglyph Tour: Take an easy Ebike ride through a beautiful canyon visiting several ancient sites and petroglyph panels along the way. 

✨ Sightseeing Tour of Arches National Park with Easy Walks: Want to see Arches without any long hikes? This is the perfect driving tour of Arches with only viewpoint and easy walks!
  

OUR OTHER TRAVEL FAVORITES:

📸 Tours/Excursions: Viator & Get Your Guide
🚕 Airport Transfers with Car Seats: Welcome Pickups
👉 Travel Strollers: Zoe Traveler & Zoe Double
🍼 Baby Carriers: Tula Carriers, Wildride Hip Carriers 
📱 International Data Phone eSIM: Airalo
🚗 Cheap Rental Cars: Economy Bookings
🏠 Accomodations: Booking, Expedia, VRBO, Airbnb
🌎 Travel Insurance: World Nomads
We receive a fee when you get a quote from World Nomads using the above link. We do not represent World Nomads. This is not a recommendation to buy travel insurance.

Best time of year for hiking with Kids in Arches National Park

The best months for hiking in Arches with kids are March-April and October-November. The average temperatures in these months are generally in the 60°s-70°s F making it the best weather for hiking.

If you don’t mind wearing a jacket and beanie, visiting Arches in the winter is also a great option. We most recently visited over New Years and had a great time.

Our hotel was an amazing price, we were warm in light puffy jackets (sometimes the kids even took theirs off) and there were way fewer people in the park than at other times of the year.

By all means, AVOID visiting from May to September. Although these are the busiest months at Arches they are by far the hottest. The daily temperatures hit 90°F+ with little to no shade on the trails.

Hiking in the summer will not only be miserable for your kids but could also be dangerous. It’s extremely hot.

If you choose to go in the summer, you’ll need to get on the trails very early in the morning (sunrise hikes) and head back to your hotel pool to cool off in the afternoon. We loved the hotel we stayed at – it had spacious apartment-style rooms, free breakfast, and a great outdoor pool that was even heated in the winter!

I like to use the Accuweather website to look at monthly averages and actual temperatures from previous years for destinations I’m visiting.

Search your destination, followed by selecting ‘monthly’ in the search bar that appears at the top of the page. This will help you understand the temperatures month-by-month in Arches.

Things to Know Before Hiking These Family-Friendly Hikes in Arches

• Timed reservation tickets are required for entry to the park from April-October. Tickets are available 6 months in advance and go fast. Learn more about how to reserve your entry time here.
• Stop in at a visitor center to talk to a park ranger before your day to pick up a Junior Ranger booklet for your kids and return it at the end of the day for them to receive their badge!
• We like to bring our personal water bottles plus a few gallon jugs to keep in our car to refill our bottles. However, if you need water in the park you can find it year-round at the Visitor Center and Devils Garden Campground, and seasonally at Devils Garden Trailhead.
• Remember to bring plenty of water and food on your hikes for each person in your family. Rangers suggest carrying and drinking at least 2 liters per person during all activities in the park including hiking.

• You can book a personalized, guided hiking tour of Arches National Park with a local expert to guide you and teach you about how these ancient sand dunes turned to stone followed by arches and other formations.
• Check out my complete guide to Arches for families for other fun things to do in and near Arches National Park
• Download a Google Map of Arches to your phone as there is next to no cell service within the park and don’t rely on calling someone in the event that you get lost.
• Follow ‘Leave No Trace’ principles and be sure to pack out any garbage you may have.
• Bring a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, and any layers you may need to protect yourself from the sun (especially if visiting in the summer because there is very little shade within Arches)

Map of Easy Arches National Park Hikes

*Use this interactive map to see the best hikes in Arches for families. Click on the full-screen icon in the top right corner to have this map open in your own Google Maps app or click on the arrow in the top left corner to see a pullout list of all points on the map*

