Arches National Park in 4 Seasons – Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall

Arches National Park in 4 Seasons - Arches National Park Weather

The weather at Arches National Park does not shift as much as at parks in the more northern areas of the country, but the seasonal changes do become part of the experience for Utah visitors. Naturally, the heat in the parks farther north is less intense than in Arches during the hottest part of summer, from early July through mid-August. On the other hand, in winter, Utah’s gorgeous Arches park is not as cold as the parks farther north. So, what’s the best time of year to visit Arches National Park in Utah?

What Are the Best Months to Visit Arches National Park?

One of the most gorgeous seasons for visiting Utah and the Arches park is the fall, from around late September through November. The extreme heat of summer is over and there’s a crispness in the cooler air and that fresh, invigorating feeling of fall as you stand among the more than 2,000 majestic arches of the world-famous park.

How Is Arches National Park in the Winter?

There’s that incomparable feeling of knowing you’re experiencing one of life’s incredible moments being in Arches park during winter. That’s partly because there’s a sense of nearly having the park to yourself. There are not nearly as many visitors from December through February. But, there are fewer daylight hours in winter, and you do need to be careful walking in some areas that can become icy. Still, basking in the serenity of the quiet, nearly-empty park in winter is well worth watching out for some ice.

How Is Arches National Park in the Spring?

Spring is just a beautiful time to visit the park. The weather is mild. You can comfortably take your time outdoors. Light jackets are optional; lots of people are already in shorts. Just watch out for sudden quick-moving storms that can pass through and cause the temperatures to drop briefly. Be prepared with an insulated rain jacket in your day pack. Overall, it’s hard to beat the once-in-a-lifetime experience of standing before the great sandstone Arches of southern Utah with the cool spring breeze on your face. For those looking for a thrilling adventure while in the area, consider hiring a Moab climbing guide. Although these guided trips will be outside of the parks, they explore less traveled areas that still flaunt Southern Utah’s unique beauty.

How Is Arches National Park in the Summer?

The summer months are the hottest of the year, and it’s when the 119 square mile park has the most visitors. The red rock facings absorb heat from the sun, and together with the dry air of southern Utah, on many days it can be an especially hot experience. It’s fair to say that it’s potentially hazardous to the health of people who forget to hydrate frequently. Southern Utah visitors need to stay aware of the outdoor temperatures in summer to avoid a potentially severe reaction to the heat. Many travelers turn to the Colorado River to beat the Southern Utah heat. Guided Fisher Towers rafting trips depart less than 20 minutes from Arches National Park.

How Is Arches National Park in the Fall?

Probably the most irresistible season to spend some quality time in Arches park is in the fall. From about late September through November, the rough summer heat is just a memory. Just as the temperatures have fallen to consistently refreshing and comfortable levels, the daily population of park visitors has also fallen dramatically from just a few weeks earlier on the hotter late summer days. It’s that pretty perfect time of year when you can feel the greatest freedom to wander through the park in blissful focus on whatever comes to mind during an ideal experience walking in wonder below the incomparable 65 million-year-old Arches. Rest assured, you won’t run out of activities to choose from while visiting Southern Utah’s parks in the Fall. One of the most popular activities in the area for those ages 8 is Moab canyoneering.

Arches National Park Weather

Southeast Utah is in the high desert region of the west-southwest United States. Temperatures change as much as 40 degrees in a day here sometimes! So, a good rule of thumb is to check Arches National Park weather by month to see the actual predicted conditions for the weeks in which you want to visit.

In summer, temperatures are frequently above 100° F, which can make it dangerous to hike much or do other strenuous outdoor activities in the area. It’s monsoon season, which means sudden raging storms move through virtually every day, sometimes bringing flash flooding.

Winter high temperatures average 30° to 50° F, and lows are from about 0° to 20° F. There are rarely major snowfalls in the vicinity of the park, but icy roads can become inaccessible. It can be a great time to visit Arches for people who don’t mind the cold, but take precautions while driving and walking.

The most comfortable weather months at Arches park are in the fall, from September to early November. Average temperatures range from around 60° to 80°F with nightly lows from about 30° to 50° F.

Average fall temperatures, mid-September through October, range from average highs of 60º to 80º F and lows from 30º to 50º F. Those temperatures, along with the waning guest traffic, make fall the ideal season of the year to visit the spectacular Arches National Park, Utah.

