Travel News

Southeastern Utah Travel: Moab, Canyonlands And Arches National Park

Locations in this article:  Salt Lake City, UT

Southeastern Utah - Outdoor Adventures and National ParksIn southeastern Utah, just a four-hour drive from Salt Lake City, visitors can experience an otherworldly landscape within the United States.

David Latt explores the ways to experience the great outdoors, whether by land, sea or air.

The vast, flat expanse of the Colorado Plateau is disrupted by massive rock formations that look like the play toys of a giant’s child. The story of that formation is a magical tale of earth forces in collision with one another.

To reach Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park—recently made more famous when the movie 127 Hours detailed the harrowing adventure of climber Aron Ralston—drive south on Interstate 15 from Salt Lake City and continue southeast on Highway 6 at Spanish Fork.

The highway passes through a flat and seemingly barren landscape, dotted with sagebrush and cheatgrass.

Nearby, there are plenty of majestic mountains in the area like 10,443 feet tall Monument Peak and its twin Mount Bartles, but they are too far away from the highway to make an impact.

Utah landscape by carOn the Way

Just north of Helper, U.S. Route 191 joins up with Highway 6.

At the half-way point near Price you’ll drive through the small town ofWellington, a good place to refuel and pick up snacks. A word of caution, Wellington is well-known to travelers as a town that loves to issue traffic tickets, so observe the speed limit.

When traveling in the western United States, landscape that appears uninteresting might be worth a second look. For instance, from the highway between Price and Woodside, the valley floor appears barren, but locals know that the Price River to the west is a beautiful, navigable waterway, ideal for kayaking as the river fills with snow melt. This is landscape that needs to be explored off the beaten path.

At Crescent Junction, continue on U.S. Route 191 south. Now the vast expanse of the desert plateau is overtaken by a jumble of odd and massive natural formations that have made the area famous for generations. Giant sandstone “fins,” hundreds of feet tall and sometimes miles in length, press close to the road, threatening in places to overwhelm the highway itself with crumbling shards.

Early explorers who traveled the area found the landscape frightening and awe inspiring. Here in the desert expanse, massive outcroppings, battleship-sized rock formations seem to have been thrust up out of the ground and left stranded for no apparent reason.

If you’re in the area, don’t miss the Off the Brochure Travel Guide: Salt Lake City, Utah

In an area of such stark, natural beauty, it is difficult to say what is more awesome. The fins, spires, bridges, domes, red rock mesas and plateaus stretching for miles, or the rock towers, standing tall against the blue Utah sky, looking as if sculpted by a master stone mason.

Arches Forming In SandstoneWhat Are the Arches?

Certainly the most popular of all the rock formations are the 2,000+ arches found in Arches National Park. Some are no larger than a few feet across. Others, like Landscape Arch have a 290-foot span.

To create arches, strong winds picked away at weak sandstone rock. The erosion process continues today. Look carefully to see new arches being formed by fierce winds that batter the fragile sandstone. Small concave indentations appear in the stone, the winds searching out vulnerable parts until, in time, they punch through to the other side, leaving behind the beginning of an arch.

All landscapes tell the story of violent clashes between earth, water, wind and fire. In more verdant areas, plant life hides these relentless processes. But, here, in these mostly barren expanses, the earth’s ruthless vitality is in full view.

Exploring the Arches

While some rock formations are close to the highway, many of the best are off the beaten path.

Delicate Arch, UtahOne of the great pleasures of the area is hiking. To see the world-famousDelicate Arch up close requires an hour and a half hike on a cairns-marked trail traversing from the desert floor up into the foothills. Steep in some sections, overall the trail is only moderately difficult. Come early in the morning before the tour buses, crowded with tourists, arrive so you can have the Arch all to yourself.

Remember that you are walking at 4,000 feet. Make sure to bring a hat, lip balm, sunscreen and lots of bottled water as it’s easy to become dehydrated. Dress in layers, so you can accommodate the fluctuating temperatures.

To the south of the Visitor’s Center at Arches National Park, Route 279 leads west to Dead Horse Point State Park. Behind the picturesque name is a sad story. A herd of horses were corralled on a promontory overlooking a deep valley created by the Colorado River. For reasons unknown, the horses’ owners never returned. With no water or food, the forgotten horses did not survive except in the name they gave this magnificent vantage point.

