In the summer of 2021, my wife and I took our 3 daughters and their husbands on a trip to Arizona and Utah. One of our stops on the trip was Moab, Utah. It was the first time that any of us had been there. To a person, it was the spot that people liked the most on the trip.
Moab is not a big town but it has a nice vibe to it. There are small shops to shop at and they have a good variety of restaurants to choose from. If you like to do things outside then Moab is for you. Just a few of the things that you can do is go to state and national parks, hike, white water raft, skydive, mountain bike and drive off road.
These are things that we did or almost did (I will explain that later) on our trip in Moab.
1. Arches National Park
Arches National Park is the top attraction in Moab. 1.5 million people visit the park each year. As the name implies the park is full of naturally formed arches. In total, there are over 2,000 arches in the park.
One thing that you want to keep in mind when visiting the park is to get there early. They stopped allowing people in the park after a certain point.
Another thing to keep in mind is that as the park fills up it will be harder to find a parking spot at some of the stops. There was only one stop where we had to make a couple of passes in the parking lot to find a spot.
We got to the park early just to help beat the heat of the day. Our first stop was at Balanced Rock. Balanced Rock has easy access since it is located on the main road through the park.
The feature is unique in the fact that the large rock looks like it is balancing on the base that it is attached to. There is a .3 mile trail that loops around the rock which gives you an up close view of the rock.
Just down the road from Balanced Rock is a stop that you can make to view a number of arches on the same trail. The arches that are on the trail are Pothole Arch, Double Arch, Turret Arch, and the Two Windows. On the same trail you can also see the Parade of Elephants, the Garden of Eden and Elephant Butte.
The trail that goes back to these features is a loop trail. It is 1.2 miles long so it is a total of 2.4 miles in length going out and back. It is also rated as an easy trail. There was not much elevation change on the trail.
One of the nice things with these arches is that you can get up close and personal with them if you want to. You can do some climbing on the rocks around and under these arches.
This gives you a different viewpoint of them. Plus, you can get some nice pictures. If you are capable of doing some climbing, I would urge you to do so. Even if you can’t or don’t want to, you can stay on the main trail and still enjoy them.
The next stop that we made was for Delicate Arch. Delicate Arch is the most popular arch in the park. What is unique about the arch is the fact that it is a free standing arch. It is not attached to anything like the other arches in the park are.
The trail to Delicate Arch was by far the toughest trail that we went on all day. You will want to make sure that you go to the restroom, which they have at the parking lot. There are some bushes that you can use along the way to the arch but that is it.
You should also take water and some snacks with you. You may have to take a break or two along the way depending on the condition that you are in since there is a nice climb.
The trail to Delicate Arch is 1.6 miles long so you will walk 3.2 miles going out and back. It is rated as a moderate trail. The trail is flat at first. You will then get to Slickrock Slab which is a nice climb. On top of Sliprock, there is a stretch of the trail that has a shear wall on one side and a drop off on the other.
Don’t let that scare you. There is enough room on the trail to walk on. Once around that stretch of the trail is where you will find the arch. The one thing that made Tonya, my wife, and I laugh was the fact that after we got to the top of Slickrock Slab many of the people we passed said that we were close.
Around each corner, I was expecting to see the arch but it seemed to take a long time before we actually got to the arch. I was ready to punch people who were telling us that we were close.
Getting to the arch was a little work but it was well worth the trip. It is such a unique arch compared to all of the other arches in the park. You can wait in line to get your picture taken under the arch if you want to.
After Delicate Arch, we headed to the back of the park to the Devil’s Garden Trailhead. There are a number of different arches on this particular trail.
The first two arches on this trail are Tunnel and Pinetree Arch. Those were the two arches that we ended up going to. The trail to Tunnel and Pinetree Arch is rated as easy and is .5 miles in length. So, it is a 1 mile round trip. The trail was mostly flat and plenty wide.
Out of these two arches, I enjoyed Tunnel Arch the most since the arch is near the ground. You can get your picture taken in the arch.
It was early afternoon when we got done with these two arches and people were tired and hungry so we headed out of the park. The only regret that I have looking back on our time in Arches is that we did not go see Landscape Arch. Landscape Arch was the next arch on the Devil Garden’s Trail. Other than that it was a fantastic time.
2. Scenic Byway 128
If you want to take a relaxing drive and enjoy some beautiful scenery then Scenic Byway 128 is going to be for you. The byway is a 44 mile stretch of road. It starts at the Colorado River Bridge which is close to the entrance to Arches National Park just outside of Moab. We drove half of the road on our day off. So, we did nothing more than just drive, soak up the scenery, take pictures and relax. .
You can be more adventurous because along this stretch of road there are a number of things that you can do if you so desire. There is a Film Heritage Museum, guided horseback riding, hiking trails,a ghost town and more.
When you first are on the road, you see beautiful sheer cliffs on the backside of Arches National Park with the Colorado River running right beside it. The Colorado River runs for the first 13 miles of the road.
This part of the road is more narrow with cliffs being on both sides of the road. The red cliffs are just beautiful. There are spots where you can pull off of the road to take pictures. Around the 13 mile marker the road opens up and you drive in the valley. You can see mountains and towers as you drive.
If you drive the whole road, you will see Fisher Towers with the La Sal Mountains in the background. Near the end of the road is the ghosttown of Cisco.
Whether you decide to drive part or all of the road, you will not be disappointed.
Update
In the summer of 2023 a friend and I were on a 2 week trip and we drove the full length of the road. You can read all about what you can see and do along the whole length of the road by clicking here.
3. Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands is the other national park that is in the Moab area. It is not as popular as Arches but it still has beautiful scenery. The park itself is located 32 miles from Moab.