Best Hikes in Arches for Kids: at a Glance

NAME	DISTANCE	ESTIMATED TIME WITH KIDS	DIFFICULTY LEVEL
1. Sandune Arch (Must do!)	0.4 miles roundtrip	45 minutes	Easy
2. Broken Arch	1 mile roundtrip from Sandune Arch lot	1 hour	Easy
3. Park Avenue	1 mile from parking lot to parking lot or 2 miles roundtrip	45 minutes lot to lot	Easy
4. Delicate Arch (Must do if you are up for an adventure!)	3 miles roundtrip	3 hours	Difficult but doable
5. Double Arch (Must do! Located next to the Windows Loop)	0.6 miles roundtrip	30 minutes	Easy
6. Windows Loop (Must do! Located Next to Double Arch)	1 mile roundtrip	1 hour	Easy
7. Balanced Rock	0.3 miles roundtrip	30 minutes	Easy

7 AMazing Arches National Park Hikes for Kids

1. Sandune Arch

Distance: 0.4 miles roundtrip

Difficulty: Easy

Estimated Time with Kids: 45 minutes (depending on how long you play)

Toilets: Yes

Sandune Arch needs to be top of your list if you’re looking for some of the best hikes for kids in Arches National Park. It’s by far my favorite easy hike clocking in at only 0.4 miles roundtrip.

Your kids will barely even notice that they are hiking because it’s so short. Plus, right near the beginning of the trail is a fun slot through the rocks with an option for scrambling that our kids loved.

After that, you enter an area surrounded by beautiful red rocks and deep red sand. The rocks are perfect for claiming and playing and the sand makes it fun and different!

Sandune Arch is not as obvious from a distance as most of the other arches in the park are, so it’s fun to see who can find the arch first.

I highly recommend the short walk to Sandune Arch and recommend giving your kids plenty of time to play and explore as long as they’d like.

On the way back to the car, we decided to add on a 1-mile roundtrip walk to Broken Arch. The trail is easily marked and forks from the Sandune Arch Trail and I’m glad we did! I talk more about that below.

2. Broken Arch

Distance: 1 mile out-and-back from Sandune Arch parking lot

Difficulty: Easy

Estimated Time with Kids: 1 hour

Toilets: Yes

There are two routes to hike Broken Arch. You can take either the 1-mile out and back hike from the Sandune Arch parking lot. Or, if you want a longer loop, you can do the Broken Arch Loop Trail which is 2.3 miles long, or even shorten that a bit if you’re staying at the campground and want to leave from there.

We hiked the 1-mile out and back route that forks off of the Sandune Arch Trail. It was the perfect add-on to Sandune Arch to make it a longer (but still easy) hike.

From Sandune Arch, the first part of the trail to Broken Arch goes through a flat grassy area that wasn’t super excited and required some follow-the-leader type play to keep the kids engaged.

However, as we got closer to the arch they had fun scampering on the rocks and loved climbing under and through the arch.

I recommend climbing under and through the arch to the other side because the views are really lovely from that way.

We continued on the loop trail under the arch for a short time but then turned around the same way we came to keep the hike short.

I recommend climbing under and through the arch though as the views on the other side are very pretty.

3. Park Avenue

Distance: The Park Avenue trail leads for 1 mile from the Park Avenue parking lot to the Courthouse Towers parking lot. If you have two cars with your party, you can park one at each parking lot and walk from the Park Avenue parking Lot to the Courthouse Towers parking lot. However, if you don’t have two cars (like most people) it would be a 2-mile roundtrip hike.

Difficulty: Easy

Estimated Time with Kids: 45 minutes when we did the 1-mile lot-to-lot hike

Toilets: Yes

The Park Avenue Trail is one of the few trails in Arches National Park that doesn’t lead to an arch. It was a nice change of pace and I think it’s a worthwhile walk.

It’s called Park Avenue because the trail is lined with large red rock cliffs (not a slot canyon, they are spread much further apart) and you may get a similar feeling to walking down Park Avenue in NYC lined with skyscrapers.

