Moab gave us three major park days and one recovery day in town. In Arches, we explored the scenic road, hiked Delicate Arch, and completed the full Devils Garden loop. At Canyonlands, we explored the Island in the Sky district, including Mesa Arch and its wide-open canyon overlooks. Dead Horse Point gave us one final look down at the Colorado River before we left.
Pick a stop to see its story and photos.
Arches Scenic Drive links Park Avenue, Balanced Rock, the Windows and Double Arch, Salt Valley, Fiery Furnace, Sand Dune Arch, Skyline Arch, and the Petrified Dunes. These short walks and overlooks provide the broadest introduction to the park.
Delicate Arch Trail in Arches is a three-mile slickrock hike past Wolfe Ranch and a Ute petroglyph panel to Utah's best-known natural arch. The final ledge rounds a sandstone wall before the arch comes fully into view.
The full Devils Garden loop in Arches is an eight-mile route through sandstone fins to Landscape, Navajo, Partition, Double O, Private, Tunnel, and Pine Tree arches, plus Dark Angel. The Primitive Trail return adds cairn navigation, slickrock scrambling, and exposed desert terrain.
Moab is the service center for the surrounding parks, with restaurants, food trucks, outfitters, public art, and traveler amenities concentrated downtown. We used a rest day for laundry, lunch, murals, metal sculptures, and ice cream.
Canyonlands National Park, specifically the Island in the Sky District in the northern section, follows a high mesa above the Green and Colorado river canyons. The mesa sits 1,000+ feet above the canyon floor where you can see for 100+ miles with 300 million years of Earth history stacked in visible bands.
Mesa Arch in Canyonlands is a short walk to a low sandstone arch perched near the Island in the Sky rim. The opening frames distant canyons, cliffs, and the La Sal Mountains.
Dead Horse Point occupies a narrow mesa almost 2,000 feet above the Colorado River. Visitor center overlooks and the point itself reveal the river bend, deep canyon layers, and blue potash evaporation ponds.
Utahraptor State Park preserves dinosaur fossil sites and regional history northwest of Moab. Its small museum covers the large Utahraptor predator and the nearby Moab Isolation Center used during World War II.
Arches Scenic Drive links Park Avenue, Balanced Rock, the Windows and Double Arch, Salt Valley, Fiery Furnace, Sand Dune Arch, Skyline Arch, and the Petrified Dunes. These short walks and overlooks provide the broadest introduction to the park.
Delicate Arch Trail in Arches is a three-mile slickrock hike past Wolfe Ranch and a Ute petroglyph panel to Utah's best-known natural arch. The final ledge rounds a sandstone wall before the arch comes fully into view.
The full Devils Garden loop in Arches is an eight-mile route through sandstone fins to Landscape, Navajo, Partition, Double O, Private, Tunnel, and Pine Tree arches, plus Dark Angel. The Primitive Trail return adds cairn navigation, slickrock scrambling, and exposed desert terrain.
Moab is the service center for the surrounding parks, with restaurants, food trucks, outfitters, public art, and traveler amenities concentrated downtown. We used a rest day for laundry, lunch, murals, metal sculptures, and ice cream.
Canyonlands National Park, specifically the Island in the Sky District in the northern section, follows a high mesa above the Green and Colorado river canyons. The mesa sits 1,000+ feet above the canyon floor where you can see for 100+ miles with 300 million years of Earth history stacked in visible bands.
Mesa Arch in Canyonlands is a short walk to a low sandstone arch perched near the Island in the Sky rim. The opening frames distant canyons, cliffs, and the La Sal Mountains.
Dead Horse Point occupies a narrow mesa almost 2,000 feet above the Colorado River. Visitor center overlooks and the point itself reveal the river bend, deep canyon layers, and blue potash evaporation ponds.
Utahraptor State Park preserves dinosaur fossil sites and regional history northwest of Moab. Its small museum covers the large Utahraptor predator and the nearby Moab Isolation Center used during World War II.
Arches National Park in Utah has more natural stone arches than anywhere else in the world, over 2,000 of…
We took a relaxed day in Moab to catch up on laundry and spend a little time exploring the town itself. The…
Canyonlands is a place defined by scale. From the rim, the land falls away into a vast maze of cliffs,…
We returned to Arches for one final big hike, taking on the 8.1-mile Devils Garden loop with one goal in…
Our last morning in Moab started with one more canyon view. Just outside Canyonlands sits Dead Horse Point…
