Arches National Park Shuttle Guide
A public shuttle service for Arches National Park is about to start for the first time in the park’s history. The system will essentially be on a trial period while a pilot program runs from September 1st to October 31st, and then again from March 1st through June 30th in 2027, and will take riders from town to two of the most popular spots in the park. While a shuttle system for Arches has been studied in several planning efforts since 1999, this will be the first time anything has actually been implemented. Though this pilot system has been extremely controversial for various reasons, here I simply want to focus on what it means for visitors who are thinking about utilizing the shuttle.
Concept art from a very old feasability study (do not use for reference). Source: Arches Alternative Transportation System and Congestion Management Study, 2012.
Know Before you Go
First of all, you should know that visitors can continue accessing the park as they always have, by driving in on their own. Also, various outfitters such as myself continue offering trips into the park. This pilot program is a trial to see how things go and how traffic in the park might be affected. Shuttles from 3 stops in town will run daily about every 30 minutes from 8am to 5pm from Sept. 1 through Oct. 31st, then will run again from March 1 through June 30th. Riders will then transfer at the visitor’s center to an in-park loop with shuttles every 15 minutes. Riding the shuttles is free, however passengers need a valid park pass to board. An important thing to keep in mind is that at least for this trial period through June of 2027, the places you can explore in Arches are extremely limited if you take the shuttles.
Pickup and Dropoff Locations
As mentioned above, after taking a shuttle from town, riders will be dropped off in the Visitor Center parking lot where they will then transfer to another shsuttle that will take them to one of the two drop off points in the park, the Windows Area and Delicate Arch trailhead. Here’s a map with the pickup locations in Moab as well as in the park.
In-Town Shuttle Stops:
South Maverick
This will use the existing stop for Moab Area Transit, which is in front of the Maverick right on Main Street.
Moab Information Center
The loading zone is on the North End of the Parking lot, at the “No Parking” area marked with red lines on the pavement.
Emma Boulevard Parking Lot
This lot is at the North end of Emma Boulevard, and best accessed via the one-way entrance off of Main Street, just before the crosswalk signal.
In-Park Shuttle Stops:
The WIndows Area
From here you can access the Windows Section loop where you see North and South Window arches, Turret Arch, and then you can also access Double Arch
Delicate Arch Hike
The shuttle drops you at the trailhead for Delicate Arch, which is a moderate 3-mile hike roundtrip.
Places you can’t see if you take the shuttle:
Put simply, the only places you can visit by taking a shuttle are Delicate Arch and the Windows area. There are no sites outside of that that you’ll be able to get out and explore, and walking or hiking to other areas is not reasonable. For reference, here’s a quick breakdown of what you can and cannot see if you use the shuttles:
If you take a shuttle, you will only be able to visit Delicate Arch and the Windows Area, which includes all the other arches in the first column. If you want to visit any of the sites in the 2nd column, you will need to drive into the park on your own (or book a trip with me!)
I’ll be riding on the shuttles as soon as they start on September 1st to get a feel for it and learn about the details, and then I’ll update this with any additional info such as travel times and what the rider experiences, so I’ll keep this fresh for a comprehensive guide. If you’d like to be able to go to all the sites without the hassle of planning, you should know that I offer photo trips and have the flexibility of visiting all of the locations listed above. If you have any questions let me know in the comments.
