The first people to come to this area were prehistoric Indians. Hunter-gatherers migrated into the area about 10,000 years ago at the end of the Ice Age. As they explored the area, they found pockets of chert and chalcedony, types of quartz perfect for making stone tools. They chipped or knapped these rocks into dart points, knives and scrapers. If you know what to look for, you can still find piles of leftover fragments where they worked. About 2,000 years ago, ancestral Puebloans and Fremont Indians lived in this area. They lived here only during times of year when they could find enough water. They left behind important clues about their lives, including yucca ropes and sandals, clay figures, pottery and rock art. The rock art includes petroglyphs that are "pecked" into the rock, and pictographs, which are "painted" onto the rock.When the first European explorers reached this area in the 1700s, they met Ute Indians. A Ute rock art panel can be found in the park near Salt Wash (shown in photo above). The first known white explorer was Denis Julien who carved his name and the date and June 8, 1844 and on a rock near Devils Garden. In 1898, John Wesley Wolfe and his son became the first white settlers. They lived in a cabin for 12 years, until 1910. Today, you can see the preserved cabin and root cellar of Wolfe Ranch.

In 1922 a man by the name of Alexander Ringhoffer visited the area of the park called Klondike Bluffs. Ringhoffer, who was a miner and prospector, promoted Arches, and it became a unit of the national park system in 1929. John W. "Doc" Williams (shown in photo at right) practiced medicine around Moab for nearly 23 years and promoted the conservation of the natural wonders of Arches. Bates Wilson served as superintendent of Arches for twenty-three years. During that time park visitation went up a whopping 1,600 percent (from 13,270 in 1949 to 225,500 in 1972). Wilson was also the first superintendent of nearby Canyonlands National Park. In 1968 author Edward Abbey published Desert Solitaire. The book describes Abbey's days as a seasonal ranger at Arches National Park in the 1950s and has inspired many visitors who call themselves "desert rats."

President Herbert Hoover proclaimed Arches National Monument on April 12, 1929. More people became interested in the red-rock formations, and in 1971, Congress approved Arches as a National Park.