Eye of the Whale

-

Arches National Park welcomes over 1.5 million visitors a year. From the late March to October, the park often exceeds capacity and you're lucky to find a parking spot. In fact, at times they even turn people away at the entrance stating that the park is full. With so many visitors and only one main road in the park, it can feel a little claustrophobic, even considering it has over 76k acres of land. For those looking for peace and quiet, one might think it can hard to find in Arches National Park, but with a little preparation it's actually a lot easier to find than you might think!


They Eye of the Whale Arch in Arches National Park is one of the hidden gems of the park. After a short drive on a moderately rough dirt road, you'll be met with a short hike with vast vistas and a surprisingly quiet area. When I visited this arch with my family, we saw a handful of other vehicles and one cyclist which was quite the contrast to the next day when they closed the park mid-morning because it was so busy.

What You Need

If you're looking to do visit the Eye of the Whale arch, here is what you'll need:
  • A "High-Clearance Vehicle" (Most stock SUV's and Trucks should make it. We even saw a Subaru Outback make it, but their undercarriage did touch the ground a number of times.)
  • Decent hiking shoes
  • Sunscreen and water
  • Other supplies you bring on short hikes

Getting There


The easiest way to get to the Eye of the Whale is to take the road that heads North just West of the parking area for Balanced Rock (BLM road 378). After taking this turn and traveling roughly 600 ft., you'll be come to a nice picnic area with tables, benches, and a larger restroom. Now is the time to take a quick stop and make sure you and your vehicle are good to go. Continuing on, the gravel road will head mostly West for another 0.7 miles. At this point, you'll see the following sign at the intersection of a road coming in from the North:

You'll want to turn right and head north on the 4-wheel drive road. The sign does say that the road is best traveled from North to South, the main reason for this is for a fairly difficult section of the road that's far to the North of where Eye of the Whale is. So, don't let this sign intimidate you too much. While it does mention high clearance, most SUV's and Trucks with 8.5+ inches of clearance will do just fine. My 2015 Toyota Tacoma with 10.5" of clearance handled it just fine and really only needed 4x4 in one section.


The road gets noticeably rougher once you make the turn to the North. As you follow the road, you'll be met with views of the Fiery Furnace to the Northeast and a large plain to the West/South. Further South you'll occasionally have views of the Windows area of the park. The first section of the road is somewhat rocky is easily managed. There is one, short uphill section where there is some significant wear in the road that may test the clearance of some vehicles (the Subaru we saw had a rough go of this section but made it through) but should be manageable in most vehicles. If you have part-time 4-wheel drive, this may be the only time you'll need it.


After that one uphill section, the road becomes much sandier and often is pitched to one side. There are a few sections where you'll want to be careful to watch the sides of your vehicle but, again, this should be pretty easy to manage. After 1.9 miles of driving on this 4-wheel drive road, you'll come to the parking area for the Eye of the Whale arch. Pull out here and get ready for a quick hike up to the arch itself.


After parking and applying some sunscreen, head West on the trail to the Arch. The trail is fairly obvious but does get fairly sandy as you get closer to the arch. The final climb to the arch is a little steep but looking off to your right (to the North) you'll find sections of the rock that aren't as steep to ascend. We were travelling with small children and they were able to do this hike on their own. After the final climb, you'll be in the middle of the arch. If you'd like, you can continue through the arch and take pictures of the arch from that side. Just remember to tread lightly and be responsible. Take a moment here to soak it in and enjoy a beautiful view without the crowds around.






Once you've had your fill at the arch and in the surrounding area, head back the way you came in. You should be more familiar with the road but be sure to remember the areas where you needed to be more alert and look out for those.

If you're up for more adventure after Eye of the Whale, consider hitting up some of the other attractions in Arches National Park! There's plenty to see there. If you're wanting more off-road driving, consider heading back to Moab via the Willow Springs OHV Trail. It's a moderate off-road trail that most stock SUV's and Trucks can handle. Just take it slow and scout ahead as needed. As an added bonus, there are some dinosaur tracks about halfway down that trail.

My Thoughts

Eye of the Whale has become one of my favorite places in Arches National Park. I've visited the park a number of times and have done most of the standard hikes in the park at various times of the year. This was my first time going to a harder-to-get-to place in the park and I loved it. I loved how peaceful it was. When we were done and got back to Balanced Rock, there was a noticeable difference in how busy things felt and how noisy it was but just a few miles to the North, you'd never know the park was so busy.

It was also cool to see different views in the park. I always love seeing the La Sal Mountains as a back drop to the red rocks of the park. Seeing new areas of the park reminds me of just how beautiful the area is and makes me appreciate it even more. Areas like this also make me appreciate the people that inhabited this area before. The travelers and inhabitants of old had a very different life from us, but being in areas like this and sitting quietly makes me feel a certain sense of connection to them.

While I've said it before, how peaceful it was is really what stood out to me. Living in the city, there's always something going on and everything seems so busy. We hardly even notice, but there's not a lot of peace or at least it's hard to find peace in a busy world with so many things vying for your attention. Coming to this area, I wasn't expecting to find it so quiet and so peaceful. It was nice to just sit there with my family and be still and present.

Map

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tusher Tunnel

-
Image
The Moab area is a wonderful area to explore. With two national parks, a state park, and a few scenic drives, one could spend countless hours in those attractions alone. And rightly so--those areas are incredibly beautiful. However, those areas don't hold all the beauty in the area. There are many areas outside of the normal tourist attractions that offer beautiful sights. Some of these areas, however, require a little more work to get to than those in the parks. Tusher Tunnel is one such attraction. Tucked in the hills near the Bartlett Wash Recreation Area, this attraction offers low crowds, beautiful rock formations, rock art, and more after only a short ride on a moderate OHV trail. What You'll Need If you're looking to visit the Tusher Tunnel, here's what you'll need: A "High-Clearance Vehicle" (Most stock SUV's and Trucks should make it. Some passenger vehicles will likely make it as well but should proceed with caution.) Decent hiki...
Read more

Mosida and Lake Mountains

-
Image
This past weekend my family and I went on a drive, as we're wont to do. It's one of our favorite things to do to get out of the house but still follow social distancing measures and minimize risk of exposure. Sometimes we have specific places in mind and other times we just see where the journey takes us. This last drive was kind of a mix of both. And, I must say, it was a pretty good one. We started the drive going to see where the Saratoga Springs Temple is being built. We'd driven by the area before it was announced but wanted to see exactly where the work is happening. Right now it's not much. The road is in and there's a bunch of piles of dirt with some equipment, but it was cool to see exactly where the temple will be located. After that, the kids were still up for more of a drive (which was a surprise. So, we went back to Redwood Road and headed South, away from the city. The road from there runs between Utah Lake to the East and the Lake Mountains t...
Read more

My Vehicle

-
Image
One essential item for any adventure that's not in your immediate area is a method of transportation. About 6 months ago I was fortunate enough to be able to purchase what I think is a fantastic vehicle and I wanted to share a little bit about it to potentially give a little more info into the other posts that I write. So, without further ado, here's my vehicle: It's a 2015 Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport Double Cab Long Bed. Whew! That's a mouthful. The previous owner had a level kit installed so that they could fit larger tires on it. It currently has 31" tires. It's rims are the Warlord from Black Rhino  and its tires are Nitto's Terra Grappler G2's . I've done a few small things to it since then. The first was replacing the antenna (which you can see in the picture above) with a much smaller, car wash-friendly option. I've also done the Uni Filter mod, changed the climate control knobs, and replaced the interior lights with LED lights. R...
Read more