When you are hiking, be on the lookout for petroglyphs and pictographs, drawings on rocks left by the ancient inhabitants.

Utah Petroglyphs - National ParkThere are many sites where the rock art can be enjoyed, but two locations of note are Newspaper Rock off Highway 211 on the road to The Needles and on the trail to Delicate Arch just above the visitors’ parking lot.

Route 128, called the “river road” by locals and known officially as the Upper Colorado River Scenic Byway, follows the Colorado River to the north and passes Fisher Towers, a favorite of rock climbers.

Adventuring in Moab

A few miles south of Route 128 is the only town of any size in the area, Moab (population 5000).

In town, at the corner of Main and Center Street, the Moab Information Center has dozens of helpful, free brochures, including the excellent “Moab: Where Adventure Begins.” There is also a wealth of information about hiking trails, recreational opportunities, accommodations, restaurants and a calendar of events on the Discover Moab web site.

The area around Moab satisfies in many ways. Visitors looking for extreme adventure sports will find them, while others, who prefer their recreation enjoyed more leisurely, will also be happy.

Learn more about the American West in our Western United States Travel section.

Because summer can be very hot and in winter the cold winds are inhospitable, the optimum time to visit the area is in April, May, September, and October, although most businesses are open 10 months out of the year, closing only for the holiday months of December and January.Southeastern Utah LandscapeDuring the uranium boom in the mid-20th century, Moab was one of the richest cities in the world with more millionaires per capita than anywhere else. No longer a mining center, the town has found other, more eco-friendly pursuits.

An unintended benefit of the mining boom, hundreds of miles of paved roads make Moab perfect as a jumping off spot to explore the area. There are a great many companies like Moab Adventure Center where visitors can be outfitted for river rafting, ATV rides, jet boating, Hummer safaris, hot air balloon rides, mountain biking, horseback riding, or jeep rentals.

Guides can be hired to lead group and individual tours.

Mike Tucker, leader of a two-hour Hummer safari, took us on a drive that traversed dirt trails, dried up stream beds, and across massive boulders, a path we shared with ATVs, mountain bikes, and jeeps. We passed by Slick Rock Mountain Bicycle Trail, a world-famous, high technical ability trail, where, we were told, a “lot of broken bones” happen.

In some parts of the Hummer safari, the angle of incline was as much as 37 degrees, steep enough to turn our safari into an adventure ride.

The turn-around spot for the trip was a cliff high above the Colorado River, the perfect opportunity for a photograph.

Get your fill of culture in the West: Sundance Film Festival: When Hollywood Takes Over A Small Mountain Town

Our tour wasn’t just for entertainment; it was educational as well. We learned about cryptobiotic crust, the different types of sandstone, the history of uranium mining around Moab, and the unique local flora, like the scruffy Utah juniper that survives severe droughts by shedding limbs.

Canyonlands River TourTo experience the Green and Colorado Rivers, that have shaped so much of the landscape, there are rides on larger boats and whitewater rafting tours. However, before you settle on whitewater rafting, check to see that the water level of the river is high enough.

Even at its lowest level, the Colorado can always be experienced in a flat-bottom, jet boat, available from companies like Canyonlands By Night & Day.

As it roars downstream, the jet boat kicks up a roostertail of spray, passing beneath monolithic, sheer cliffs. The tallest at 580 feet, Wall Street is not as high as the Grand Canyon, nonetheless, the shattered, creviced rock formation is impressive. Passing the rock, invariably someone will yell out, “Oh my god, look!”

You won’t see anything at first until you shade your eyes from the sun and then you see them, the climbers dangling from ropes. From your vantage point on the river, they appear to be mere specs on the rock face.

The climbers work hard for every inch, hands holding on to crevices and toes searching for foot holds as you sit comfortably in the jet boat, munching on cookies, thick Mexican blankets draped over your legs to keep out the cold. Not a bad way to end a day.

Text and photos by David Latt for PeterGreenberg.com. Visit David on the Web (and get some recipes from his travels) at MenWhoLiketoCook.com.

Related links on PeterGreenberg.com: