Four Days in Moab, Utah

Moab is home to three, incredibly noteworthy parks — Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Dead Horse State Park. Each is distinct and gorgeous. Within and around the parks are plenty of opportunities for off-roading, mountain biking, climbing, hiking, and rafting. Moab is an adventurer’s paradise!

For an updated itinerary and more activity suggestions check out Zach and I’s blog covering Moab on The Grah Life, here.

Zach, his family, and I planned this trip in January, right between hearing what kind of lymphoma Zach had and his radiation treatment. We booked it as an act of faith and proof to ourselves that life would return to normal after treatment. It was a huge milestone for us.

We planned the trip for mid-October — dreaming of 70-degree weather and little rain — the absolute opposite of Washington in the fall! Zach and I drove our CR-V and followed his parents in their RV, just like we had when we visited Yellowstone.

We spent two long days driving to Moab and picked up a rental Jeep from Twisted Jeeps to begin our first day (reserve a Jeep in advance — they go quickly!). Their staff members were great to work with and recommended exciting (and beautiful) overland routes based on our rental and off-road experience.

Our first stop was at Gemini Bridge — 200-foot twin arches that people used to drive over! After exploring the arches, we continued our way to Long Canyon. Aptly named, this road is known for its long and narrow canyon and was a bit more challenging. The road was soft, with powdery dirt that was about 6-8 inches deep. 

After slowly driving down into the canyon with a steep drop-off on one side, we got to the narrow canyon. It’s long, has steep walls on each side, and turns halfway down, so there isn’t a clear view to the bottom. If another car comes from the opposite direction, backing up the entire canyon is the only way to let someone pass. Thankfully, we got through the canyon without any confrontations.

After exiting the canyon you’re greeted by the Jug Handle arch. It’s an arch you get to drive through! We needed a bit of guidance getting over the large rocks at the bottom of the arch, but it was smooth and easy afterward.

We finished up the Long Canyon road and hopped on the most famous route in Moab next - Shafer Trail. All you need is a vehicle with high clearance, but stock SUVs or trucks would suffice. It’s 19 miles of off-roading inside and outside the Canyonlands National Park and takes about three hours to complete.

I loved seeing all the rock formations, the Colorado River, and views of the Canyonlands. When we finally made it into the park, it was amazing to look down upon the sweeping views we just drove through!

As if that wasn’t enough for one day, we stopped at Dead Horse State Park on the way back to the campground. The terrain was more rugged (less ADA accessible), with lots of paths and viewpoints. Watching the sunset over the Colorado River canyon was one of my favorite views of the trip.   

The next day we drove to Hurrah Pass. Most SUVs or trucks can make it to the pass, and this is where most tourists turned around. We kept going, intending to make it to Chicken Corners trail (I love that all the trails in Moab have very literal names).

We wound down steep cliffs with steep drops and sharp corners as we continued down to the base of the valley. It was the roughest road we drove all trip, and we even got the Jeep high-centered once!

We stopped for lunch in the shade of the canyon where we decided to turn around before making it to our intended destination. It felt like a solid choice because most of the vehicles passing us at this point were UTVs, not cars.

The best part of this drive was finding petroglyphs (depicting a birth scene) right off the road, although Zach might argue driving next to the cliff and through deep sand was more exciting.

We got back to town with daylight to spare, so we checked out Ken Lake. Being the end of summer, the lake was mostly empty, but in hotter times, it would be the perfect place to paddleboard or camp. It all overlooked the La Sal Mountains, which is where we headed next.

We picked our way up the mountain using Google Maps. My favorite find was a man-made cave, and Zach loved finding the start of the famous off-road trail called Steel Bender. As you can imagine, we didn’t try driving that one in the rental! 

We picked up the most incredible BBQ for dinner from Spitfire Smokehouse BBQ, and after a nap in the sun, Zach, his sister Nicole and I headed to Arches National Park to try our hand at astrophotography. The clearer and darker the sky, the better it is for photos, so we don’t get many chances to photograph the stars in Western Washington.

We walked to Double Arch first, amazed to have it to ourselves. After trying a variety of shots, I couldn’t help myself and had to climb in the arch (it’s legal to climb in and around the arches, but not on top of them).

Once in place, Zach asked me to pose looking in various directions with my headlamp, all while I focused on not looking down at the dark 20-foot drop behind the arch. Afterward, we wandered through the park stopping in empty parking lots to photograph the various rock forms and Milky Way. It was one of the coolest experiences of the trip.

We spent the third day of our trip driving through Arches National Park. It was mostly a driving tour, but we did stop at Double Arch to view it in daylight for the first time, as well as most of the other viewpoints. The most unique find was Devil’s Garden. It was full of tall, long rock formations with trails between. We didn’t walk far enough to get to any of the arches within the garden, but I’d love to explore this area more in the future.

This was also our last day with the rental Jeep, so of course we had to find another trail to explore. We headed down another beautiful valley road and found Onion Creek. As the name suggests, the road follows and crosses the creek many times.

I had a window seat and Zach started noticing that I was rolling up the window when we were about to cross the stream. Water and mud kept spraying higher and higher, and I didn’t want to get wet! He started pinning my hands down before each crossing, letting his dad (the driver) know to make the creek crossing count.

The car was full of mud and laughter at my expense. Thankfully, it wasn’t too bad and we had hand wipes in the car to clean up with — COVID precautions can come in handy! 

We somehow did all of that, returned the Jeep and ate dinner at the RV, all before sunset. With about an hour to spare, Zach, Nicole and I sped up to Arches to visit The Windows as the sun was setting.

The Windows feature two arches and we found a marked, but unmaintained trail that led us around the back. From there, you could see both arches at the same time. Crickets were our only accompaniment on the trail and we made it back to the car just as we’d have needed flashlights.

Everyone wanted our last day in Moab to be restful, knowing we had a long drive home ahead of us. We slept in, visited the tourist shops when we knew they’d be the least crowded and ate lunch in the town’s food truck court.

After an afternoon nap, Zach and I convinced Zach’s parents they needed to see Arches at sunset too. Golden hour within the park is an amazing sight. The already red rocks glow with color, and I loved the show the La Sal Mountains put on changing colors by the minute. It was the perfect way to end our stay in Moab. 

On our way home, we stopped at the Bonneville Salt Flats, which I would be thrilled to spend more time there in the future. Driving through Nevada was uneventful, but choosing to cut through Oregon on a small highway was the best choice! We dipped in and out of the hills, making the sunset last forever, and spent our last night of the road trip camping along the Columbia River Gorge.

It was an amazing trip, and I think we’ve sold Zach’s parents on the benefits of vacationing in the fall — fewer crowds and one more burst of sunshine before enduring the Pacific Northwest rainy season. All in all, I can’t wait to go back! I keep telling Zach I see us being snowbirds in our future!

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