When you think of Moab and Arches you think of National Parks correct? But what if you’re visiting and you bring your furry friend with you? Even better, what if you visit in April of this year and you couldn’t score a permit inside Arches National Park.
Yes, Arches National Park is going to timed entry this April through October. You can score permits here. Tickets are $2 per vehicle and don’t include the park entrance fee (if you have a National Parks Pass you are good to go!).
However, right outside Moab is a great dog and kid-friendly hike to a fantastic arch that’s in the shape of a Jeep!
The name of this hike is Gold Bar (also known as Jeep Arch). This hike is popular, but not nearly as popular as its neighbor Corona Arch, which I’ll cover in another post. I also rate this as more dog-friendly because Corona Arch has a ladder that has to be scaled, which isn’t the easiest with dogs!
From Moab, travel north on highway 191 for a little over a mile from the bridge over the Colorado river to the junction with highway 279. Turn left onto 279, and follow this highway 1o.2 miles to a small parking area on the right with a culvert going under the railroad. This is 0.3 miles past the signed Corona Arch parking area and at milepost 5. There is a tunnel you’ll have to walk through to start the hike. Our dogs were scared of the tunnel so my husband had to hike with them up and around.
Jeep Arch is a 3.6 mile RT hike that is best done in the spring or fall unless you go early morning or late evening in the summer as there isn’t a lot of shade on the hike. There is no water on this hike and often Big Horn Sheep can be spotted, so make sure dogs are on a leash or under voice control and that you bring plenty of water for the whole family.
I highly recommend downloading the map from AllTrails.com as this area has quite a few cairns to follow that can lead in several directions as most of the hike is on slick rock. We stayed up higher and not in the wash below and hiked this as a loop instead of an out-and-back. You will get to a part in the trail where it splits to the left and right with an arrow and we veered left so we could climb up the arch from the front and then exited down the back of the arch towards the start of the trail.
There’s about 900 feet of elevation gain, so there’s definitely a little more than Corona Arch, but I personally think this area is more stunning with the view of the Gold Bar tower, hiking through the canyon and the unique jeep shaped arch. There is a little scrambling up to stand in the arch, but don’t worry, it looks more intimidating than the scramble actually is and both our dogs and daughter made it with no issue. Then you can scramble down the back side of the arch and continue the hike in a clockwise motion.
Potoash Road also has several spots where you’ll see climbers pulled off to climb as well as some petroglyphs so this is a nice area to explore that’s somewhat a locals not-so-secret secret.
Winter is the perfect time to visit Moab and the surrounding area and you don’t have to leave your furry friend behind. If you are looking for a great hotel stay I highly recommend staying at the Expedition Lodge. They take dogs of all sizes and have a heated pool and hot tub and all their rooms are dog-friendly. The hotel is also located in a convenient location in town.
If you’d like more Moab area adventures you can read about them here!
I hope you enjoy this adventure and stay tuned for more recommendations to come.