Devils Garden Trail Arches

The Devils Garden Primitive Loop is a 6.8-mile trail that circles around Landscape Arch and the Dark Angel spire in the northern end of Arches National Park. It is an extension of the Devils Garden Trail itself, though quite a bit rockier and rougher than the Devils Garden Trail. This trail will take visitors past Tunnel and Pine Tree arches and then on to Landscape Arch. Going clockwise, hikers pass Wall Arch, and then Partition and Navajo Arches, clumped together near Landscape, and then climb a massive fin to gain access to short spur trails going to Double O Arch and the Dark Angel pinnacle. At this point visitors can turn back, or can start the actual loop, heading wide to the north, towards the Private Arch spur trail before turning back for Landscape Arch and the parking lot.

Between the Navajo Arch Trail and Double O Arch, a spur trail climbs down to Black Arch, located near the bottom of a rugged chasm between the fins.

Visitors can hike right up to and even underneath many of these marvelous landmarks, though they are cautioned not to climb atop them.

Devils Garden Trailhead

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This is a nice trail, paved, wide, and level, as good as it gets in the barren wilderness of Arches. The end of the Devils Garden Trail is the Primitive Loop Trail.

Wall Arch is just past Landscape Arch, near the beginning of the rocky portion of the trail, and is set back from,and just above the trail, sandwiched into a pretty tight canyon between the sandstone fins. Access to the fins from Wall Arch makes for some great scrambling and free climbing.

Devils Garden Primitive Loop Trail

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This whole trail is undeveloped, though it is the north end, between Double O Arch and Landscape Arch, that is considered the actual primitive section of the loop.

Spur to Navajo and Partition Arches

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Navajo Arch and Partition Arch are located on the Navajo Arch Spur Trail, with Partition splitting off of Navajo’s trail. Partition is a window-like arch found along the same fin as Landscape Arch, though farther to the northwest. Navajo is heavy and deep, and parallel to Partition on the next fin to the southwest.

Double O Arch and the Dark Angel Spur

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Double O Arch sits just barely off of the trail, and consists of a large arch in the enormous fin of sandstone, with a smaller arch directly below it. The Dark Angel is a pillar of dark sandstone, rising 150 feet above the surrounding desert. Its trailhead is within throwing distance of Double O Arch.

Private Arch Spur Trail

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This is the last major arch along the trail that can be directly accessed by an official trail.