Arches National Park in December 2026: Quiet Trails, Ice, and What's Open

Snow around Double O Arch. Main image: photo by Kait Thomas, National Park Service, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped, with text added.

Yes, if you can move your big hike by a day. December trades the entrance lines of spring and fall for cold mornings, short days, and a small risk of ice that takes Delicate Arch off the table. If you want warm hiking, wait for March or April. My Arches National Park guide builds every day with a backup for ice, which is the plan this month needs.

Should You Go in December?

Go if you'd rather have the park quiet and you're fine with a cold start. The park calls winter a peaceful time with fewer crowds (NPS hours), and its 60-minute entrance warning applies to March through October (NPS conditions). Skip it if your trip depends on one long hike on one fixed day.

November is the easier month, about 11 degrees warmer. January is about the same as December. For the whole season, see my Arches winter guide.

Weather and Daylight

December averages a high of 45°F, a low of 23°F, and 0.53 inch of precipitation (NPS weather). November averages 56 and 30; January, 44 and 22. Big snowfalls are uncommon, but the park warns that a little snow or ice can make trails and roads impassable.

You get about nine and a half hours of sun. Near the park, sunrise is about 7:15 a.m. and sunset about 4:55 p.m. on December 1, and about 7:35 and 5:05 on December 31 (approximate, calculated from the coordinates).

Winter at North Window in the Windows Section. Photo: Jacob W. Frank, public domain (NPS), via source.

What's Open and Closed

• The park: open 24 hours a day, year-round. The road can close for several hours after a snowfall while crews plow it (NPS winter page).
• Delicate Arch area: flooding on the first weekend of November closed the trail and the road to the viewpoints. The trail and Wolfe Ranch lot reopened November 2, while the viewpoint road stayed closed that day (KUTV, Yahoo News). As of November 3, the park's alert list doesn't mention it, but I can't find a reopening notice. Confirm before you count on the viewpoints as an icy-day fallback.
• Visitor center: open daily except Friday, December 25. The park's visitor center page lists 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through February 28; its winter page still says 9 to 4. Plan on the shorter hours.
• Campground: Devils Garden stays open, and from November through February sites are first-come, first-served, $25 a night (NPS camping). Download the Recreation.gov app first to use Scan & Pay. The winter page lists 25 sites with drinking water, but the campground record says no water, so fill up at the visitor center. Firewood is sold there too.
• Shuttle and ranger programs: the Moab–Arches Shuttle's announced run ended October 31 (NPS), and there are no ranger programs in winter. You'll drive yourself.

What to Book, and When

Your entry: nothing to book. The park dropped timed entry for 2026 (NPS), though you still need a pass: $30 per vehicle (NPS fees). The NPS hasn't said anything about 2027 that I can find, so if your trip runs past New Year's Day, check.

Your room: book it. There's no hotel inside the park, so Moab, about five miles south, is the base. Book early for the holidays.

Fiery Furnace: probably skip it. Ranger hikes run spring through early fall (NPS). A self-guided permit must be reserved two to seven days ahead, then picked up at a set orientation time (NPS). It's a shaded maze, so I'd leave it for spring.

Where to Hike When the Rock Might Be Icy

Most trails stay open, so this comes down to footing. Short walks are the best deal, because you can turn around in a minute: the Windows trails (about 1 mile round trip), Double Arch (0.6 mile), and the Balanced Rock loop (0.3 mile). Park Avenue is bigger: 1.8 miles round trip with 322 feet of elevation change.

Delicate Arch is the decision of the day: 3 miles round trip with 480 feet of climbing (NPS). On a dry day, December suits it. After snow, the park warns it turns slippery, as does Devils Garden, so ask at the visitor center before committing. Landscape Arch is 1.9 miles round trip, and the park doesn't recommend the Primitive Trail beyond it when rock is wet or icy (NPS).

Fresh snow on the Turret Arch trail, photographed in December 2011. Photo: Neal Herbert, public domain (NPS), via source.

Wildlife in December

Forget the lizards: snakes and lizards go into torpor for the winter (NPS animals). Mule deer, coyotes, desert cottontails, and black-tailed jackrabbits are most active at dawn and dusk. By day, birds are your best bet; start with my post on pinyon jays in Arches. Desert bighorn live here year-round but are rarely seen (NPS mammals). Nothing is guaranteed. Use binoculars, keep your distance, and never feed anything. Scrub-jays live in the pinyon and juniper all year, and my Woodhouse's scrub-jay post covers how to recognize one.

Holidays, Events, and Crowds

Christmas and New Year's Day both fall on a Friday. There's no NPS fee-free day in December (NPS passes). The park doesn't publish December crowd numbers; my read is that the week between the holidays is your busiest stretch.

Safety and What to Pack

• Traction devices and trekking poles. The park recommends both after snow. They help on packed snow, but they don't make a sloping ledge safe.
• Layers, gloves, and a hat. The park's swings can top 40 degrees in a day.
• A headlamp and water. Sunset comes early.
• A way to follow the trail. Drifting snow can hide the markers.

Parking lots and pullouts can stay icy in the shade. For roads outside the park, call 1-866-511-UTAH.

How Many Days Do You Need in Arches in December?

One day covers the short walks and, if it's dry, Delicate Arch. One storm can take the best of it.

Two days is what I'd pick. You split the Windows area and Delicate Arch from Devils Garden, and a bad-footing morning just swaps your days.

Three days are for people adding Park Avenue and the slower walks, or heading to Canyonlands. If you're doing both, price the $55 annual pass for U.S. residents, which covers Arches and Canyonlands. If you're seeing more of Utah, my Utah National Parks post explains how to plan all five, park by park, and my Mighty 5 road trip post covers the drive, with a spare day for winter weather.

My Arches guide has nine one- to three-day itineraries at easy, moderate, and strenuous effort, each with a backup for heat, storms, or ice. My Arches itinerary post shows a sample strenuous two-day plan and its backup for ice.

A Simple One-Day Plan for December

1. 8:30 a.m. Start at the visitor center. Ask about ice and look at the recent trail photos.
2. 9:15 a.m. Drive to Balanced Rock for the short loop, stopping at the Park Avenue viewpoint on the way.
3. 10:15 a.m. Walk the Windows trails and Double Arch.
4. 12:15 p.m. Lunch from Moab in the car, with the heater on.
5. 1:00 p.m. If the trail's dry, hike to Delicate Arch from Wolfe Ranch, when the rock has had the most sun. If it isn't, walk only to the Wolfe Ranch cabin and the petroglyphs, then try Landscape Arch if that trail's in shape.
6. 4:00 p.m. Start back. Sunset's around 5. Watch for deer at dusk.

Before You Go

Check the forecast before you pick your hike. For days worked out in advance, see my guide to Arches National Park.

Before you go: see Arches National Park alerts and current conditions, checked daily, for current closures and what they mean for your trip.

This is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service. Conditions change; check the park's current alerts before you go.