Spring 2026 - Idaho, Utah, Arizona, 5.2.26 - 5.27.26, Part 4: Arches National Park/Tower Arch
Still buzzing from our great hike through the Fiery Furnace, we had one more day in the Moab area. Bridgit and I got up at 4AM, picked up Jane at 5AM and drove up into the park. Arches is known for insane crowds and if you go in the middle of the day to the most popular spots like the Windows, Delicate Arch and Balanced Rock you will find plenty of people to make sure you don’t get too lonely. We have found that by going very early, like just before the sun even comes up, you can avoid all the crowds and have a peaceful quiet hike.
For this day, we would increase our chances for a little serenity by going out to an area that for some reason is much less traveled than other parts of the park. We drove up through Arches past Park Avenue, past Balanced Rock and past the Fiery Furnace and turned off onto Salt Valley Road. This is a well maintained dirt road that took us to an area known as the Klondike Bluffs. We drove 7.2 miles down Salt Valley Road and turned onto a short one mile side road to the trailhead for Tower Arch. We got there just before 6AM and of course we were the only vehicle in the parking lot. Mike had camped further up this road and met us at the trailhead.
Me and Jane at the trailhead (Bridgit pic)
We started out at six, a full thirty minutes before sunrise. The first section of trail went steeply up a hill. Just as we crested the hill the sun broke the horizon and lit up the rocks. It is so worth starting early. There is no light like a Utah sunrise.
Sunrise in the Klondike Bluffs
Sunrise on the trail
The trail to Tower Arch is lined with rock cairns to follow across the slickrock. We followed the cairns across a level section before gradually descending down the opposite side of the ridge. To our right was a huge wall of rock we had just hiked around and below and in front of us was the north end of a rock formation called Marching Men. It too was all lit up in the very early morning.
The trail to Tower Arch winds past Marching Men on the west side. I had researched this before the trip and thought that if we could go around the east side of this formation we might get really good morning light for photos. We could basically hike past Marching Men on the east and then reconnect to the main trail to Tower Arch further up.
Looking down at the end of marching Men from the first ridge we climbed. We opted to go around the left side of Marching Men.
Just before reaching the end of Marching Men, we left the trail and started heading cross-country around to the east side of the formation. With no trail to follow, there was a lot of biotic soil crust, sometimes called cryptobiotic soil. This is a living community of all kinds of organisms and plant life that hold the soil together and function as a stabilizing factor in the desert environment. Stepping on this soil can severely damage and kill the crust so it should be avoided at all costs. We were able to keep off the fragile soil by staying on rock and down in sandy washes as we worked our way around to the eastern side of Marching Men. Even this wasn’t as easy as it looked on paper. Long rows of rock ribs emanated from the Marching Men formation with deep washes between each one. It was difficult travel trying to cross the ribs so we dropped down lower and further away from Marching Men to go around the end of the rib section.
Now running parallel to Marching Men, the further we got, the more we could see extremely tall pillars that clearly were the inspiration for the name. At one particularly spectacular spot we took a break. Mike and I climbed up a steep rock rib and worked our way up to the gap between two of the tallest Marching Men pillars. We had great views looking through the other side. We couldn’t find where the real trail was but we had a good idea of where to go based on our navigation apps.
Marching Men beginning to reveal themselves
Beautiful view of Marching Men from the east side of the formation
Mike and me. We climbed up to the gap above my head.
Jon and Mike in the gap. This really shows the scale of how big the pillars were (Bridgit pic).
Getting around the north end of Marching Men wasn’t so easy. The west side had cliff bands and it was difficult to find a way down to the wash on the west side. After a bit of searching we all managed to go through some rocks, down a short gully and then down a hill to the wash. Once there we followed the wash until it intersected with the actual Tower Arch Trail.
Sunburst through a hole in one of the Marching Men pillars
Once we were back on the original trail, we followed it around a corner and up into a hidden valley between lots of fins and pillars. It was very beautiful in this area. Then on the right we finally came to Tower Arch. This massive arch was butted up near a wall and had a very large rock tower behind it which we assumed was how Tower Arch got its name. We hadn’t seen anyone so far that day but just as we reached the arch a single woman arrived, most likely by way of the trail. She didn’t stay long and I don’t think we saw any other people until we were almost back to the trailhead.
Heading up into the valley with Tower Arch
Tower Arch is just up ahead
Tower Arch. 92’ span and 43’ high.
Massive Tower Arch
Looking out from behind Tower Arch
I’ve taken a lot of great pictures of my wife over the years but this might be one of the best ever! She just looks so genuinely happy.
In the valley of Tower Arch
We hung out for awhile and explored around the arch a bit before heading back. This time we took the normal trail all the way back so we ended up completely circumnavigating Marching Men. From the west side I was shooting more into the sun so I played around with some monochromes and got some decent results.
Marching Men from the trail
The La Sal Mountains behind Marching Men
Tower Arch was another great hike and a great way to cap off two days in Arches National Park. We had gone on two hikes in one of the most crowded national parks in America and only seen seven people. Not too shabby!
Now it was time to move on to the next leg of the trip. Mike headed down further south and would spend the night up on Needles Overlook. Jane would leave in the morning to get back home for a prior commitment. Bridgit and I would also leave in the morning for the centerpiece of the entire trip. The main event was just around the corner!