You could stop to only see the Park Avenue Viewpoint without hiking the trail. However, the trail is much better than the viewpoint in my humble opinion.

As I mentioned in the description of this hike, there are a few different ways to do it tackle it and the wording is a little confusing in the park pamphlet you’re given upon entering the park.

The Park Avenue trail connects two parking lots: the Park Avenue parking lot and the Courthouse Towers parking lot.

Between those two lots, the trail distance is 1 mile. If you happen to have two cars with your party, you can park one at each parking lot and walk from the Park Avenue parking Lot to the Courthouse Towers parking to make the hike 1-mile long.

However, if you don’t have two cars (like most people) it’s a 2-mile roundtrip hike.

We happened to have two cars with our party so we did the 1-mile hike from lot to lot. However, if you don’t have two cars but would prefer a 1-mile hike over a 2-mile hike I suggest starting at the Courthouse Towers parking lot and walking on the Park Avenue Trail for as long as your kids are interested before turning around.

The section of trail that is closer to the Courthouse Towers parking lot has the most interesting slabs of rocks and boulders that your kids may enjoy playing on. Plus, you’ll skip some stairs that are at the beginning of the trail by the Park Avenue lot.

We saw very few people on the Park Avenue Trail. I think that’s maybe because this trail is overlooked since there are no arches on it.

But I really loved the quiet area and enjoyed looking at the beautiful rock cliffs around us and the kids had a blast scampering around.

4. Delicate Arch

Distance: 3 miles roundtrip

Difficulty: Difficult but doable

Estimated Time with Kids: 3 hours including a picnic at the arch

Toilets: Yes

Okay, Delicate Arch is the only hike on this list that is not a straightforward easy family hike. However, I think it needs to be included. Delicate Arch is one of the most recognizable arches in the world and the best view of it is by far from the Delicate Arch Trail.

If you plan well and have a good attitude, the hike to Delicate Arch can be a fun family adventure and something your kids will remember for years to come. The first time I hiked to Delicate Arch was when I was 3 years old and I still remember it today!

The hike to Delicate Arch is a 3-mile roundtrip trail with a good portion of uphill climbing. It’s technically rated as ‘difficult’ on the Arches National Park website, however, our almost 6-year-old hiked the entire trail and our almost 3-year-old hiked an astounding 90%.

Most of the trail is on gorgeous red rock slabs and it’s such a unique experience.

We carried our baby and also have a soft, back carrier for our 3-year-old (which we didn’t use but have absolutely relied on for other hikes). We prefer these soft carriers over the bulky climbing backpacks for our toddlers/preschoolers because they are easy to store in our backpack if they decide they want to walk on their own.

We let the kids climb and be playful along the trail and run, walk, and take breaks whenever needed. We had a full picnic lunch to refuel once we reached the arch and may have had a little bit of bribing passing out M&Ms at the very end.

The vast majority of the trail feels very safe except for the very end which has a brief section with a drop-off (but the trail is wide enough to hug the side while holding your kids’ hands). Plus the area around the arch is a pretty steep bowl that I only recommend going down in if you’re confident in your kids’ abilities.

This is coming from someone who is very scared of heights and hates the idea of their kids going anywhere near steep things, but we did it and it was totally fine.

The entire experience took us about 3 hours (including the picnic lunch).

At the beginning of the Delicate Arch Trail, you’ll pass the Wolfe Ranch Cabin which is a one-bedroom home from about 1900 and rock art from the Ute people created after 1600. It’s just a short detour off the main trail and is worth checking out.

If this hike sounds like too much, there’s a viewpoint for the Delicate Arch with a very short walk in another area of the park.

However, the view of the arch is pretty far away and it’s a bit difficult to appreciate. However, that may be a better option for some.

