Entering Arches National Park through Willow Springs Road

Willow Springs Road up until 1958 was the original visitor’s entrance into Arches National Park, then Arches National Monument. Today it is a backdoor road into the park that avoids the toll gate and reservation system assuming you walk, mountain bike or drive a four-wheel drive vehicle.

Willow Springs road through Arches National Park in Utah

The road is 8 miles long, with 4 miles inside the park and 4 miles outside the park.

Willow Springs road map through Arches National Park in Utah

The portion inside the park is a well-graded dirt road that can be driven by cars for a short potion, however, there are some washes with steep entries that a car would not be able to traverse, however, a stock SUV should have no problem.

From the Balanced Rock entrance within the National Park, the road is easy and sandy

After a couple of miles, the road gets more difficult with some minor slickrock and some more challenging (for a car) washes to cross

The portion outside the park is less maintained, travels over slickrock for some portions and has a difficult 500-foot section just outside the park boundary, and can only be driven by stock or better high clearance 4×4 vehicles.

Exiting the National Park

The most challenging section is the 500 feet just outside the park boundary

Dinosaur Tracks ( 38.700585, -109.641738 )

A few minutes outside the park boundary is a section of dinosaur tracks you can stop and see before you continue traversing the southern portion of the Klondike Bluffs, passing many popular mountain biking trailheads before you come to highway 191.

The Dinosaur track site is well marked with signage and rocks placed on the slickrock. Three-claw Theropod (raptor-like) and round-footed Sauropod (Brontosaurus-like) dinosaurs walked through a muddy section of ground 165 million years ago and left their footprints for us to see today.

round-footed Sauropod (Brontosaurus-like) dinosaurs foot prints

Getting there

From Moab

Take US-191 11.5 miles north to the paved turnoff on your right for Willow Springs Road at ( 38.696712, -109.698675 )

From inside Arches National Park

Head to the Balanced Rock, there is a turn-off on the north side of Arches National Park Road directly across from the Balanced Rock parking area at ( 38.701686, -109.566868 ).

Note

Once you enter the national park from Willow Springs Road you must obey all national park rules
Willow Springs Road is also the access to the Eye of the Whale Arch

Explore Nearby...

Hikes...

Moab Grotto

Short hike to two rock art sites, one an over-night camp with art under overhangs and the 2nd is the Moab Grotto rock art site

Secret Spire

A quick hike along a sandy road to a rock spire sitting on rolling slickrock hills near Moab

Dellenbaugh Tunnel

An easy hike to a tunnel that takes you to an overlook into Spring Canyon near the Tombstone Rock formation

Moki Mesa

Hike to a hidden shelf above the Colorado river you get to using an old cattle trail blasted out of the canyon cliff face

Seven Mile Canyon (South Fork)

This is a rewarding hike due to the large amount of famous and interesting petroglyph and pictograph panels in the area.

Moab Maiden – Hike

The Moab Maiden is a single petroglyph pecked into a large single boulder on a ridge above Kane Springs Creek. There are other petroglyphs at the cliff face at the overlook, as well as the ruin of a granary and pithouse.

Courthouse Wash (Lower Canyon) – Hike

An easy hike that takes you from the bridge in Moab into Arches National Park through a low canyon with water

Mill Creek North Fork – Hike

A local swimming hole, with a waterfall, two arches, and an amazing amount of rock art

Seven Mile Canyon ( Lower ) – Hike

Explore a canyon that was part of the Spring/Fall Anasazi migration route, originating in the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park to the La Sal Mountains. There are Barrier style rock art panels in the canyon.

Hidden Valley – Hike

Discover a hidden Valley “Behind the Rocks” in Moab, and hike a two-thousand-year-old path used by Native Americans, see many petroglyphs and two ruins

The Owl Panel – Hike

This short hike takes you to discover the Owl Panel which also has the big man, lots of sheep, and other petroglyphs.

Arches National Park...

