Hiking Sunrise/Sunset Arches - Escalante

Overview

Sun

60° | 46°

Mon

66° | 41°

Tue

70° | 40°

Wed

74° | 44°

Thu

73° | 48°

( Rated 4.0 / 2 Ratings )

36 Todo Lists / 4 Ticks

RATING: Easy hiking

LENGTH: 2-3 hours (2.6 miles)

MAPS: King Mesa, UT; Sooner Bench, UT

SEASON: Any, although summers can be hot, and the roads difficult when wet or snowy.

GEAR: Standard Hiking Gear

Sun

60° | 46°

Mon

66° | 41°

Tue

70° | 40°

Wed

74° | 44°

Thu

73° | 48°

Sunset Arch

Are you a bit of an arch bagger? This short hike visits two very different arches. Sunset arch appears to be an Entrada sandstone arch while within sight of it, several hundred meters away, sits Sunrise arch in a different sandstone layer altogether.

Surprisingly, given the distance down the Hole-In-The-Rock road needed to reach the trailhead, you often see these arches photographed in calendars and magazines. I think evening light is particularly dramatic for photographs.

Sunset Arch

Getting There

Head east out of the town of Escalante about 5 miles on highway 12 until the well signed Hole in the Rock road on the south side of highway 12. Reset the odometer as you turn onto this road.

Mile 0 - Hole-In-The-Rock Road Turnoff 12S 453167E 4175716N / 37°43'39"N 111°31'53"W

8.0 miles - Parking area after a cattle guard. This is the Zebra/Tunnel trailhead. 12S 460681E 4165896N / 37°38'22"N 111°26'44"W

12.3 miles - Devil's Garden turn off on the right. The trailhead is about 1/4 of a mile down this road. No camping, but a pit toilet. 12S 463808E 4160175N / 37°35'17"N 111°24'36"W

16.6 miles - Egypt road on the left. This access the Egypt and Neon trailheads 12S 468045E 4154960N / 37°32'28"N 111°21'42"W

24.8 miles - Upper Dry Fork Trailhead on the right (south). This has a large parking area and pit toilet. 12S 478657E 4148035N / 37°28'44"N 111°14'29"W

26.1 miles - Dry Fork Trailhead Road on the left (north). The trailhead is at the end of the road in about a mile. 12S 480198E 4146661N / 37°27'60"N 111°13'26"W

30.9 miles - Red Well side road on the left. Follow this 1 mile to its end for the Red Well Trailhead. 12S 485669E 4141593N / 37°25'16"N 111°09'43"W

33.1 miles - Chimney Rock side road on the left (north). 12S 487309E 4138502N / 37°23'36"N 111°08'36"W

34 miles - Hurricane Wash Trailhead on the left. 12S 488275E 4137666N / 37°23'08"N 111°07'57"W

36.3 miles - Fortymile Ridge side road on the left. This road goes to the Stock Tank and Fortymile Ridge trailheads commonly used for Coyote Gulch. This is also the road to Sunset Arch. 12S 489827E 4135057N / 37°21'44"N 111°06'54"W

Fortymile Ridge Side Road - Reset your odometer as you turn off the Hole-In-The-Rock road. This side road is generally passable by most to the Stock Tank trailhead. It requires 4wd to reach the Fortymile Trailhead due to deep sand. A few side road leave, stay on the main most used side road until junctions are described. 12S 489832E 4135059N / 37°21'44"N 111°06'53"W

Fortymile Side Road - 4.4 miles - Junction. A steep road on the left climbs to the Water Tank TH and small parking area used for the Jacob Hamblin Arch route into Coyote Gulch. This is also the parking spot for Sunrise/Sunset Arches which are south of the trailhead. 12S 495698E 4138318N / 37°23'30"N 111°02'55"W

Cristina on one of the arches.

Route Description

From the trailhead, hike back down to the junction with 40 Mile Ridge Road. Look south toward 50 Mile Mountain and the Hole in the Rock road. On the left, off in the distance, is Cave Point. Head across the sagebrush flat for about 20 minutes toward Cave Point until you are close to some small hoodoos and towers. Just before those hoodoos and towers, you can see a slickrock area to the south. The two arches are visible when you reach this area. (30-40 minutes from the car to the arches.)

Return the way you came. By parking on the small hill, you can see your vehicle for most of the return.