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Surviving Devils Garden: How Not to Get Lost in Arches National Park

• Alexandra Lauren | The Bucket List Mermaid • Season 1 • Episode 36

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"Okay, I totally panicked." That's the confession I open with on this adventure-packed episode about my experience tackling Devil's Garden in Arches National Park. 

What starts as a seemingly straightforward trail quickly becomes one of the most adventurous hikes in the park—a fact I discovered firsthand when I found myself lost, wading through unexpected water crossings, and frantically searching for those elusive cairn markers.

FULL DEVILS GARDEN GUIDE 👉 https://thebucketlistmermaid.com/devils-garden/

🏜️Devil's Garden isn't your average national park stroll. This 8-mile primitive loop transforms dramatically once you venture beyond Landscape Arch, introducing narrow sandstone fins, steep scrambles, and minimal signage. I break down nine critical mistakes that hikers commonly make—many of which I personally experienced—and provide practical solutions for each.

🌲The beauty of Devil's Garden lies not just in its spectacular arches and formations, but in the solitude and connection with nature you can experience, especially with an early morning start. 

🥾Despite my moments of panic and wrong turns, this remains my favorite hike in Arches National Park. 

🏆I share my hard-earned wisdom on navigation challenges, weather considerations, packing essentials, and knowing when to turn around. 

📋Whether you're planning your first visit or looking to retry this trail with better preparation, these tips will help you check Devil's Garden off your bucket list safely and memorably. 

Have you had your own trail panic moment? I'd love to hear your hiking stories, triumphant or otherwise!

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I definitely did not panic on this trail. That was not what happened. Okay, I totally panicked. I was in full panic mode on this trail, but it was fun nonetheless. I had a great time. Hello adventurers and welcome to Ticket.

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Before you Kick at the podcast where we talk about how to achieve everything on your adventure bucket list without all the rookie mistakes. My name is Alexandra. I also run a blog called the Bucket List Mermaid, and today we are going to be talking about one of the coolest hikes I have done in Utah, which is Devil's Garden. Now, more specifically, what mistakes you make on Devil's Garden that you can avoid so that you don't end up lost like me. Now, more specifically, what mistakes that you can make on this trail and how not to make them for a more enjoyable bucket list experience. I'll be talking about my own personal experience talking Devil's Garden, getting lost, the mistakes I made. Stay tuned, because this could be the difference between you having an epic adventure or getting a one-way ticket to Struggle City. Let's get started Now.

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Mistake number one you underestimate its difficulty. The Devil's Garden is actually one of the longest trails at Arches National Park. I know it's like 7.9, but I think I ended up at around 8.3 because I got a little lost. Spoiler alert and you might think it's just like another nice walk in Arches with a nice, well-maintained trail Wrong. Once you pass Landscape Arch, things just get a little spicy. We're talking some narrow rock fins, some exposed areas, navigating through fins, not a lot of navigational signs here, steep scrambles and more. Plus, if you commit to that primitive loop, you need to be prepared for a good and hearty outdoor adventure. Now, I don't mean to scare you because, honestly, this was my favorite hike in all of arches national park and I would 100 still recommend it to adventurers who love hiking. However, you just need to be a little prepared and you can't underestimate it. It's called primitive for a reason. It was like one point in it when I was actually in the water. Like in the water, I was not expecting this. So how to avoid this? Well, number one, you are avoiding this by just watching the videos and seeing what it's like. You need to be okay with your hiking ability and be realistic with yourself to see if you can actually handle the full primitive Lupin Devil's Garden and also just make sure that you are giving yourself enough time so that you can do it all within the daylight.

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Personally, I started at about 6 30 am and I did this because I wanted to avoid the heat, the crowds, and I also didn't wanna be hiking this at night, and I'm so glad that I did. It's like the one time where I did something actually right. Yay, now, number two bring enough water. I know you're like, oh, it's only like an eight mile hike. I mean, that's kind of a long hike. But you're like early fall, it still was hot. It's kind of a jungle out there, it's a desert out there. Does that sound better? That's no, this is fine.

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Arches National Park is basically a giant oven and if you're caught out here or you get lost, you need to be hydrated. So personally, I would carry at least three liters. This is a lot. However, I personally like to take more water than I need, just in case, especially since there's not a ton of shade on this one until you get to, like the back part of the primitive trail. And I would also start in the early morning. I hate getting up early like. I'm just such a night person and getting up early just like slowly kills my soul. So I was getting up really early just to and also to avoid, like, the whole timed entry thing into arches, which is a whole nother thing. But I got early, I got in without a timed reservation, I drove straight there and by the time I was like halfway through the hike. I could not thank myself enough for getting myself out of bed because it was hot, and it was hot like 10 am and I finished the hike around 11. So I really missed the whole like mid-morning, mid to mid-afternoon heat wave and I would, 10 out of 10, recommend doing it that way, plus there's less crowds, so win-win. And also maybe think of bringing some electrolytes. I will link the electrolytes that I use in the description if you are interested. But this honestly, just really me, especially during the back half when I was starting to really heat up and get dehydrated from climbing on all these rocks and in between the sandstone fins.

