Hiking in Arches National Park for the first time was a wild experience for me. From the second we drove up the road to the park I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The towering monoliths, the otherworldly rock formations, and the red rock desert captured my imagination, unlike anything I had seen before. We spent two full days in the park and I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything. Early on in our trip, we hiked out through the windows and it was the first time I had been on a primitive path. This was an adventurous journey my whole family will remember for the rest of our lives.

The windows in Arches National Park are an appropriately named rock formation that looks like, you guessed it, windows. The simple trail leading out to these formations is easy enough and it's very visible from the parking lot. But one thing I quickly learned about Arches is there is always more than meets the eye.

There were more arches than the Windows to see when it came this trail so we took the path leading to the right and found ourselves standing underneath the massive Turret Arch. This was a great detour since we got to climb right up to the arch and even hiked through to the other side. This was a perfect introduction to the park and we were determined to see as many arches as we could. Trust me we ended up seeing a lot of arches.

After thoroughly exploring Turret Arch we followed the path and did the same for the windows. These beautiful bridges blew us away. Both the north and south windows were visible and the closer we got they seemed to grow.

Once we stood under the curved rock we could really appreciate the length and height of these windows. The shade afforded us a pleasant respite from the heat of the desert but I was so enamored by the arches I hardly cared about the hot sun.

We followed the trail around the arch and once we were on the other side we were greeted by a sign that simply said “Primitive path”. We had a pretty good educated guess on what that meant but later I would say it just means a choose your own adventure trail. The clear trail with stone steps and well-worn ground faded to natural low-growing plants and little to no direction. Everyone else turned around and we had the whole place to ourselves. This made it feel especially daring and exciting.

Our girls loved it since there was no clear trail to follow anymore we were left to just find our own way. Now we were in no danger of losing our way since we were only on the other side of the windows, which was a huge rock formation we couldn’t lose sight of. However, it was a trick of the mind that told us we were trail-blazing and exploring uncharted territory. As we worked our way around we passed various obstacles like rocks to climb on and bushes to maneuver around. The whole area felt fresh and new despite thousands of others who have traverse the same grounds.

We eventually circled around again and found a more traditional trail that led us right back to where we started. If you want to continue the wonder found in Arches National Park then cross the parking lot for your next quick hike. Double Arch is located only steps away from the Windows which is helpful information if you are like us and want to see as many arches as possible in the park.

Hiking in Arches National Park was much more exciting when there was no trail to follow. The lure of untouched potential drew us in, but again, the arches are one of the coolest natural wonders we have ever seen. This park made it into one of our top five favorite parks for sure and would love to travel back one day. If you want to have a map of the Window Loop Trail handy make sure to download AllTrails where you can carry it right on your own phone. Make sure to see the full trail by watching this Adventuring in the Moment video.

For another one of our favorite trails check out the hike we did to Delicate Arch.