5. Double Arch

Distance: 0.6 miles roundtrip

Difficulty: Easy

Estimated Time with Kids: 30 minutes

Toilets: Yes

Double Arch and the Windows Loop are located on opposite sides of the same large parking lot. We walked the short walk to Double Arch which is the tallest and second-longest arch within the park which gives you a lot of bang for the buck.

You can see the Arch from the parking area, but if you take the short walk you get to climb up and underneath it which was fun for the kids.

This large parking area connecting all of these arches is a great place to visit with kids. I find the drive to it is one of the prettiest drives in the park plus you can see four different arches without moving your car and without walking too much.

If you are considering the Devil’s Garden Trail because of its access to multiple arches, I would reconsider and come here instead. These trails are shorter and more fun for kids.

6. Windows Loop

Distance: 1 mile roundtrip

Difficulty: Easy

Estimated Time with Kids: 1 hour

Toilets: Yes

In the hike above I talk more about how the Windows Loop Trail and Double Arch are located on opposite sides of the same parking lot. If you have time, I recommend doing both of these hikes one after another.

The Windows Loop is an easy 1-mile hike that takes you to 3 different beautiful arches (Turret Arch, North Window and South Window).

It’s a great trail to take if your kids want to see a lot of arches without walking too far.

As I mentioned, I’d pick the Windows Loop and Double Arch any day over the Devil’s Garden trail. It’s shorter and much more fun for the kids.

7. Balanced Rock

Distance: 0.3 miles roundtrip

Difficulty: Easy- the beginning part of the trail is paved/stroller friendly, however, the loop around the base of Balanced Rock has steps and rocky surfaces.

Estimated Time with Kids: 30 minutes

Toilets: Across the road up a gravel road is a picnic area and toilet

Balanced Rock can be easily seen from the parking area, however, you can take an easy 0.3-mile walk around it to get a better look.

The first portion of the trail is paved/stroller-friendly but once you reach Balanced Rock the trail has steps and rocky surfaces.

If you don’t like getting your kids in and out of the car, I’d skip this one and just enjoy the views from the road/parking lot.

Which of these HIkes for Families in Arches are Near Each other

Many of these family-friendly trails in Arches are located near each other and you can even park at the same car park.

• Sandune Arch and Broken Arch (Broken Arch breaks off from the Sandune Arch Trail) 1.5 miles roundtrip if you do both
• Double Arch and Windows Loop (on opposite sides of a large parking lot, one of the most scenic areas of the park) 1.6 miles total if you do both, plus the walk across the large parking lot

• Park Avenue and Balanced Rock (both near(ish) the entrance of Arches National Park, one after the other as you drive down the road but require different parking spots)
• Delicate Arch and Wolfe Family Cabin and Petroglyphs (the beginning of the trail to Delicate Arch has a log cabin from about 1900 plus there are petroglyphs on nearby rocks dating back to sometime after 1600

Additional Fun Things to Do Near Arches National Park That Aren’t Hikes

Check out my guide to visiting Arches National Park as a family for all of our favorite things to do near Arches plus yummy places to eat and a great place to stay. But for now, here are a few highlights from that post:

• Experience a calm(but epic) nighttime boat ride on the Colorado with a light show on the red rocks!
• Visit the legendary Moab Rock Shop, complete with dinosaur fossils and local geodes for sale!
• Design custom t-shirts with vintage designs at The T-Shirt Shop in Moab (one of my favorites!)
• See real-life dinosaur footprints at Mill Canyon Dinosaur Track Site

And that’s everything I think you need to know about family-friendly hiking trails in Arches National Park! Arches is one of our favorite adventurous places we’ve visited as a family.

Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions about hikes in Arches for kids and I’ll be sure to get back to you!

✨ LOOKING FOR MORE ABOUT ARCHES NATIONAL PARK?

❄️ Is It Worth It To Visit Arches National Park In The Winter?

✨ The Ultimate Guide to Arches National Park with Kids: Things to Do + Map and Tips

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