There are so many things to do in Utah! It’s an amazing state, full of natural wonders and breathtaking landscapes.
This time we focused on a few parks around Moab area: Arches National Park, Canyonlands NP – Island in the Sky, and Goblin Valley State Park.
We arrived at Moab on July 10th and spent there three nights and two full days. Since it was summer, the temperatures were quite high, reaching 105 degrees by noon or so. Honestly, I did not really expect it to be so hot while we visited, since during my previous visits to Moab were in April (spring breaks). But it was a summer in Utah, plus the West has been experiencing multiple heat waves this summer, and we encountered one of them.
That made us structure our days differently than normal. We would wake up really early to enjoy the parks while it was still relatively fine (under 90 degrees) and then come back to the hotel and enjoy a nap or a swim in a pool, or both (not at the same time).
Upon arrival to Moab, I read that Arches NP was being overwhelmed by visitors, and the park was reaching its capacity by about 8 a.m., after which you had to wait for 3-5 hours before being able to get into the park. Since we already visited Arches a few years ago, we decided to skip it if we can’t get into the park in the morning, and visit Canyonlands – Island in the Sky instead.
However, as the first morning came and we started driving towards Canyonlands, we saw that Arches NP entrance was not inundated by cars, so we decided to test our luck and try to get in. And we did! Since we had only two full days in the area and had already seen Arches extensively a few years ago, we just stopped by at Devil’s Garden for a short hike (as a counter to Garden of Gods we planned to visit in Colorado Springs later in the trip).
The hike was beautiful, as always! There were few people on the trail, not as crowed as it could be, the weather in 70s-early 80s, and sunny. We walked to Landscape arch, then on the way back stopped at Pine Tree arch. As I said, beautiful…
But because we unexpectedly stopped by the Arches NP, we arrived at our main destination of the day, Canyonlands – Island in the Sky, after 10 a.m. Now it’s much hotter, and the hike at the Island in the Sky is fully in the open. Nonetheless, the views are magnificent, the walk was pleasurable, and did I say that the views were magnificent?
We got back to the hotel (Hyatt) at about 1 p.m. The rest of the afternoon was spent playing in the pool and playing board games. In fact, the road trips and board games go really well together. We make sure we have a new game (or two) with us when we travel, to have us engaged as a family.
The next day we drove to Goblin Valley State Park. It’s located about 1.5 hours away from Moab but it was such a delightful park that it totally was worth it! I am surprised not many people know about that park, since it’s a playground for all, both kids and adults alike. It’s an amazing place filled with those naturally created statues made of mud and stone, which remind people of goblins. The further in the valley you go, the larger the statues are. And you can climb them if you want! My husband and the younger kid definitely wanted to. So they climbed maybe a half of them (I am only partially kidding). I would strongly recommend taking a detour from Moab and come spend a few hours at this fun place!
Coming back to Hyatt and relaxing in the pool was just what a doctor prescribed. We certainly made a right decision to book this Hyatt hotel using Chase UR points, we got so much value out of this stay!
Next – a long drive to Colorado!