Longbow Arch has been on my hiking list for a few years now and I finally got the chance to hike to it last week!  This is a great hike that isn’t too difficult and even has some dinosaur tracks and petroglyphs nearby too.

The hike begins in the Poison Spider Mesa parking area.  This is a very popular ATV/Off-roading area, so be prepared for tons of trucks, Jeeps, and trailers around.   The trailhead is on the north end of the parking area next to the outhouse.  Follow the signs that point you to Longbow Arch and you will soon be hiking directly west.

After some switchbacks you will come to a part where you will need to climb up the rocks.  It’s nothing serious or dangerous, but the BLM drilled these metal hand- and footholds into the rock to aid you.  There is a small window to the right of metal footholds.  Once you are done with the short climb, you will wind around a little drainage and then hike on top of the mesa for the rest of the hike.

The BLM painted some green lines on the rock to help people get to Longbow Arch.  It would be easy to get lost if you didn’t know where the arch was, so just pay attention to the many green lines.

The trail will come close to the Poison Spider ATV/Off-road trail and then it will cut to the north.  The trail follows a sandy dry wash and over sandstone for the remaining of the hike until you see Longbow Arch.

After a ways, the trail will cut to the east inside a little canyon where you can see Longbow Arch.   Continue hiking up the canyon and you can get as close to the arch as you’d like!  Longbow is a large arch, but it isn’t the most scenic arch the the entire Moab area.  It’s still worth the visit and a fun adventure if you haven’t done it before.  I got the drone out to get different angles of it.

After I rested for a bit and enjoyed the arch, I came back down the trail and visited the petroglyphs and dinosaur tracks!