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Now, mistake number three people wearing the wrong shoes. I don't know what people think here. Like they just think that it's some like well-maintained trail or they think that the entire thing is like the hike to Landscape, which maybe if you're going to landscape arch it's fine. However, like I saw people in sandals with no gear whatsoever, so don't let that be you. Maybe if you are going to the landscape arch maybe going around to like the tunnel arch and the pine tree arch right there you'll be fine with less good shoes.

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However, if you plan to go past landscape arch, to that Navajo or the partition or the double O Arch, and especially if you were going past that to the Primitive Trail, you need shoes with good traction. There were some where I was like is that the trail or is it just a rock and you're like climbing on rocks? You're climbing down rocks, so you need to have good traction on your feet. Now, obviously, to avoid this, wear your shoes with very good traction. I would honestly just recommend really good, sturdy hiking shoes with a good sole underneath. I will link the exact hiking boots that I used if you are interested, because those really did do the trick. I was very impressed. If you have something with a smooth sole, especially if it's like raining or has been raining or it's slippery, you will slip and fall and there is a risk for injury. So do not do that, and I would also break in these before, because it is kind of a longer hike and you don't want. The last thing you want to do is be to be worried about blisters.

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Now, mistake number four this is one that I did is ignoring the root markers, as few as they may be. It's a little rough out there to figure out your way. I've never really been lost on a trail, so this is like my first time that I've been like actually lost and I was like kind of starting to panic. Um, so don't let that be you. Now they do have little cairns which are like little tiny rock piles. I'm going to be honest, this did not help me a lot because I did not see them. So keep this in mind be extra vigilant for the little cairns. They will save your life.

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If you're not paying attention. It is very easy to veer off on this trail, especially on the primitive trail and after landscape arch. Once you get through like the main section of the primitive trail, like the private arch and kind of past those sandstone fins and past that pool where I definitely fell in, the trail does become more marked at that point, but there's not a lot of shade, so be careful. Now, how you can fix this pay attention to the cairns. If you don't see it, maybe try to backtrack a little bit until you find your way.

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Another thing that I wish I had, um, is maybe download sort of trail map like on all trails, although the all trails map does have a little section where it takes you the wrong way, um, because I met several people who were lost on all trails, so be careful about using all trails. Maybe, even better, maybe get like an offline GPS. If that is within your budget and range, that would definitely help. So what I would recommend is getting a map and the specific Devil's Garden map, because I got the map for the entire park so I at least had it on paper where I was kind of supposed to go. However, they actually have a map that is specific for Devil's Garden. Get that one. Somebody took pity on me and just gave me one and was like are you going further? Yes, take my map, please, you don't get lost. So definitely recommend that and if you are feeling lost, stop, reassess, don't wander aimlessly. Hopefully, if you do have a map, both digital and on paper, you should be fine. It just gets a little sketchy in that primitive section.

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Now, mistake number five not checking the weather. Now, in Arches National Park, the weather can change in an instant and you need to be aware of this, especially if you are hiking the primitive trail. One minute it's blue skies and next there's a thunderstorm and a flash flood warning, and the next moment it's an oven. So you really need to be prepared for all three or an intense windstorm. That has been known to happen there as well. So how to avoid this? Check the forecast before you go out. I would definitely not recommend going out if there's any rain possible, because just for, like the slippery rocks itself, there's a lot of exposed areas with heights and if that rock is slick, lord help you. Also, like that little pool area which I did check, and people like swim have to like swim in it and then climb in order to get up there, so that could be fuller and you might have to turn around. Now, if you are there when there is rain and you do get caught in it, just avoid low-lying areas, just in case of flash floods. Now, also, if it's not raining and it's just sun, you need sun protection and I'm talking maybe like a rash guard, a hat, sunscreen with you so that you can reapply the heat. Here is no joke.

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Now, mistake number six under packing or over packing. I'd say this is a pretty moderate. I mean it's nothing compared to like the other intense long hikes that I have done in my hiking career. However, I do think that it is a pretty tricky hike. I would categorize it as moderate to difficult, depending on your physicality. I think if you are like an average physical fitness, I think you will be okay, and if you're not super afraid of heights and you have very good footing I was talking about devil's garden, where the the intensity doesn't lie in the fact like a cardio intensity, like you're not climbing up a mountain, but the difficulty lies in you have to be very purposeful with where you put your foot, at what time it's, just so you don't fall because it is. It's a very technical hike, if that makes sense. But, with that being said, you need to be careful not to overpack, because that adds weight and if you are not used to the weight on your back or something else, you could slip and fall. So just be careful with that and also, hiking with too much is not great anyway. But also don't under pack.

