Arches Now Offers All-Terrain Wheelchairs for Its Trails

Planning a visit to Arches when you use a wheelchair often comes down to the same question: how far can you really get? The answer just got bigger. As of October 8, 2026, five Utah national parks offer all-terrain wheelchairs you can borrow on site. Arches is one of them, along with Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, and Canyonlands.

These are nothing like a city wheelchair. Wide tires, a reinforced frame, and a stable seat all help them handle the kind of ground that standard wheels won't touch, the sand, the rock, and the gentle slopes that define this part of the country. In practical terms, stretches of trail that were out of reach until now are open again to visitors with mobility needs.

If you're planning a road trip, this changes how you build your itinerary. A group that includes someone who uses a wheelchair no longer has to write off the areas around the sandstone arches. You pick up the equipment directly from the park, not from an outside vendor, which keeps the logistics simple when you're coming from far away.

Two things to do before you go. First, reach out to the park ahead of time to reserve a wheelchair and check availability, since the number of units is limited and demand peaks in high season. Then find out which trails actually work with these models, because not every route in Arches is suited to them, far from it. The terrain here stays demanding in places.

This fits into a bigger picture. The five parks pair up well visited back to back, on a single loop through Utah. To map out distances, entry points, and drive times, lean on the Arches park guide, and if you're stringing several parks together, take a look at our road trip itinerary that runs through this park. That's how you turn an accessibility constraint into a real day of exploring, in the heart of the red rock country.