Arches · 4x4 Backcountry

Arches Backcountry ½ Day

Off-pavement to the arches most visitors miss

4 hours$198 / adult

This tour explores the backcountry of Arches National Park in about four hours. You'll ride in one of our 4x4 backcountry vehicles — heat and A/C for comfort in every season — while your guide brings the park's history and the geology of the Moab area to life, pointing out arch formations and towering landscapes along the way. Sights include, but are not limited to, the Marching Men, Tower Arch, and the Eye of the Whale Arch, on a route that mixes paved sections with unpaved 4x4 roads.

Tour highlights

Exclusive-permit access off the beaten path
Fossilized dinosaur tracks & the hidden Eye of the Whale Arch
Balanced Rock, the Windows Section & the Marching Men
Climate-controlled 4x4 built for the terrain

Where you’ll go

1
Utahraptor State Park
Before crossing into the national park, our off-road route cuts through Utahraptor State Park — home to one of the densest Early Cretaceous dinosaur bone beds in North America. We leave the 4x4 for a short walk to fossilized dinosaur tracks stamped permanently into the desert stone, and your guide decodes the footprints of the prehistoric hunters — including the fearsome Utahraptor — that ruled this terrain millions of years before the arches formed.
2
Eye of the Whale Arch
Tucked in the Herdina Park area of Arches, the Eye of the Whale rewards an optional half-mile hike that leads beneath the arch to an outcropping of seldom-visited red rock formations.
3
Balanced Rock
Standing over 128 feet tall, Balanced Rock is one of the park's heavy hitters — and far more than a photo stop. Your guide shows how this 3,500-ton block of Entrada Sandstone balances atop a shrinking pedestal of softer Dewey Bridge mudstone: a real-time demonstration of how different rock layers erode at different speeds, and a reminder that this ancient landscape is always changing.
4
Upper Delicate Arch Viewpoint
No trip to Arches is complete without its crowning jewel. Our route brings you to an overlook with a classic long-distance view of Delicate Arch.
5
The Windows Section
The highest concentration of massive spans in the park — North Window, South Window, Turret Arch, and the towering Double Arch, whose cavernous openings starred in the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Beyond the movie magic, you'll learn how these amphitheaters were hollowed out from the inside, creating some of the most dramatic overhead architecture in the American Southwest.

Routes flex with conditions, light, and your group — your guide builds the best possible day.

Good to know

Meeting point: 2182 S Hwy 191, Moab, UT
Duration: 4 hours
Hotel pickup: Local hotel pickup — we confirm your pickup time 24 hours prior.
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.
What to bring: Closed-toe shoes, sun protection, a layer, and a camera.
Group size: 3-passenger minimum; you may be paired with other guests.