Blaze's Logbook

Stats
Total Log Entries: 1279 (Rank: 1st)  [List Them]  [Map Them]
Total Distance: 17,878.64 Miles (Rank: 1st)
Average Distance: 13.98 Miles

Average Rating: 1star (1.48)
Average Difficulty: 1star (1.12)
Average Solitude: 1star (1.41)

Earliest Log Entry: 6/1/1974
Latest Log Entry: 12/22/2025

Average ratings are based on the published values and not the values entered in your own log entries.

Photos
Entrance Sign

This is the sign at the entrance of the park. [Manzano Mountains State Park]
Log Entries
Liberty Cap and Otto's Tub
Liberty Cap Trail - 12/22/2025  [View Log Page]
Rating: 4stars Difficulty: 2point5stars Solitude: 4point5stars
Distance: 12.18 Miles Duration: 5 hours, 16 minutes

I hiked out to Liberty Cap from the north trailhead (about 5.5 mi), then took a short side trip to Otto's Bathtub on the way back.  Otto's Tub was definitely worth it!  Liberty Cap Trail was generally easy to follow.  The trail to Otto's Tub wasn't marked other than a small 3 stone cairn that is easy to miss.

Beautiful Arch
Skyline Arch - 12/21/2025  [View Log Page]
Rating: 2stars Difficulty: 1star Solitude: 1point5stars
Distance: 0.43 Mile Duration: 17 minutes

This is a short hike from the road to the base of Skyline Arch.  Trail is well-marked and easy to follow.

Excellent Hike
Tower Arch Trail - 12/21/2025  [View Log Page]
Rating: 3point5stars Difficulty: 2point5stars Solitude: 3point5stars
Distance: 3.16 Miles Duration: 1 hour, 48 minutes

The hike out to Tower Arch is fun and challenging, especially at the beginning.  The trail is well-marked, but there are places where you can get off-route so pay close attention to the cairns.  I got off-route and had to scramble unnecessarily.

Lesser Known Arch
Eye of the Whale - 12/21/2025  [View Log Page]
Rating: 2point5stars Difficulty: 1point5stars Solitude: 4point5stars
Distance: 0.45 Mile Duration: 21 minutes

The Eye of the Whale Arch isn't very well-publicized.  To get to it requires you drive a 4x4 road.  The trail itself is very short and easy to follow.

Most Challenging Hike in Arches NP
Fiery Furnace - 12/20/2025  [View Log Page]
Rating: 5stars Difficulty: 4point5stars Solitude: 5stars
Distance: 2.02 Miles Duration: 1 hour, 29 minutes

This trail requires a permit which must be obtained in advance from recreation.gov.  At the time of this writing, the permit costs $10 per person (ages 5 yrs old and up).  Only 75 permits are issued per day so these permits can be hard to obtain in the busier months.

The Fiery Furnace is not really a hike, but more of a route finding adventure through a natural labyrinth of rock.  There is no trail, although there are some arrow markers that are strategically placed and show the way.  Still, it is very easy to get lost.  I recommend you download a GPX trackfile to your phone and put your app in Offline Mode so you can follow the route without relying on GPS (Note:  GPS signals are very inaccurate in slot canyons due to poor or non-existent signal).

I, personally, didn't find the Fiery Furnace as difficult as I thought it would be.  In fact, I intentionally took some off-route treks to explore hidden areas.