Red River Adventures

A raft floats down the river near arches national park

Red River Adventures’ shop is located less than 15 minutes from the Arches National Park Visitors Center. Since getting our start in 2003, we’ve had the pleasure of welcoming more than 100,000 guests and spending over 110,000 days immersed in the great outdoors! We’re thrilled to have earned 5-star ratings on various online review platforms, a testament to our pride and dedication. We are here to provide you and your family with Moab and Southern Utah’s most exciting and fun guided wilderness adventures. Whether you choose a Moab rafting trip, a Moab canyoneering tour or you choose to spend the day with one of our awesome Moab climbing guides, you’re in good hands. Red River Adventures is in the TripAdvisor Hall of Fame.

For your guided adventures in amazing Utah, call us at (435) 259-4046, or contact us here online anytime.

Download PDF

The River People
Post Author
We strive to ensure that time spent with us is time that you will always look back on fondly. We want to leave you with a memories that bring a smile to your face no matter where you are, no matter what you are doing, and no matter how much time has passed. In addition to a deep reservoir of personal experience, our rafting guides are licensed by the state of Utah, have Wilderness First Responder and/or First Aid/CPR certifications, and are insured. Many guides also have swiftwater rescue training. Our climbing and canyoneering guides are AMGA-certified for the terrain in which they operate. Our skiing guides are certified for the terrain, and some are world-renowned for their experience. All of our guides are intimately acquainted with not only the river, rock and snow, but also with the incredible surroundings of the areas we guide.

River Rafting Reviews and Red River Adventure Testimonials!

Gesund LLC
google
Gesund LLC
February 24, 2025

Reviewing Japow trip to Hokkaido in winter of 2025. In a word, fantastic. Go if you can. I enjoyed just about every aspect of the trip. Before we started our trip Carl gave us a packing list, and a link to a Japan website that sped up our navigating through Japanese customs. I appreciated the ease by which we were able to coordinate getting picked up at the airport by our group guide due to a multi-hour delay in a connecting city. I thought the hotels were great (though small by Western standards, but that is simply how space is used in Japan, efficiently--read, small). The locations and terrain were awesome. I always felt like the Red River team maintained the group dynamics really well, we simply had a great group and I enjoyed getting to know folks on the trail, in the van or at the dinners spots we hit. We lucked out and had fresh snow every day but I feel that even if we didn't Carl and his team would have known where to go for fresh turns. Really hope I can do this again.

Andrew C
google
Andrew C
February 24, 2025

Professional and approachable guides drilled the avalanche material into us over three days. Thanks!

Lindsay Black Mangat
google
Lindsay Black Mangat
February 24, 2025

My friend and I went on a full day backcountry ski tour with Timmy in Big Cottonwood Canyon. It was all we had hoped for in a day in the woods together but far more enjoyable than expected. The terrain Timmy took us on was to our experience level. He pushed us a bit, encouraged us, taught us some things and he had a great attitude and sense of humor. Thanks, Timmy!

Mia Moore
google
Mia Moore
February 24, 2025

Best AARIE 1 course out there! 10/10 Vic and Brian were absolutely awesome!! They went above and beyond to make sure we were all learning everything we could relevant to our situation! Some seriously knowledgeable people and really wonderful teachers! The resources and information they managed to provide over a 3 say course was absolutely phenomenal. I could not give a better review it was an absolute pleasure to spend time in the mountains with these guys!

Ian Burbidge
google
Ian Burbidge
February 24, 2025

Guides were amazing, very professional, very knowledgeable, created a great atmosphere for fun and for learning

Doug Hearon
google
Doug Hearon
February 22, 2025

My wife and I spent 6 days skiing JAPOW with the Red River crew and it was amazing! Incredible food, deep snow, and Onsen was the daily routine and it was absolutely perfect. Great line choices as well!

Jaxon Bak
google
Jaxon Bak
February 21, 2025

Best group out there. Extremely knowledgeable people and super fun to be around. 100% would recommend for guided tours!

McKensee Harris
google
McKensee Harris
February 18, 2025

Victoria was an incredible leader for the Womens Avy 1 clinic. She was so knowledgable, accomadating, and created a supportive environment for our course. I learned so much and feel so happy to have had this opportunity to participate in her class.

Kelley Julian
google
Kelley Julian
February 18, 2025

I took the AIARE 1 Course and was lucky to get Sam and Brian as instructors, plus Robbie who is almost certified. Not only did we learn a ton about planning a safe route in the backcountry, we had lots of hands on practice with rescue, general safety while in the field, and gear management. 12/10 recommend

Emma N
google
Emma N
February 17, 2025

Victoria was fabulous — I couldn’t have asked for a better instructor for my Aiare 1 course.

