Dark Angel

Dark Angel is the reward for hikers who refuse to turn around when everyone else does. You'll start at Devils Garden trailhead and work your way past Landscape Arch and through the increasingly rugged terrain beyond Double O Arch, where the crowds thin dramatically. The trail transitions from maintained path to primitive route — expect cairn-following over slickrock fins, sandy washes, and narrow ledges that demand your full attention. The final stretch delivers you to a solitary sandstone pillar stained dark by desert varnish, standing like a burnt sentinel against the sky. There's no railing, no interpretive sign, just you and a monolith that looks like it belongs on another planet. This trail is built for hikers who want to earn their solitude and don't mind a little route-finding to get it.