I felt determined to see the Milky Way. After missing it in Monument Valley (both due to overcast weather and poor planning — why didn’t I think about moonlight?), I had a mission. But, how to do it? I thought about camping, but there are so few campsites in the parks, I doubted I’d snag one. Staying at a hotel, then driving into the park at 2am seemed ridiculous. And, I kept reading, the parks are open 24 hours. I could actually stay in the park overnight. And so I would. Not only would I, hopefully, catch the Milky Way, but I’d catch sunrise at Mesa Arch.

I had never done a road trip by myself before. I felt both nervous and utterly free: no husband to find my plan unsafe, no teen to complain . Reveling in the freedom to execute any hare-brained scheme I could come up with, I dug into the research to make a plan to experience the Milky Way and see the sunrise at Mesa Arch.

Working around the Moon

The night I had available featured a waning quarter moon. My research on seeing the Milky Way (Capture the Atlas was super helpful) suggested that this was just too much light. But, I could wait for the moon to set. Checking the calendars (find moonrise and moonset times for Moab here), I saw that the moon would set at 2am. Perfect.

Next I needed to finding a place I could get to in the dark. On top of being nervous about being alone in a park all night, I worried about getting lost or falling off a cliff. I needed a short, fairly easy hike. Bonus if it was a good place for sunrise, so I could walk BACK to the car in the light. Phillip Colla’s photos of Mesa Arch (a short half mile from the parking lot) sold me. He notes that sunrise at Mesa Arch has gotten so popular, it’s almost overdone, but I could only feel inspired by his photos of the night sky.

But the post that really gave me the courage to commit to my plan was Vezzani Photography’s post on getting to Mesa Arch in the dark. The post aims to help photographers hunting the first glimpses of sunrise at Mesa Arch, but it served my purposes. It made it seem utterly possible to make it to the Arch with just a red light flashlight.

Spending the Night in Canyonlands (and hiking in the dark!)

So, after dinner in Moab, I headed into the park, arriving a little after midnight. I gathered my things and curled up in the back seat for a short nap. With the moon still high in the sky, it seemed smart to catch some winks (though I feared getting a tap on the window and having a ranger scold me!). When I woke at 2am, the moon had set and I could see the Milky Way through my car window. I set out.

The All Trails app saved my nerves here. My red light flashlight lit the path well and the clear, square stone cairns provided critical guidance. But the All Trails map gave me the confidence, every step of the way, that I was moving in the right direction (and not about to fall off a cliff!)

Finally Seeing the Milky Way!

After what felt like quite a while of walking, I came upon a sign that said “Don’t climb on arch.” Moments later, I stepped into the bowl that surrounds the arch, a trembly sort of euphoria coursing through my veins. The dark sky was soupy with stars, the Milky Way rising misty and ethereal over the just slightly blacker silhouettes of the desert trees that rimmed the bowl. I moved my pack around the bowl, laying back and peering at the sky from every angle, every edge.

The Little Dipper shone through the Milky Way, and the Big Dipper Rotated Around the bowl, staying low the whole night but counting out the hours I sat and watched.

I saw three shooting stars, the first for this city girl. One was green, which I doubted even as I watched it speed toward Mesa Arch.

The night was dark, cool, breezy, and incredibly quiet. I felt a little underdressed (that slightly warmer sweatshirt that I had not been able to find in the dark car would have been ideal), but I also felt incredibly alive. I kept my wits about me: listening to animals or other people. Really only one noise made me jump (several times): the wind slightly bending the metal “Stay off the Arch” sign behind me. Other than that, all I heard was the wind zooming through the canyon below and the twinkling the dry leaves around me.

I’m not much of a meditator. But this state of simultaneous vigilance and peace felt primal. I felt like I got just a glimpse of being an indigenous person, living out in this gorgeous canyons, so close to nature.

What Time Does Sunrise at Mesa Arch Begin?

As it came on 4am, I started wondering if my camera could capture the morning twilight, even though my eyes still registered absolute darkness. Sure enough it could. Although I couldn’t quite see it, sunrise at Mesa arch began by 4:30am. On this early summer day, sunrise would be at 5:55. So, about an hour and a half before that time, the sun began just sending rays over the canyon that looms below the Arch. I could see sun fingers of light below the Arch and stars above.

I can only say that I felt awestruck. Although blogs warned me that photographers who aim to capture sunrise at Mesa Arch would start to arrive between 4 and 5 am, I had the place to myself until 5:08. And that hour was the most glorious, which surprised me. for all the experts on sunrise at Mesa Arch, I felt like they missed the best part.

Every moment led to a slightly different view through the arch. I couldn’t stop taking pictures.

The Crowd Arrives Just in Time for Sunrise at Mesa Arch

The first photographers arrived at 5:08, immediately set up tripods and were quickly followed by other photographers (more tripods) and lots of tourists who spread out through and around the bowl. Photographers told me that they had been there the day before, but photos were a bust because it was totally overcast.

Apparently there was no sun and then, poof, there was sun. Sunrise at Mesa Arch can be finicky. I worried so much about seeing the Milky Way that I hadn’t even considered that sunrise might not be optimal.

So these folks who came out two days in the row were committed to getting the sunrise. And I was darn lucky to be there when I was there!

The Whole Park Lights Up

I stayed for a while, to document the famous sunrise at Mesa Arch and to see the famous red glow beneath the arch. I think it was not so dramatic due to the time of year. The sun rose from the north-easterly side of the arch, so mostly lit up the southern side of the rocks.

Perhaps as the sun rises in slightly different places in the different seasons different parts of the arch glow. Sunrise looked glorious, but the hour just before was even better. If you decide to get up early, get up one hour earlier to for a peaceful, fabulous view.

Definitely Need to Return to Canyonlands

Canyonlands is huge. Mesa Arch is in the Island in the Sky region, which is the most popular and accessible. It’s gorgeous. I’d like to come back and go to Needles, which is supposed to have a completely different character. Then, there’s Mazes, which sounds amazing, but it still pretty inaccessible if you don’t have a high clearance 4×4. It’s definitely a place where I would not want to get stuck.