Well, after checking into it a little more, I think we may change the dates of our visit to the last week of October. The Arches Web site shows a chart with number of vehicles entering each day of the year ( https://www.nps.gov/arch/planyourvisit/traffic.htm ) There is a line across this chart, where if the number of cars is above it, the parking areas are typically full. That condition extends into October but pretty much ends on the last week of October. I also looked at the Web cam showing the entrance to the park. We just don't want to deal with that kind of hassle. The average temperatures are fairly mild at the end of October, although the nights can be cold. So, going later may solve our problem. We'll just need to be able to dress in layers.
The last time I visited Arches was in the late 1970's. Back then I found a camp site in the park late in the afternoon, which apparently is virtually impossible these days (of course, the campground is closed now because roadwork is closing the park weekdays from 7 pm to 7 am.) About four times as many people visit the park a year now.