U-Turn Canyon

Scramble up to a secret canyon in Arches National Park above Park Avenue

Sand Dune Arch

Sand Dune Arch is a family favorite, perfect for kids, it is a quick and easy stroll on a sandy easy-to-follow trail

Skyline Arch

Skyline Arch sits against the skyline at the top of a large red rock fin. A short and easy walk.

Tapestry Arch & Broken Arch

Hike to both Tapestry Arch and Broken Arch on a short out-and-back trail that leaves from the Devil’s Garden Camp Grounds

Guide for the Devil’s Garden

A special place walking through rock fins, towers and arches, see the famous Landscape Arch or hike the challenging Primitive Loop to see more remote sections of the Devil’s Garden

Windows section of arches national park 11

How to photograph Turret Arch through the North Window at sunrise

This guide will give you everything you need to know about how to photograph Turret Arch through the North Window arch in Arches National Park in Utah.

Tower Arch Hike

Rarely visited due to its location in the western part of Arches National Park, a great place to go if you want a quieter experience off the beaten path away from the crowds

Willow Springs Road

Willow Springs Road is a backdoor road into Arches National Park that avoids the toll gate, and reservation system

Park Avenue – hike

This is a fun and easy hike and is a great introduction to hiking in Arches National Park for beginners, the trail gets you quickly immersed among the high red rock features of what Utah and the park is all about.

Windows Section of Arches National Park

The Windows and Double Arch are the main attraction, but you can see The Parade of Elephants, Turret Arch, Cove Arch, Ribbon Arch, Elephant Butte, and the Cove of Caves also.

Canyonlands National Park - Island In The Sky District...

Canyonlands National Park – Island in the Sky District

The Island in the Sky district is one of the easiest and most popular districts of the park, the main attraction are the viewpoints and hiking the trails.

False Kiva – Hike

The site sits in an alcove and a stone circle. There are some handprints on the back of the wall of the alcove and some faint images that are hard to make out today.

Photography Tips for Mesa Arch

Every sunrise, Mesa Arch is descended upon by masses of photographers trying to capture their own early morning sunrise framed through the arch.

Canyonlands National Park - Needles District...

Guide for hiking Davis Canyon

Davis Canyon contains arches, granaries, ruins of cliff dwellings, and rock art including the amazing five faces pictograph

Dinosaur Tracks...

Copper Ridge Dinosaur Trackway

A short hike to see where an Allosaurus and a Brontosaurus dinosaur walked and left their footprints over 160 million years ago

Klondike Bluffs Dinosaur Track – Hike

The tracks in this area are predominantly those of carnivorous dinosaurs called allosaurus, which were probably on the hunt for other animals that would come to what was once a large body of water.

Dinosaur Stomping Grounds – Hike

Enjoy a short hike to a “mega track site” that is covered with over 2000 dinosaur tracks left on a 160 million years old mud flat.

Scenic Drives...

Guide to the Potash Road Rock Art Sites

Just a few minutes from downtown Moab, on the Potash road running along the Colorado River is the opportunity to see a half dozen sites that hold hundreds of petroglyphs and even some dinosaur foot prints

La Sal Mountain Loop

The 60-mile route follows the Colorado River, and climbs into the La Sal Mountains via Castle Valley, it offers great views of the peaks and the red rock canyons far below.

Onion Creek & Narrows Hike & Scenic Drive

A scenic drive into beautiful Onion Creek Canyon just south of the Fisher Towers with many stream crossings and a fun optional hike in a narrow canyon

Highway 128 Rock Art

An easy quick stop along scenic byway 128 if coming or going from Cisco to Moab. A large boulder with about 50 petroglyphs sits above the highway.

Potash Road / Shafer Trail

The scenic drive – Utah Scenic Byway 279, takes the back roads and runs from Moab to Canyon Lands National Park along the Colorado River

Anticline Overlook

Rarely visited by most travelers but is worth the effort. The view is overlooking Deadhorse state park and Canyonlands National Park Islands in the Sky district, to the north, looking over Hurrah Pass and the Kane Creek.