Arches National Park – Park Avenue & Courthouse Towers

Arches National Park should be on everyone’s “must see” list of National Parks. While the park is most well-known for having over 2000 arches, including the famous Delicate Arch and Landscape Arch, there is more to see than just the arches. Park Avenue is one of the first stops after entering Arches National Park, and is a great way to start your visit.

Park Avenue and Courthouse Towers Hike Details

Distance – 1.0 mile one way, or 2.0 miles round trip
Approximate hiking time – 30 to one hour
Elevation at trailhead – 4560 feet
Difficulty – Easy
Trail – slickrock
Amount of water recommended 1 liter, there is little shade
Bathrooms – None
Seasons to hike – All year around
Permits/Fees – $10 per vehicle at park entrance (good for 7 days)

How to get there:

Arches National Park is located five miles north of Moab, Utah, along US-191. Upon entering the park, rangers will give you a map. Follow the park road 2.4 miles where you will turn into the Park Avenue parking area on the left side of the road.

Hitting the Trail!

As you enter Arches National Park, this is the first hiking opportunity that you’ll have. It’s a great hike to get the muscles going, or it’s a nice cool down in the evening. As you leave the parking area, you’ll follow a wide, paved trail for about 100 yards to a viewpoint of Park Avenue. This is the view from that lookout. Many visitors are satisfied with the view from here, which is impressive, but if you really want to understand how this area got the name of Park Avenue, one has to drop down and walk the Park Avenue trail to feel the immensity of the sandstone monoliths on either side. The real Park Avenue is a wide boulevard in Manhattan Island in New York City, with soaring skyscrapers on either side of the avenue.

The easy trail from the Park Avenue overlook descends down some well-maintained path to the floor of Park Avenue. It is a one mile hike down through the sandstone monoliths to the end of Park Avenue. There is another parking area there, where groups that have more than one car can park so it becomes a walk-through hike instead of an out and back hike. If you only have one car and it’s parking at the Park Avenue viewpoint, it will be two miles down and back Park Avenue. Along the way, hikers are treated to great views along the trail of the Courthouse Towers, which is composed of formations of The Organ, The Tower of Babel, The Three Gossips, and Sheep Rock. Here are some pictures of the curious rock formations at Park Avenue and the Courthouse Towers.

 

The Three Gossips may be the best name for a rock formation that I’ve ever heard. What a clever description! One of the things that I like about Arches National Park is that there are so many clever names for the arches and formations. Sheep Rock is a clever name too! That rock looks exactly like a sheep!

Park Avenue is best photographed in the later afternoon for the deep colors on the canyon walls. Morning is excellent time to photograph, The Organ, Sheep Rock, The Tower of Babel, and The Three Gossips.

This was my very first hike in a National Park, and even though there may be some more well-known hikes in the Arches National Park, this one is a special one for me.

What to Bring

(Click on an item for more information)

Hiking shoe options for adults:
And here are some great shoe options for kids:

This is a hike that children will enjoy, as well as experienced hikers. This stop will only take about an hour to see and complete. I highly recommend to those visiting Arches National Park to take the time to at least stop at the Park Avenue viewpoint.

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