Arches and Canyonlands National Parks

Maybe our last road trip for 2022 was a visit to Moab, Utah to see Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. Here are a few highlights.

We loaded up Big Red once again and hit the highway for another adventure.

Moab, Utah has been on my shortlist to visit for quite some time, but national park reservations are needed for the busy times and everything has been FULL. 

Waiting for fall meant a lot fewer crowds to contend with, but then we also had to put up with a bit of weather I would have rather avoided.  But.  On the bright side, the sun wasn’t blazing down on us.  That part of the country gets very hot in the summer.

Road Trip

Driving from our home north of Phoenix to Moab is about a 6 ½ – 7 hour drive.  I’m all about enjoying the journey, but after hitting Flagstaff, the road is pretty desolate with nothing new to see or do.  So the Massimo was stocked with picnic food and drinks.  We ate lunch on the fly and had a nice dinner when we reached the final destination.

Moab Springs Ranch

Online reviews gave Moab Springs Ranch the highest reviews so we decided to check it out.  We didn’t make reservations ahead of time because we wanted to scope the area first.

The resort is on the edge of town closest to the national parks so the location is perfect, but honestly the town is so small, it’s not much of an advantage.

Cottonwoods and aspens were in golden glory all over the property.  We stayed in a standalone cabin across from their park grounds, pool and hot tub.  Every activity a family might want is available there, but since the weather wasn’t great, we just walked and enjoyed the leaves and ponds.

The people at the resort, and in fact, all along our trip could not have been nicer.

GyPSy Travel Guide Audio Tour

I recently learned about GyPSy Guide, an audio tour using GPS – no cell service needed.  Which in the remote places we visit is a must.

I downloaded tours for both Arches and Canyonlands ($13 for both), associated my phone with the Bose Bluetooth and just waited for the guide to be triggered along our various stops.

GyPSy knows the route you’re on, what you need to see, the history of the area, the geology.  You name it.

Hub and I both really enjoyed using it and recommend checking it out if you’re taking a tour somewhere.

Arches

Arches National Park was our first stop.  The weather was windy and gusty and horrible for all but the shortest of hikes.  And then the rain started.

We drove the entire park, but the interesting hikes were in Devil’s Garden at the end of the park and it was just too rainy by the time we got there. So we went back to our cabin and took a rest.

The park has over 2,000 natural arches in the rocks and they are stunning.  Different times of the day highlight the arches in different ways.

Delicate Arch is the most iconic arch in the park and is depicted on the Utah license plate. But there are a lot of beauties there.

There is no light pollution in this part of the country, so night visits are supposed to be spectacular, but we didn’t do that. If you’re a night owl, plan on checking in to that.

Day 2 we had much better weather so when we finished our visit to Canyonlands, we came back to Arches and hiked what we had missed the day before. 

Devil’s Garden has the best trails with a lot of arches depending on how far you want to go.  Landscape Arch (photo at the top of post) was the most popular and only about a mile and a half round trip.  We took a couple of side hikes and enjoyed more scenery with fewer people.

Hiking trails are anywhere from handicap accessible to strenuous so everyone can enjoy the outdoors.

Canyonlands National Park

Just a few miles up the road (relatively speaking) is Canyonlands.  The canyons are formed by the Colorado River and the confluence of the Green River.  It’s a higher altitude than Arches, so the rain had turned into snow and then ice.

Gorgeous to look at but a bit treacherous to hike. 

We did manage the early morning hike to Mesa Arch.  The sun lights up the underside of the arch and it’s quite the sight.  We met the greatest park ranger on the hike and then ended up seeing her on several different trails later.  She was so nice and so informative.  It was like having our personal trail guide.

There is no food available in either park so our picnic habits came in very handy.  Hiking makes me hungry!

Wrap Up

Living in this beautiful country and enjoying God’s splendor makes me happy to be alive and very appreciative.

Thank you for coming along on another road trip and bless you this week!