Ditch the Crowds at Moab's Jeep Arch

Everyone knows Moab is best in fall—that’s why the crowd at Corona Arch looks like a tailgate party. So here’s how to do one better in the October-perfect desert: Jeep Arch, less than 2 miles from Corona as the crow flies, yet still off the radar. The 45-foot-tall window sits undisturbed at the end of a slickrock canyon that’s a fun, 1.8-mile hike in its own right.

Find the trailhead about a quarter-mile past the parking lot for Corona (near 38.5785, -109.6363). There, head north through the culvert to cross beneath the railbed, then find the trail splitting the redrock walls to the north. The cairn-marked route snakes up and over dry pouroffs and across the scrubby slickrock to a wide wall at the head of an amphitheater—with a jeep-shaped cutout in the middle. (Note: It’s called Gold Bar Arch on some topos.) From the window, see the serpentine Colorado behind you and the snow-capped La Sal Mountains 20 miles southeast. Cross through the window and loop clockwise across the slickrock to create a 4-mile lollipop.