Recommended regional trip length:
Plan for three days to fully experience the two national parks:
Add an additional day for each of the following:
-
The Complete Arches Trip
Discover a new side of Arches National Park with this four day itinerary. Start exploring the hidden gems in the Arches region today.
-
The Complete Canyonlands Trip
The Canyonlands Region of Utah combines the best of the Moab area's easy proximity to Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park's most accessible district with some of the United State's most remote and culturally significant landscapes.
-
Bears Ears Area Starter Kit
A pair of distinctive, towering buttes stand against beautiful scenery. We call them "Bears Ears." With the help of local expertise, respectfully explore ancestral cliff dwellings and massive natural bridges in a fascinating desert ecosystem.
Where to Stay
-
Bluff
Rich in human and natural history, Bluff is a central point along the Trail of the Ancients National Scenic Byway. It is a gateway to Monument Valley, Bears Ears National Monument, Valley of the Gods and Hovenweep National Monument.
-
Green River
The city of Green River was once a stomping ground for Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch, and is a haven for river runners who raft places such as Desolation and Gray Canyons.
-
Helper
Settled in 1881, Helper was named after the team of “helper” coal-powered steam engines that assisted freight trains up the neighboring canyon and over Soldier’s Summit; the city was created because of and for the coal industry. Though the tracks are still integral in the town’s DNA and even more-so, history, its identity has changed.
-
Moab
Moab is surrounded by a sea of buckled, twisted and worn sandstone sculpted by millennia of sun, wind and rain
-
Monticello
The southeastern Utah town of Monticello lies on the sheltered eastern slope of the Abajo Mountains, overlooking a maze of sandstone canyons and plateaus.
-
Price
Price sits close to the northern section of the San Rafael Swell, which is home to vast deserts, yawning canyons, and fascinating rock formations. The area is known for its coal mining, as well as its recreational opportunities.
01
Denver to Moab: A High-Octane Weekend Road Trip
Start planning your road trip from Denver to Moab with three days of mountain biking, hiking, skydiving, rafting and experiencing the best of Moab.
Highlights
- Colorado River Rafting
- Moab Mountain Biking
- Skydive Moab
- World-Renowned Mountain Biking
02
Iconic Classics Southeast
Three days on the open roads of Southeastern Utah is just enough for a taste of two of its most iconic national parks — Arches and Canyonlands — and a few things in between.
Highlights
- Delicate Arch
- Dead Horse Point State Park
- Moab Dining
- Explore Southeastern Utah
03
Winter Aglow in Southeastern Utah
Find your sense of adventure and awe in the vast yet intricate swaths of desert from Arches National Park to Monument Valley. From delicate river-fed ecosystems to crimson-hued rock buttresses, this magical landscape is awash in history, dating back thousands of years to the original Native American settlers to whom these places were sacred.
Highlights
- Arches National Park
- Canyonlands National Park
- Castle Valley
- Bears Ears National Monument
- Goosenecks State Park
04
Phoenix to Monument Valley: Exploring Utah's Historic Sites
Share the same reverence for the landscape as the first prehistoric inhabitants and the modern-day Native Nations as you embark on this six-day road trip to the Monument Valley region.
Highlights
- Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park
- Newspaper Rock
- Bluff Fort Historic Site
- Capitol Reef National Park
- Lower Calf Creek Falls
- Anasazi State Park Museum
- Bryce Canyon National Park
05
Salt Lake City to Moab
Moab is Utah’s adventure epicenter — a place where world-renowned natural destinations are scattered around a town that’s brimming with local charm. Be sure to bring a vivid imagination and taste for exploration along with your hiking shoes, sunscreen and water bottle, because this is not your typical retreat.
Highlights
- Arches National Park
- Guided 4x4 Wheeling
- Canyonlands Stargazing
- Floating the Colorado River
Parks & Outdoors
-
Arches National Park
Arches National Park is one of the top national parks in America: it’s a 73,234-acre wonderland of eroded sandstone fins, towers, ribs, gargoyles, hoodoos, balanced rocks, and, of course, arches northwest of Moab.
-
Bears Ears National Monument
A pair of towering buttes stand against beautiful scenery. The twin buttes are so distinctive that in each of the native languages of the region their name is the same: Hoon'Naqvut, Shash Jáa, Kwiyagatu Nukavachi, Ansh An Lashokdiwe, or in English: Bears Ears.
-
Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands is home to many different types of travel experiences, from sublime solitude in the more remote stretches of the park to moderate hikes through the Needles district to the opportunity to create your own version of one of the West's most photographed landforms, Mesa Arch.
-
Dead Horse Point State Park
A broad peninsula of land jutting out over the spectacular White Rim of the Colorado River, Dead Horse Point State Park specializes in the type of sweeping, jaw-dropping views that make visitors run for their cameras to try and capture the area’s grandeur. In recent years, a tight network of fun singletrack trails has begun attracting mountain bikers who want epic views with moderate rides, increasing the popularity of the park.
-
Glen Canyon and Lake Powell
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area offers more than 1.2 million acres of unparalleled opportunities for land- and water-based recreation.
-
Goblin Valley State Park
Goblin Valley State Park could almost be mistaken for a martian landscape with intricate and bizarre geologic formations. Bring the family and experience this amazing place by hiking, camping, mountain biking and exploring the surrounding canyons.
-
Goosenecks State Park
Located north of Mexican Hat, Goosenecks State Park is an easy-to-get-to area with a million-dollar view. The San Juan River begins in the mountains of Colorado and travels to its junction with the Colorado River at Lake Powell.
-
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park
Monument Valley, Utah, an iconic symbol of the American West, is the sacred heart of the Navajo Nation and the ideal setting for your next adventure in the warm, high desert climate of southeastern Utah.
-
Natural Bridges National Monument
As you start to descend toward Natural Bridges National Monument, the groundcover becomes more luxuriant and the trees taller. You cannot see the chaotic landscape of Natural Bridges from the highway– it is only revealed once inside the park.
-
Rainbow Bridge National Monument
Considered sacred in Navajo culture, Rainbow Bridge is a symbol of deities responsible for creating rain, the essence of life in the desert.
-
San Rafael Swell
San Rafael hikes and bike rides offer unique terrain and jaw-dropping scenery. Learn about the area’s trails and start planning your trip!
.jpg?w=450&h=294&mode=crop&quality=65)
"You have to get over the color green; you have to quit associating beauty with gardens and lawns; you have to get used to an inhuman scale. "
– Wallace Stegner, “Thoughts in a Dry Land"
History and Culture
-
Anasazi State Park Museum
The Anasazi State Park Museum near Boulder, Utah is the former site of one of the largest Puebloan communities in the region. Learn more and plan a visit!
-
Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum
Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum in Blanding, Utah, is the site of a prehistoric Native American village. Explore history here!
-
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park
The Escalante Petrified Forest State Park is located at Wide Hollow Reservoir. This small reservoir is popular for boating, canoeing, and fishing.
-
Four Corners Area
Visit the Four Corners area of Utah and learn about each of the Four Corners states--Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. Plan your visit now!
-
Hovenweep National Monument
Hovenweep, the Ute Indian word meaning ‘deserted valley,' stands as a sentinel of Ancestral Puebloan ruins in a landscape of sage and juniper. Info from VisitUtah.com.
-
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park
Monument Valley, Utah, an iconic symbol of the American West, is the sacred heart of the Navajo Nation and the ideal setting for your next adventure in the warm, high desert climate of southeastern Utah.
