Corona Arch Moab Utah Hike Guide
Corona Arch is a short out and back hike located in Moab, Utah. This 3 mile RT hike involves some minor scrambling using a steel ladder and wire handrails. Along the hike to Corona Arch, you will also see Bowtie Arch which is about half the size of Corona, but equally impressive. For the daring, you can even hike up to the top of Corona Arch. This is a popular hike but one good for various hiking levels and families.
Corona Arch Quick Facts
Corona Arch Trail: ★★★★ (4/5 Stars)
Distance: 2.8 miles RT
Elevation Start: 4,240 ft
Highest Point: 4,600 ft
Total Elevation Gain: 420 ft
Estimated Time to Complete: 1-2 Hours RT
Difficulty: Easy What does this mean?
Class: Class 3 – Can be Class 2 if you use ladders/wire handrails – What does this mean?
Season: Year-Round (Expect occasional snow/ice December – March)
Directions to Corona Arch
Trailhead: Corona Arch
Getting Here: From downtown Moab, travel on highway 191 for about 2 miles until you reach Utah highway 279. Follow this for 10 miles until you reach the well marked trailhead on the right. You can enter Corona Arch trailhead into your favorite navigational device.
Fees: None
Parking: Parking at Corona Arch is free and can fit about 30 cars. After this small lots fills up, there is additional satellite parking in lots down the road. The main lot will fill up by 10AM on most weekends and even some busy weekdays. There are no bathrooms at the trailhead but if you need to go, there are non-plumbing bathrooms located at the campground across the road.
Summary
Dogs: Corona Arch is a dog friendly hike but does require some scrambling for your dog near the steep wire handrail section. Juno had no problem scrambling up and scampering down the section, but I did see smaller dogs carried by their owners. In general, I would recommend that your dog has some experience with scrambling on rocks. Although the sign at the trailhead asks for dogs to be on leashes, you will find many off leash during the hike of Corona Arch.
Camping: Camping is not allowed at Corona Arch, but there are numerous areas to camp near the trailhead including a campsite across the street. Please note, camping in Moab, Utah can be extremely competitive, especially in busy seasons. Plan ahead and get your campsite early in the day to avoid driving around for hours at dusk praying you find an open spot.
Make it a Loop: Corona Arch is an out and back hike.
Trail X Factors: Distance, Crowds, Handrails and Ladder
Distance: Although Utah and the southwest are littered with arches, it’s not often that you have the opportunity to see two beautiful towering arches in such a short hike. During the hike to Corona Arch, you will also see the Bowtie Arch which is located a couple of hundred yards before Corona.
Crowds: Since the hike is short and accessible to many different levels of hikers, the trail to Corona Arch will get extremely crowded. Get to the trailhead around 7AM to avoid the heat and crowds. (Honestly, this is my recommendation for nearly every single hike in Moab). If you don’t want to get up early, try hiking Corona Arch later in the afternoon (4-5PM).
Handrails and Ladder: Although some are not needed, there is one section of the Corona Arch trail that requires a steel wire handrail to navigate up a steep section of red rock. Do you absolutely need to use the handrail? No. However, 95% of hikers will, which is important to note if you have difficulty navigating up steep sections. The steep section is about 50-60 feet long. Once you pass this section, you will run into a steel ladder which helps navigate up a 6-7ft cliff off red rock. If you have a dog, you can easily circumnavigate this section to avoid using the ladder.
Hike Tip(s): Get There Early, Climb to Top of Arch
The hike to Corona Arch can get extremely crowded, especially during spring and summer months. Get to the trailhead around 7AM to avoid a parking nightmare and sharing the trail with half the state’s population. For those daring enough, once you walk through Corona Arch, there is a well established trail to the top of the arch. Although ropes are not required for this scramble, it is a high class 3 and borderline class 4 scramble that is about 100-150 feet up. Once you get to the top, you can easily navigate to the top of the arch. In years past, climbers used to create rope swings from the arch. Currently however, this is no longer allowed.
