The Windows

From the main parking area, the loop trail heads northeast toward North Window first. The walk is sandy and mostly flat — after 0.2 miles the arch opens up in front of you and you walk directly beneath it. Step through and look back: South Window is framed directly behind you, and on a clear morning the sun is already cutting through both openings at once. That double-arch-through-arch angle is the shot most photographers are waiting for at sunrise.

Continuing the loop takes you around to the south side and up a short rocky pitch to South Window, which is wider and slightly lower than its neighbor. From the south side you look out over Salt Valley and the park's fin country in the middle distance. Turret Arch, a smaller but dramatic arch with a prominent hole above its main opening, sits 0.15 miles to the northwest — the trail connects all three without backtracking.

Double Arch sits at a separate trailhead 0.1 miles east along the parking road. The 0.5-mile out-and-back crosses sandy desert and ends at the base of two massive arches that share a common abutment — the left one rises steeply; the right curves out more gently, and they intersect to create an enclosed chamber underneath. Walk into the chamber and look up. The sky frames both arches simultaneously, and the scale doesn't quite register until you see a person standing under it.

This is a short scramble at the end over rocky terrain into the bowl beneath the arch. There's no handrail and the footing is uneven, but nothing technical is required. Most visitors who make it to the base spend 10–15 minutes there before heading back.