Jay Adams
google
Jay Adams
February 12, 2025

Nate was a fantastic guide. Ice climbing is something I wanted to try for quite awhile. Red River Adventures gave me the chance to experience this. Really fantastic adventure!

S A
google
S A
February 11, 2025

We just returned from a fabulous JAPOW trip that ranks as Best in Class! Carl and his team clearly put in an incredible amount of thought and preparation to make this a fantastic experience from every aspect. Besides their professionalism, their safety focus, and their almost unreal ability to find untracked powder, they are just fun companions with whom to spend the week. Highly recommend.

P Ro
google
P Ro
February 11, 2025

My friend and I (indoor rock climbers/minimal to no ice climbing experience) went on a trip to Midway, UT for XC skiing and the crater, and decided to add on ice climbing. We got rescheduled because of a relative heat wave that melted most of the ice. The owners were extremely accommodating in moving us and offered a refund. We opted to wait a couple of days and ultimately we went out in Provo Canyon two days later (our first choice location due to its proximity to Midway) and had a great, full-day experience adjusted to our level! Shoutouts to Tanya (owner/owner’s wife) for staying in regular communication with us, and Brian, our guide, for a wonderful day!

Elisa Hecht
google
Elisa Hecht
February 8, 2025

We had an incredible trip with Red Rivers Adventures in Hokkaido, Japan! Carl, John and Ayu were amazing guides. We highly recommend this lifetime experience.

Ethan Como
google
Ethan Como
February 7, 2025

Brian and Sam rule!!! They were very friendly and helpful. Judgement free zone! 10/10 would recommend

Jessica Griffiths
google
Jessica Griffiths
February 7, 2025

Knowledgeable and patient avalanche guides. Couldn’t ask for more

wutben
google
wutben
February 5, 2025

Very fun and helpful course for AIARE 1. Learned a lot and had a great time with my instructors and other class mates

Stephen McSweeney
google
Stephen McSweeney
February 3, 2025

Fantastic course led by awesome, professional folks. Would highly recommend to anyone. Thank you guys, I learned a ton.

Wes Angel
google
Wes Angel
January 28, 2025

Great 1st ice climbing experience! Brian was a great guide.

Sage Nightingale
google
Sage Nightingale
January 27, 2025

Learned so much from John during our AIARE II course this weekend! Even got to ski a bunch of powder :)

Jacob Lambert
google
Jacob Lambert
January 26, 2025

John took me and my fiancé out for our first splitboarding experience and it was a fantastic time. He was an incredible guide and tailored the experience to our skill levels. He was friendly and non-judgmental while going out of his way to help us have a successful trip. He is widely known as a legend in this field. I would highly recommend this company and will plan to use their services in the future.

Liam Doherty
google
Liam Doherty
January 26, 2025

Brian was a great instructor! I appreciate his help and guidance.

Robert Williams
google
Robert Williams
January 26, 2025

Ben was an excellent instructor for the Avalanche Rescue course!

Jakob Allen
google
Jakob Allen
January 26, 2025

Had an awesome day!

Shane McConnell
google
Shane McConnell
January 24, 2025

This is an excellent 2 day avi course (plus a bit extra pre course prep). A ton of great information which makes a solid introduction to planning and executing safe backcountry ski and split boarding trips. John and Jeremy were excellent teachers and guides. Highly recommend it.

Carly Anderson
google
Carly Anderson
January 20, 2025

I took the all women’s class with Vic and it was incredible. I felt very supported through the entire class with a bunch of other incredible women! Would highly recommend doing a course with Vic if you’re feeling nervous at all. She is incredibly patient and knowledgeable about all things backcountry!

Matthias Ruckle
google
Matthias Ruckle
January 20, 2025

Awesome experience. Garth and Ben were great guides and we learned so much!

David Staggs
google
David Staggs
January 19, 2025

I had such a great day ice climbing with Red River, couldn’t recommend this company enough. Booking and scheduling were simple and easy, and there were plenty of locations to climb near where we were staying. The price for two people + gear was completely reasonable. Our guide, Nate, was absolutely fantastic and totally made the whole experience for us. He let us choose how much and how difficult climbing we wanted to do, while being kind, interesting, and easy to talk to. He gave us great advice for how to climb more effectively and celebrated with us when we did something well. Nate even surprised me with a cupcake (it was my birthday). I had such a fantastic experience and wouldn’t hesitate whatsoever to book with this company again.

