Just Beyond Arches National Park Lies a Hidden Arch Most Visitors Miss

Looking for a hidden gem arch that requires a bit of adventure to reach? Funnel Arch is a truly beautiful arch that you can enjoy after a short but exciting hike through slickrock and desert terrain.

On our recent trip to Moab, we were really looking for other fun trails beyond Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park, and Funnel Arch ended up being one of our favorite discoveries. If you’re up for a little scrambling and route finding, this impressive arch is well worth the effort.

Funnel Arch Hike Stats

Getting to the Trailhead

Funnel Arch is located on Kane Springs Road, about 15–20 minutes southwest of Moab. The drive to get here is beautiful. The road first follows the Colorado River before turning into the narrower and more rugged Kane Creek Canyon.

The road winds between tall canyon walls and is very scenic, but it’s also unpaved, narrow, and winding. While you should take it slow, it’s generally manageable in a standard vehicle in dry conditions.

The trailhead itself is just an unmarked pull-off on the side of the road, with room for about 5-6 cars.

Tip: As you drive through Kane Creek Canyon, the road gradually climbs before beginning to descend again. The pull-off for Funnel Arch is right around the point where the road starts dropping back down.

The Trail

The hike itself is short, but it’s definitely an adventure. Much of the route involves scrambling up grippy sandstone and winding through narrow rock passages. In total, we counted about seven scrambling sections of varying difficulty before reaching the arch.

The second scramble is by far the most difficult part of the entire hike. Many AllTrails reviews we read said something like, “This is way too dangerous—we turned back here.” Most of this second scramble is actually fairly straightforward, but there’s a roughly 15-foot section near the top that is trickier and fairly vertical.

If you’re familiar with the scrambling classification system, I’d say most of the Funnel Arch hike falls in the class 1 to class 2 range, but the upper portion of this second scramble is more of a class 3 move. It’s brief, but you do need to be careful, and comfortable climbing short, more vertical ledges, or have someone in your group who is. But if you or a friend are good at finding solid hand and foot placements, it’s definitely doable.

If you’re not familiar with scrambling ratings, here’s a quick overview of the common classification system used to describe hiking and climbing difficulty:

• Class 1: Standard hiking on a trail. Generally you don’t need to use your hands, though the trail may still be steep.
• Class 2: Rougher terrain that may be off-trail or rocky. You might sometimes need to use your hands for balance.
• Class 3: Scrambling terrain where you regularly use your hands to climb up rock features. Falls can cause injuries, but the terrain usually isn’t extremely exposed.
• Class 4: Steeper and more exposed scrambling. The climbing becomes more serious, and a fall could lead to severe injury. Some people choose to use ropes for safety.
• Class 5: Technical rock climbing that requires specialized gear such as ropes, harnesses, and belays.

In our group, we had two adults who were pretty confident with this kind of scrambling, two adults who were happy to have a little extra help, and a three-year-old we passed up and down. We gave each other a hand or a boost and would say things like, “Put your foot in that little spot to the left,” and everyone felt totally comfortable and safe with that approach.

Coming back down this scramble was about the same degree of difficulty.

Once you get past that second scramble, the rest of the hike is much more straightforward. You’ll do some lighter scrambling through small canyons, climb up rounded sandstone hills, and wander through a rolling slickrock landscape full of interesting textures and formations. It’s just a really fun stretch of hiking.

Funnel Arch

Funnel Arch sits tucked against a cliff wall at the top of one final scramble, so you won’t see it until the very end of the trail. But once you round that final ridge, it’s a beautiful sight: high up in the mountain cliffs and much larger than we were expecting.

The arch has a subtle funnel shape – wider on one side and narrower on the other – and the rock is a bright orange color that really stands out against the cliff. You can walk right up to it and explore underneath and around it, enjoying the arch from several different angles.

We were here right before sunset, and the arch was beautifully lit in the warm evening light. As long as you leave before the sun actually sets, you’ll still have plenty of light to get back. That said, we definitely wouldn’t want to climb down that second scramble in the dark.

A Few Important Tips

Maps: The trail to Funnel Arch is not marked, and since it’s mostly on rock, there is no clear pathway and no cairns. Sometimes you can just follow the canyons, but there were plenty of times we wouldn’t have had any idea which way to go without referring to our downloaded AllTrails map. I highly recommend downloading some kind of map before starting out.

Footwear: The sandstone was pretty grippy, but I’d still definitely recommend wearing shoes with good traction or hiking boots. 

Kids & Dogs: Dogs and young kids can do this hike, but some of the scrambling sections make it more complicated. In a few spots, especially the second scramble, you may need to lift or help them up and down the rock ledges.

We completed the hike with one 3-year-old and four adults, but we did end up passing him up and down, as noted above.

In general, kids should either be light enough to lift and lower where needed, or old enough, tall enough, and confident enough to scramble on their own, with some assistance. Likewise, dogs will likely need help getting up and down some of the ledges.

I would not recommend doing this hike with a baby in a carrier.

Other Sites in the Area

If you want to explore some more in the Funnel Arch area, there are two easy additions.

First, not far from Funnel Arch itself is Birthing Rock, a large boulder covered in extensive and very unique petroglyphs. You’ll pass it in the canyon on the way to the arch, so it’s easy to stop and take a look. You can find the location here.

Second, along Kane Creek Road near the Colorado River is Moonflower Canyon (location). This is a short but scenic hike up a narrow canyon. The area is also known for its rock climbing routes, and there are additional petroglyphs nearby.

Final Thoughts

We really loved this hike. Funnel Arch feels like a bit of a hidden gem in the Moab area, and there’s a good chance you won’t run into many other people along the way.

From the scrambling sections to the beautiful slickrock terrain and the impressive arch waiting at the end, this hike was a blast from start to finish. Adventure, great scenery, and a stunning arch – it ended up being one of our favorite hikes near Moab.