Moab, Arches and Canyonland National Park

Arches National Park, Moab, UT

We visited Arches a couple of years ago but still had to revisit and do a drive thru. The only problem is that the temperature was around 103 degrees, so it easy to say we did not hike around that day.

This was our second visit to Moab and again really enjoyed it. This town has something for everyone in addition to the National Parks. If you are into 4X4, 4 wheeling, horse back riding, hiking, rock climbing, base jumping (illegal in this town, but still happens on occasion), white water rafting, visiting wineries, breweries, jeep tours guided or self guided, there is something for everyone. The only problem is in July and August it can get very hot (the locals say it is a dry heat) still hot. If you travel by RV there are many campgrounds, hotel/motels inns, lodges a great place to visit. It is only 35 miles off I70 easy to get to and get around.

We stayed in Moab and real tourist town that caters to Rvers, 4x4 vehicles and rock climbers, base jumpers, bicyclist and hikers year round. There is so much that Moab offers great restaurants, a couple of breweries, wineries, Jeep tours self guided or guided. At the Jet boat tour you could go on a rafting trip down the Colorado to Lake Powell or just short raft trips. RV'ers are welcomed everywhere. Our campground was about 5 miles out of town and very reasonable for price.

Canyonland National Park, UT

The next day we drove to Canyonland about 35 miles away. This part of the park is identified as Island in the Sky with another scenic drive. You could call this park a smaller version of the Grand Canyon when you see it. As you drive down the main road you see canyon on both sides of you. One covers the Green River coming into the canyon and the other side you see the Colorado river and at the end of the road is where the two merge together and continue south to Lake Powell. A beautiful park to see. We now wish we had taken the time to go into Dead Horse Canyon State Park about 10 miles outside Canyonland a Utah treasure we were told by many. Canyonland National Park is a great park for those who have 4 X 4 high clearance vehicles if you want to tour the canyon basin as there are many trails to take in the Island in the Sky part or if you want a challenge is to go to the Needles part of the park which is described as for high clearance vehicles. We spent a couple of days there and enjoyed it very much.

Canyonland by Night & Day Jetboat Tours of the Colorado River, Moab, UT.

Sue and I decided to try something different like this Jetboat ride down the Colorado. It was a 32 mile trip down to where you start to enter Canyonland National Park with a view of both sides of the park, the Needles area and the Island in the Sky. We passed by Dead Horse State Park just before Canyonland. The views from Dead Horse State Park have many similarities of that of the Grand Canyon. The movie studios found it easier to get permits to film in this State Park than the Grand Canyon or Canyonland as it is on Federal property. Just a short trip out of Moab is a winery, lodge and movie museum that has a lot of memorabilia from many of the films made there.

As for the Jet Boat ride it was 4 hours long with some stops along the way with a tour guide that was to say had a dry sense of humor. He stressed that when the 4 wheelers and 4X4 come to town they like pain and suffering along with rock climbers. You can tell who has been doing what by the amount of bandages they have on their bodies or the smell of Ben Gay on their sore legs, arms or whatever. He liked to keep his feet on the ground and watch people do some dumb things. The views from river were spectacular. We saw a couple of natural arches in the rock formations. The Needles area of Canyonland mostly accessible by 4X4 high clearance vehicles. We got to see some more Petroglyphs on the rock formation along the river. The river traffic is limited to tour boats like this Jetboat or River rafting as they have all the permits to allow them to enter the National Park property that divides the park.

While we were on the boat ride, we met a couple from California that are also RV'ers that are not full time but close enough to call them that as they are on the road for 9 months of the year. We all discussed our travels and experiences and after the ride we ended up going to lunch with them in town and exchanged information and we plan on getting together when we return to California in September.