The drive to the park is beautiful. The road to the park is Highway 313. Early on the road are some hair pin turns but the road straightens out. It is at this point that you can enjoy the scenery.
Again, to try to beat the heat of the day we got to the park early. We stopped at the Island in the Sky Visitor Center right away. They have a large covered picnic area along with restrooms and park rangers to answer any questions that you may have.
We drove to the back of the park on the main road to the Grand View Point Overlook. You can stay at the overlook and see beautiful views of the canyon. If you are more adventurous, you can take a hike on the Grand View Point Trail and that is what we did. It is worth your time if you do.
It is a one mile hike along the canyon’s edge. So, it is a 2 mile hike in total going out and back. The trail is rated as easy. There was not much elevation change as we went on the trail.
As we walked the trail we soaked up the pretty view of the canyon below. We ended up at the southernmost point of Canyonlands high Mesa. At this point, there are some large rock formations that you can climb up to get a different perspective or you can stay down below. After we did the Grand View Point Trail, we stopped at Buck Canyon Overlook. It gives you a view on the other side of the canyon.
Next, we went to see the Mesa Arch. The parking lot is not very big so it may take a bit to find a spot. The trail to Mesa Arch is not that long. It is a loop trail and a total of a .5 miles going out and back. It is rated as an easy trail. There was not much elevation change to get back to the arch. Out of the hikes that we did on our trip this was the easiest by far.
The arch is located on a 500 foot cliff which is part of 1,200 drop into Buck Canyon. So, looking through the arch down to the bottom of the canyon gave us an interesting perspective.
Out of all of the arches that we saw on our trip, this one was one that we could get up close and personal. We were able to touch the arch. It was one of my favorite arches that we saw on the trip even though it is not that large.
We did not get there for the sunrise but people go to the arch in the morning to get pictures of the sun coming up as you view it through the arch. So, if you are an early bird that may be something that you may want to do.
Once we were done with Mesa Arch, we all loaded in the two cars we had for the trip. We were headed to explore more of the park when Maddie, my daughter, informed us on the walkie talkie that their car was down to 19 miles of gas.
So, needless to say we cut the trip short and had to try to get the car with 19 miles of gas to the nearest gas station that was over 30 miles away. You can read my blog post titled “Making Memories in Canyonlands National Park” to learn more about it.
As it comes to Canyonlands, it is a park that is much different than Arches. I love the views of the Southwest so I totally enjoyed the park and the views that it offers.
4. Sunset at Dead Horse Point State Park
On the same road, going to Canyonlands National Park you will find Dead Horse Point State Park. The park is located on a mesa that is 2,000 feet above the Colorado River. Besides being able to see the Colorado River you can also see Moab and the La Sal Mountains.
If you have ever watched the movie Thelma and Louise then you have seen Dead Horse State Park. The final scene where Susan Sarandon and Gena Davis drove off the cliff was filmed in Dead Horse State Park. There is no extra cost for that bit of information.
We headed to the park in the evening since we wanted to watch the sunset at Dead Horse Point. Since this is a state park, a National Park Pass will not work if you have one. It cost us $20 a vehicle to get into the park.
We stopped at the Visitor Center when we got into the park. It has views like Canyonlands but different at the same time. I believe it was the fact that features of the canyon are closer to you then they were in Canyonlands.
After we took some time at the Visitor Center, we headed to the back of the park to Dead Horse Point. As we got closer to the Point there were a number of small parking lots and spots to park. There is a parking lot at the Point with restrooms and a picnic area.
Going to the park to watch the sunset is a popular thing to do so you will have to park further away if you do get there later. As we got to the Point, I could see why this was such a popular spot to watch the sunset. The Colorado River is 2,000 feet below but it seemed closer. The river has a bend in the river at the point and it reminded me of Horseshoe Bend a lot.
It was a great spot to see the sunset and I would highly recommend doing it if you are ever in Moab. On a side note, if you want to spend more time in the park there are many things that you can do such as hike, mountain bike, night sky viewing, or sleep in a yurt.
5. Moab Food Truck Park
In the downtown area of Moab is located the Moab Food Truck Park. We headed there one evening to try to get something to eat. There is a parking lot right beside the trucks or there is parking along the street.
We did not know what to expect at the park but they did have a good variety of different trucks. There were trucks selling Chinese, pizza, American style food, tacos, paninis, gyros and a shaved iced truck.
We all got different things. The food was good and reasonably priced. No one in our group went away disappointed. There were picnic tables set up with shade sails which made it nice so that we were not in the sun.
6. Zip Line
As I mentioned before, the things on the list are things that we did or almost did. Zip lining is the thing that we almost did. Let me explain. Out of all the things that I wanted to do on the trip this was number one on my list. I booked the zip lining 10 months out.
The zip line excursion itself lasts 2.5 hours. They take you back to the lines in an ATV. You do some hiking and even cross a suspension bridge. This video shows you what it is like. The day before we were to do the zip lining, I thought I would call them and make sure that everything was okay.
The lady told me that she was going to give me a call. She told me that the guy that takes people zip lining in our time slot quit on them. She said that she was trying to find someone else but she wasn’t able to.
We still had a couple days before we were leaving Moab so I asked about any openings and there were none. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I was crying and rolled up in a ball in the corner. Not really but I was bummed.
Update
In the summer of 2023, a friend and I were able to zip line in Moab. You can read all about what you can expect to see and do while zip lining. It was truly a great time and you can read all about it by clicking here.
Final Words
Moab is one of my favorite places in the Southwest. There are many things to do and enjoy while in the area. So, if you are planning a trip out west, you will want to make sure to include some time in Moab.
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