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I do have a free list that I am giving away for all of my hiking checklist that I take, and I feel like this is a pretty good list to start with and then just take away any items that you're not gonna need. I think at the bare minimum I would take water, snacks, sun protection and a camera, but I think you can leave all your heavy, unnecessary gear. This is not a backpacking trip. Just take what you need for a few hours, but make sure to bring snacks and water and sun protection. You will need them. You could always do the pack before and do like one of the other hikes, like maybe like the delicate arch hike, or maybe like around the sand dune arch. Those are pretty cool hikes and you could just test out the way, just to make sure that you are comfortable with it before you go and check off devil's garden.

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Now, next mistake number seven rushing the experience. Especially because this is quite technical and you need to be very purposeful with your steps on this slick rock and also just with the navigational challenges and not really knowing where you are, it is imperative that you do not rush. Enjoy the experience. This is a really, really cool hike that takes you into just the middle of nowhere Arches National Park. So just stop, enjoy. And also it helps you avoid injuries and not make mistakes and not get lost. So how to plan for this. I would plan in some extra time, especially to eat. I personally went to the private arch, had a little beef jerky snack. I saw like one person and that was it. It was so tranquil, it was so peaceful and also, you know, maybe plan some photo breaks. Just give yourself some extra time. Don't treat it like a race. It's not. It's not a marathon. It's an experience. It's a bucket list hike. Just make sure to enjoy the incredible nature that is around you, because this place is stunning, absolutely stunning.

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Now, mistake number eight not having a backup plan. Sometimes things do go awry. Maybe you are super prepared, but things go wrong, and I would just have a little mini backup plan B just in case if it gets too hot, if you do get lost, what are you gonna do? Or if the weather just turns wonky, what is going to be your plan? Some ways that you can plan for this and get a plan B is know the route very well. I just kind of jumped in and I think that's why I did get lost, but knowing you know when certain hikes stop, knowing the certain landmarks that you can look for. If you do have to bail, where are your bail points going to be Like maybe double O would be a bail point, or landscape arch, whatever is good for you. Just have that plan before.

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Also, if you are hiking with other people now I did this as a solo female hike so I was all by myself, but if you do have hiking buddies, maybe going through and saying, if we do get separated, where are we going to meet? I'm not sure this is going to be a super big issue because there's not a lot of people on this hike, especially if you're early and you're going on the primitive trail. However, it's always good just to have a plan in case things go awry and then also just share all of your emergency details. I personally gave it to my mom. I said, hey, I'm starting at this time, here is my trail, here's what I'm going to be doing, and I should be done by 11 or 12. Just so they kind of know where you are. I also do a lot of these solo female hikes so I have an air tag that people can track me on, because I go on these a lot by myself and mistake number nine, not knowing when to turn around.

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Sometimes the trail is just a little too difficult. You're not finding your way. Things aren't going well. You're running out of water, you're running out of snacks, whatever. It's okay to turn around and there's no shame in doing so. In fact, I started out with a lot of hiking buddies that I didn't even know, and all of them turned around by the primitive trail. By the time we hit the primitive trail, it was just me and my lonesome, and they all turned around, and that was fine.

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Maybe the heat is unbearable, the energy is running low, the weather is changing. Ultimately, your safety is the number one priority here, not you completing the devil's garden primitive loop. If you're feeling exhausted, low on water, it's okay to turn back Now. To avoid this, I would set a turnaround time even before you start. Say no matter where I am, if I am not halfway by X amount of time, I'm going to turn back and go the way I came. Remember, getting to the end is optional, but getting back safe is mandatory.

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Alright, adventurers, that wraps up the top mistakes that I saw and did make in Devil's Garden, and now you know what they are and how not to make them. This is one of the best hikes in Arches National Park, but you need to be prepared in order to do it. Now, if you want even more tips on Devil's Garden, I do run a full adventure blog called TheBucketListMermaidcom and you can go there to read even more about Devil's Garden. If you do want to check it off, and if you've hiked Devil's Garden before, I would love to hear what your thoughts were, what you thought about it, if you did get lost, if you just breezed right through and did way better than me. I'm here for it. So definitely tag me on the social medias, get in contact here and let's talk. I wanna hear your best and maybe worst hiking stories.

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I definitely did not panic on this trail. That was not what happened. Okay, I totally panicked. I was in full panic mode on this trail, but it was fun nonetheless. I had a great time. So if you enjoyed this episode of Ticket, before you Kick it, don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform or maybe even leave a review. That would mean the world to this traveling and adventuring mermaid. Until next time, keep checking off those bucket list adventures, one experience at a time.