Devils Garden Reopens In Arches National Park

Landscape Arch - photo by Dave Webb

The Devils Garden trailhead in Arches National Park has reopened following construction to improve and expand facilities.

The Devils Garden area is on of the park's major attractions, offering access to iconic features including Landscape Arch, Double O Arch and Dark Angel. The Devils Garden loop trail is one of the most popular in the park.

StGeorgeUtah.com has this article about the reopening. Below are excerpts.

The purpose of this renovation project was to construct a dedicated tour bus and large RV parking area as well as re-align the road to create more efficient angled parking to aid in decreasing vehicular congestion as popularity and visitations have increased.

Arches National Park gained about 45 more parking spaces — totaling a 40 percent increase in parking capacities — and is working toward further parking space expansion, said Chief of Maintenance for Arches and Canyonlands John Lewis.

Visitation is up again this year at Arches. John Lewis, Chief of Maintenance for Arches and Canyonlands, said visitation has been increasing about 5% a year, but so far this year it is up about 16%.

Hikers Urged To Carry Extra Water

Much of Utah is desert where water is scarce. Southern Utah in particular is dry this year. Springs which are normally reliable may not offer any water this summer. Hikers are urged to talk to rangers before venturing into the backcountry, and to carry extra water.

Fox13Now.com has this article about a recent rescue in Zion National Park. Below are excerpts.

A Georgia couple needed the help of Washington County Search and Rescue after they ran out of water on a trail in Zion National Park early Thursday morning. They had a filter, but springs had all run dry.

“Because we’ve had so many dry years, the spring is not running. It’s pretty much mud,” says Cashin. “So they had no way of restoring, or getting enough water to get back out.”