Ryan Russo
google
Ryan Russo
January 18, 2025

Excellent guiding, climbing, and ice. Overall a great experience!

samuel creenaune
google
samuel creenaune
January 18, 2025

We went touring with John and it was awesome. Great experience, tips and tricks and great knowledge of the area which was much appreciated. Thank you

Robert “Rob” Kowalsky
google
Robert “Rob” Kowalsky
January 14, 2025

I had an excellent experience taking a low ratio AIARE level 1 with Red River. Our guides Garth and Ben were experienced, knowledgeable, and provoked good discussion among my group. Plus they were also pretty nice folks! I wish that the classroom portion was a bit more organized and built upon content we learned in the pre-course instead of rehashing it, but the field portion more than made up for it. I would recommend this outfit to anyone trying to learn about the essentials of safely navigating avalanche terrain.

wilson Kriegel
google
wilson Kriegel
January 14, 2025

Great experience. Easy process. Good gear. Great communication. Super safe!

Kyla Marie
google
Kyla Marie
January 12, 2025

Great information and hands on experience learning how to use life saving tools and skills. Thank you red river!

TED BOTS
google
TED BOTS
January 10, 2025

Great day backcountry with Carl!

Evan Landau
google
Evan Landau
January 10, 2025

Always such a dope time with these guys. I’ve toured the past two years with Landon. Super knowledgeable both in safety and where the good spots are while teaching you a bit about the sport. Gonna do some mountain biking with him and his summer!! So stoked 11/10 guide book asap

Rodney Malcolm
google
Rodney Malcolm
January 8, 2025

Awesome day and Carl was fantastic as a guide. Super helpful tips when needed and fun to chat and ski with.

Sam Flessner
google
Sam Flessner
January 6, 2025

Avy 1 course was very well run. Instructors were professional and knowledgeable. I would definitely recommend.

Alexa Budzynski
google
Alexa Budzynski
January 3, 2025

We wanted to try Splitboarding in the backcountry on our last trip to Park City, UT. We found Red River through a simple Google search and we couldn’t have been happier with the entire experience. Our guide, John, was kind, patient, congenial and super safety focused - which we really appreciated. We went from knowing zero to having a challenging and fulfilling couple of days in an absolutely gorgeous part of the country (Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons). We also super appreciated that all the gear was provided in the Intro lesson price. These people know their stuff. If you’re thinking you want to try backcountry riding, the time is now and these are your peeps.

Karson Eilers
google
Karson Eilers
January 2, 2025

I took an AIRE 2 course with Red River Adventures. Instructors were professional, safe, and fun.

Daniel Grobman
google
Daniel Grobman
January 1, 2025

Awesome experience!! My tour guide Landon was amazing and hand vast avalanche knowledge! Can’t wait to book with red river again!!!

Heber Valley Music Together
google
Heber Valley Music Together
December 30, 2024

It was a great class. Ben had a good knowledge base and made everyone feel comfortable. I loved the amount of repetition given to take out and put back the equipment- this got me so much more comfortable with all my equipment.

Diego Canavati
google
Diego Canavati
December 28, 2024

Super profesional and expirienced guides!

Kalen Griffin
google
Kalen Griffin
December 22, 2024

Vic put on an awesome course! Extremely informative and fun and we learned a lot about avalanche rescues. 10/10 would recommend! Thank you 😊

Roni Peled
google
Roni Peled
December 22, 2024

Great learnings with great people

Kyle Almeida
google
Kyle Almeida
December 19, 2024

Had a fantastic two days in the Wasatch for AIARE 1! John and Vic are awesome guides and very knowledgeable about avalanche education and their tour routes. Highly recommend.

Matthew McHugh
google
Matthew McHugh
December 19, 2024

The guides/instructors at Red River are best in class. John and Victoria went above and beyond to answer our questions, share in between the lines knowledge, and encourage lifelong learning.

Emma Braun
google
Emma Braun
December 18, 2024

Took an all-women AIARE 1 course and it was fantastic!! Highly recommend. Victoria was an awesome instructor and had a lot of great experience and advice to share for women who are interested in getting more involved in this male-dominated sport. Thank you Vic and Red River for advocating for women in the backcountry!!

David Smith
google
David Smith
December 16, 2024

I highly recommend using Red River Adventures for all your AIARE course. Extremely professional instructors that take the time to focus on everyone.

Ashley Jenson
google
Ashley Jenson
December 7, 2024

I’ve taken my Aiare 1 and a rescue course with red river adventures and both classes were amazing. The instructors do a fantastic job. I felt heard and every question I had was answered. I highly recommend taking a course with these guys, you’ll really walk away with a lot.

Gracee Dalton
google
Gracee Dalton
December 6, 2024

Amazing guides who are very well educated and informative. Great learning experience.