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The Best of Moab’s National Parks

by Erica

We went to Moab, Utah, for the long Thanksgiving weekend. While we would prefer to have hopped on a plane to be with family, we chose the safer option to drive to Moab, spend the day in a national park, and eat leftovers for dinner. The five-hour drive from Kanab didn’t leave us much time to explore the national parks, so we read tons of reviews and tried to pick the absolute best trails. On Thanksgiving Day, we went to Canyonlands- Island in the Sky. On Friday, we explored as much of Arches as possible. 

Canyonlands National Park

Thanksgiving morning, we got in the car early and made the 5-hour drive straight to Canyonlands National Park. We were immediately in awe at quite literally being on an Island in the Sky with canyon drop-offs on either side of the scenic drive. We decided to get a (not so) quick lay of the land before embarking on a hike.

Our first stop was the ever photographed Mesa Arch, which opens up to a gorgeous view of a deep canyon cut by the Colorado River. There were plenty of people here, but enough space to socially distance. We appreciated that everyone was respectful about letting people have a turn to take a photo.

Next up, we headed to the Grand View Point Overlook. This lookout is at the very end of the mesa, where two canyons converge. It was a decent two-mile hike, with endless impressive views of both canyons. It is incredible how large and deep the rivers have cut the rock over time. It almost looks unreal. At the end of the trail, we climbed a boulder for an unbelievable view. 

Afterward, we headed to the other end of this scenic drive to Upheaval Dome. Scientists are still unclear on exactly how this formation was created, but it’s pretty neat to look at.

Our last stop in this remarkable park was the Lathrop Canyon Trail, which came highly recommended to us by Andrew’s cousin Michelle. At this trailhead, there were only two other cars! We were a little skeptical for the first mile, as we walked through level grassland, but continued on. Eventually, the landscape changed entirely, and we were transported to another planet. There were parts of this trail where we were astounded that nature can create such odd rock formations. Finally, the path opened up to the canyon with our first views of the actual Colorado River. This hike was unforgettable. We would have loved to have gone further into the canyon. But, it was getting dark, so we begrudgingly turned around, but not before standing and staring into this masterpiece.

Don’t Make our Mistake: Make this hike your main goal of the day! We were happy to see the rest of the park but would have loved more time here. We should have listened to Michelle!

As our luck would have it, we were able to catch an incredible sunset on our way out of the park. It was a perfect way to end an excellent day.

Overall, this park was much emptier than the other parks we’ve been to in Utah. It was gorgeous and felt fantastic to find some trails all to ourselves. We only wished we would have had more time to explore the other sections- The Needles and Maze.

Arches National Park

On Black Friday, we chose to #optoutside in Arches National Park. We barely scratched the surface of the 2000+ arches in Arches National Park even though we ended up hiking 16 miles! This hot spot for arches is due to the perfect type of sandstone mixed with the ideal weather and chance of time in history.

Our Tip: Go to Delicate Arch first. We were happy we made it here so early in the morning. By the time we made it back to the parking lot, it was full. Do this mini-hike first before exploring the rest of the park.  

We woke up early to beat crowds but realized that might not be possible any time of day at our first stop. Delicate Arch is the most famous in the park, and for good reasons, it is enormous and very photogenic! The three-mile hike wasn’t too bad, so the number of people on this trail was a bit too much for us. We jumped in for a quick pic and headed to blaze a different course. We eventually found another path to a great vantage point that we shared with just one other gentleman, who was kind enough to take our picture.

After viewing Delicate Arch, we continued our hunt for pretty arches. Our next and favorite hike was a 7-mile loop through Devil’s Garden where we saw over six arches, did some rock scrambling, and almost got blown off a vertical fin by some intense wind! The first few arches right off the trail were Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch. About a mile in, we came to Landscape Arch, the longest arch in the park. (Shown in order below.)

Beyond this viewpoint, fewer people were on the trail as it became steep and much more difficult. After a sweat-breaking climb, we came two short spurs to Partition and Navajo Arches. The fun wasn’t over as we spanned a fin, nearly losing the trail before coming to Double O Arch. We only came across one more arch, Private Arch, by another short but rugged spur on the second half of the loop. This section of trail was challenging as we navigated our descent over nearly sheer rock faces. Thankfully our hiking boots are very grippy! It was a fun trail, made better by the really cool arches along the way.

Afterward, we checked out a couple of arches close to the road. We stopped for a short walk to Skyline Arch, then we checked out Sand Dune Arch- which was so filled with kids playing in the sand and ON TOP OF THE ARCH (a big no-no) that we got out of there quick, without even taking a picture. From there, a short walk through the desert brought us to Broken Arch, which we amazingly had all to ourselves.

Finally, with sore legs, we wandered through the famous window trails. First, we saw the Double Arch, which was too packed to get close to, but the size certainly impressed us from afar. Next, we went to the North Window Arch, climbed through the window, and along a trail on the backside that led us to the South Window Arch. We were the only ones there, so hopefully, it was an actual trail… Our last arch of the day was Turret Arch, which offers a great view of the North Window through it.

We had the BEST time in the National Parks in Moab, and Andrew had a bit of fun mountain biking before we left too. However, we weren’t very impressed with the town. So if you’re planning a trip to Utah and can only pick one home-base, we recommend staying in Kanab and checking out the parks near there instead.