Someone told us that more than two thirds of the State of Utah is public lands, and we don’t doubt it. The State has such a wealth of National Parks and State Parks it was difficult to choose which ones to go to visit on our first trip through.  After a couple of nights at a hotel in Salt Lake City recharging our batteries (literally and figuratively), we headed down to Moab.  Moab is a small desert town which sits between Arches and Canyonlands National Parks and is a hotbed of mountain biking, climbing, and white water rafting. Everyone has a slight film of dust and sweat on them!

We arrived on the Thursday leading into the Memorial Day weekend and we were lucky to snag a spot at the campgrounds in the Sand Flats Recreation Area.

Sand Flats is home to the famous Slick Rock Bike Trails and we were able to watch the bike riders and the ATVers ride around the hills and rocks near the campsite. Dave even took his bike out on the Slick Rock practice loop which was a challenge in and of itself! The sunsets were beautiful and there was an outcropping of red rocks near to our site so we were able to hike up to watch the sunset.

I loved staying at Sand Flats because it was so close to town and we were able to take day trips from there. We spent time along the banks of the Colorado River and watched the rafters float by. We even found a winery to visit! We went to a festival in Moab and listened to live music. We went on a number of hunts for petroglyphs in the red rocks around Moab and were successful in finding multiple locations with rock art in a variety of styles. 

But of course the main highlights of the visit were the two awe-inspiring National Parks. We first visited Canyonlands and we were amazed at the vast canyons and rock formations throughout the park. Dogs aren’t allowed on the trails, so we kept our hikes short and often went one at a time so someone could stay with Pippa (in the air conditioning) while the other went out and explored. The scenery was awesome!

We next visited Arches National Park and we weren’t disappointed. The immense rock formations and arches were a sight to behold and we were able to see many of them from pull outs along the road. When we were able hike in to get closer to the rocks, we were truly able to appreciate the scale – as you can see from the photo with Dave and the Double Arch below – the formations are massive.

Staying in the area for a number of days and having our National Parks Annual Pass in hand, we were able to go back to the parks at various times to see the way the light changes on the rock formations and avoid the crowds. At Arches, we went to try to capture a sunset at the Park’s most famous formation, Delicate Arch. After having toured the rest of the park, Delicate Arch seemed so small, but it was still lovely to see the evening light on the rock formations.

We also returned to Caynonlands for a sunrise visit and went to my favorite of all of the formations we saw, Mesa Arch. The view through Mesa Arch is just so spectacular and with the morning light shining it was magical. A very special place indeed!