Best Views: Basically the entire hike is beautiful from start to finish with some of my favorite views about 1/4 mile away from the arch itself. This is also a very popular spot to visit during the nighttime to snap some pictures of the stars.
Corona Arch Hike Route
Gear Needed
- Men’s Trail Runners
- Women’s Trail Runners
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Men’s)
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Booths (Women’s)
- Backpack
- Food & Water
- Optional: Garmin inReach
- Optional: Hiking Poles
- Optional: Headlamp
- Optional: Garmin Fenix Watch
- Optional: Camera and Lens
- Optional: GoPro, Joby Tripod
- *Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you.
Our Trip to the Corona Arch: April 2018
Jackie and I decided to take a trip to Moab, Utah in late April 2018. Moab, located on the western doorstep of Colorado, is about a 6 hour drive from our house and a perfect place to visit in late spring before the rising summer temps make the area unbearable. Our first night camping was filled with loud camping neighbors who were up to wee hours of the morning drinking, yelling and doing donuts in the dirt area in front of our car/tent until 2:30AM. It was so.much.fun.
After an extremely early departure time from the campsite, we decided to head over to Corona Arch before the crowds/heat got too bad. When we arrived to the parking area, we were one of 4-5 cars in the lot. We packed up our bags, got Juno ready to go and hit the trail. The dirt trail worked up and away from the parking lot until it crossed some train tracks about a ¼ mile into the hike. From here, the trail worked up some more until it reached a large flat rock area with views into every direction. Juno had never been in the desert before and was extremely intrigued by the local wildlife and plants. She discovered lizards and found the prey she would track and chase during our entire trip in Moab.
We continued hiking down a bit and rounded a series of steep cliffs to reach the first set of steel handrails. These were not necessary in this section, IMO so we avoided using them and continued on. After we rounded the corner, we discovered a large area full of cairns right off the trail. It was a really cool sight to see (I have included a picture of it here). A short while later, we caught our first glimpses of Cornoa Arch which was awesome to see, even from this far away. The trail had its first and only tricky section for Juno (at least we thought). Its a steep rock scramble that probably gains 30-40 feet of elevation. Humans can use the wire handrails to navigate up the steep section. Juno on the other hand, just sprinted right up it, not worried about a thing in the world. Good girl! We were proud that all of her mountain experience was finally paying off.
After the handrails, we reached a short ladder which Juno and Jackie circumvented to gain the 6-7 feet. I decided I was too good for the ladder and used my bouldering skills to climb up the short class 3 or 4 section of trail. Around this point, we encountered the first group of people we would see that day, who were about a ¼ mile ahead of us, right under Corona Arch. Before reaching Corona, we stopped at Bowtie Arch to snap some pictures and take in the sights.
It was already starting to get hot, so upon reaching Corona Arch, we stopped for some water and snacks in the shade of the massive red arch. Jackie and I had visited Rattlesnake arches a couple of years ago, but this was really our first experience with this kind of hiking.
Corona Arch was an awesome sight, the arch towered over anything in the area, yet still looked dwarfed in the massive, sprawling landscape that surrounded the area. After a quick breakfast and water, we hiked past the arch and located the trail up to the top of it. I took a quick scan of it and it looked extremely doable to hike. Jackie wasn’t having it though, so I decided to skip the trek up this time around. We snapped some more photos of the arch and headed back to the car.
Our hike back to the car from Corona Arch was uneventful but filled with lots of hikers and dogs. Apparently, people in Moab struggle to read or follow directions because there were a number of dogs off-leash along the way. I have no problem with dogs off-leash in theory, but I tend to find that dog owners who let their pups go off leash have little control over them which can cause problems while hiking with other dogs. When we got back to the car, the lot was chalk full of cars with people streaming out of every area of the parking lot. We were both glad we knocked this one out early in the day.
Overall, I really enjoyed the short hike to Corona Arch and Bowtie Arch and would highly recommend it for anyone visiting Moab. Get there early in the day and you will have a semi-secluded hike with amazing views.
