With Utah Education Association weekend coming later this month, Arches National Park has altered its roadwork schedule to minimize hassles/Kurt Repanshek file

The Utah Education Association holiday weekend construction schedule has been changed for Arches National Park. The park will now be open with no road construction work from 7 a.m. Friday, October 20, to 7 p.m. Sunday, October 22. 

Sunday through Thursday, visitors must arrive at the park before 6:30 p.m. Visitors arriving after 6:30 p.m. on those days will not be able to travel past the visitor center. All vehicles must be out of the park no later than 7 p.m. Sunday through Thursday nights. The park reopens at 7 a.m. Monday through Friday, and is open weekends from 7 a.m. Friday until 7 p.m. Sunday during this road construction project. 

LaSal Mountain Viewpoint and Balanced Rock opened at 7 a.m. Friday, September 29. However, these areas will be closed again at a later date in order to re-work some of the asphalt that did not meet specifications. 

Other park viewpoint and trailhead closing and reopening dates are currently planned for: 

* Park Avenue and Courthouse Towers closed October 1 for visitor and worker safety. 

* Park Avenue and Courthouse Towers are scheduled to open at 7 a.m. Friday, October 20. 

Given the many variables that can affect road projects of this type and scope, these area opening and closing dates are subject to change. Work to replace the park’s main road has begun using a technique called cold in-place recycling which involves using several pieces of equipment hooked together that grind up the existing asphalt, mix in asphalt emulsion and cement, and then relay the product as the new road base. During this phase of the construction project, as many as 10 to 12 asphalt haul trucks per hour will travel through Moab into the park and then return to the asphalt plant south of town between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. Sunday through Thursday nights.

Devils Garden Campground remains closed through November 30. The park’s visitor center hours currently are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Road work is resurfacing, restoring, and rehabilitating approximately 23 miles of roads and pullouts in Arches National Park along the entrance road (from U.S. Highway 191 to the visitor center), main park road, the campground road, and other spur roads and loops. Road work is scheduled to last through November.

Limited daytime road closures may still occur even with nighttime work. Construction crews will use pilot cars and flaggers to control traffic during the day. When partial daytime road closures are in effect, crews will limit traffic delays to 30 minutes or less per work zone. While construction crews will make every effort to minimize disruption to visitor daytime travel and activities during this project, visitors should expect frequent delays and closures. The park will post road construction updates on its official website at as they become available. However, construction work schedules are subject to change.