Moab, Utah-So Many Choices!

Moab is a small resort town at the center of one of the most stunning red rock landscapes on Earth and is considered the gateway to both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. It is well known for mountain biking and 4wd opportunities. I will cover only a few of the many possibilities.

Arches NP

How to get there:

US 191/Center St, Moab	N38.5733°	W109.5508°
US 191/ Arches NP Ent	N38.6155°	W109.6163°

From US 191/Center St. in Moab, drive north on US 191 to reach the intersection with the Arches NP entrance road and turn north to reach the park.

Photo Ops:

With over 2000 natural stone arches, many trails and several 4wd roads, this park has almost endless photo opportunities. It certainly deserves more than a day to explore even some of them.

Below is a chart showing the best times for shooting at several of the more noted locations within the park. Several will require some hiking.

 

Early Morning	Late Afternoon
Moab Fault	Park Avenue
The Three Gossips	Courthouse Towers
Sheep Rock	Petrified Dunes
The Great Wall	Balanced Rock
Turret Arch	The Garden of Eden
The Spectacles	North and South Windows
Double Arch	Delicate Arch
Cache Valley	Fiery Furnace
Wolfe Ranch	Skyline Arch
Landscape Arch	Fins in Devil Garden
Double O Arch	Tower Arch

 

 

Canyonlands NP/Island in the Sky District

How to get there:

US 191/Center St, Moab	N38.5733°	W109.5508°
US 191/SR 313	N38.6725°	W109.6865°
Turn to Dead Horse Point SP	N38.5532°	W109.7923°

To reach the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park, drive north from Moab 9 miles on US 191 and turn southwest onto SR 313. You will reach the turn to Dead Horse Point SP at about 14 miles from the US 191 inersection. This park is certainly deserving of exploration (it is 22 miles east on SR 313). To reach the national park, continue straight at this intersection for another 8 miles to arrive at the Visitor's Center.

Photo Ops:

Drive the 20 miles of paved roads and enjoy the spectacular views from the scenic overlooks.  Sunrise and sunset are particularly beautiful times of day.

Some short hikes of note:

Grand View Point Trail
An easy 2 mile round-trip walk out to the very end of the Island in the Sky mesa. Panoramic views.

Mesa Arch Trail
A mile round-trip walk out to an arch perched right on a cliff edge. A great sunrise hike.

Upheaval Dome Overlook Trail
A round-trip of 1 mile to the first overlook with a good view of a very intriguing rock formation. Hiking to the second overlook adds 1 mile.

 

White Rim Road
The 100-mile White Rim Road loops around and below the Island mesa top and provides expansive views of the surrounding area. Trips usually take two to three days by 4wd vehicle. This is considered a moderately difficult road, but wet conditions may increase the difficulty dramatically. The Shafer Trail section is described below in the SR 279 section.

 

SR 279

How to get there:

US 191/Center St, Moab	N38.5733°	W109.5508°
US 191/SR 279	N38.6058°	W109.6022°
Rock Art	N38.5807°	W109.5862°
Poison Spider Mesa Trail	N38.5327°	W109.6080°
Corona Arch TH	N38.5772°	W109.6352°
Shafer Trail Start	N38.5237°	W109.6542°
Shafer Tr/CR 142	N38.4718°	W109.8108°

From US 191/Center St in Moab drive north about 4 miles to the junction with SR 279 and turn south.

Photo Ops:

SR 279 is certainly deserving of its Scenic Byway designation. Very pretty, especially at sunrise. There are many good opportunities for photos along the way. Starting at the US 191 intersection, at mile 5 there is some rock art on the cliff wall and some more at mile 6 the start of the Poison Spider Mesa trail. The trailhead to the Corona Arch is reached at mile 10. At mile 13.5 is the junction with the Long Canyon road and at mile 15 the pavement ends and the Shafer Trail road begins.

The Corona Arch Trail

This relatively easy three mile round-trip hike passes by Bowtie Arch and arrives at Corona Arch, which I feel is one of the most spectacular in the Moab area.

From the parking lot on the north side of the highway follow the trial up to the visitor register box near the railroad; please register. Cross the railroad track and follow an old road bed up through a gap in the rim. From the gap, follow the cairns up the wash for about 100 yards where the trail swings to the left.

Follow the trail and cairns over a low sandy pass and then down towards the base of a large cliffs. Continue along the base of the cliff to the first safety cable and around to the second cable where steps have been cut into the slickrock. Corona Arch is visible from this point. From the top of the second cable climb up over a short ledge and follow the cairns up to the top of the large bench. From this point, it is an easy walk along the broad slickrock bench to the base of Corona Arch.

 

Poison Spider Mesa 4wd Trail

This is a relatively difficult 4wd trail that will push a stock vehicle to its limits, although there are bypasses for most of the major obstacles. It will lead to some outsanding vistas and to Little Arch, through which you can view the canyon floor 1000 feet below.

The trail crosses areas of rock and approaches another slot. A slickrock bypass is marked to the left to avoid the side hill in the slot. After an area of sand, a final short, steep climb puts you on a flat area of Navajo Sandstone distinguished by a scattering of rounded, black rocks [3.3]. The rest of the trail is mostly on top of the Navajo Sandstone, but it continues to climb with the rock strata as they tip up toward the east. The trail parallels the river on this flat mesa area for about a mile and is usually the obvious choice over the few spurs that branch right and left. After a smooth dirt section, the trail drops onto another slickrock area where a short spur toward the river gives beautiful overlooks [5-3]. Two established routes cross the next section of slickrock. The bike trail will rejoin the the 4WD route in about a quarter mile. The trail splits again [5.6] to begin a loop. The recommended counterclockwise direction around the loop requires a turn to the right to reach a large mass of slickrock. Past a large pothole, a startlingly steep descent leads to a short dirt trail section and a side hill climb onto a slick rock parking area [6.0]. A shortwalk to the right takes you to a good-sized pothole-type arch called "Little Arch," presumably for its apparent size from the river below.

The marked route traverses another large section of slickrock and eventually drops into a sandy wash bottom. The trail soon leaves the left side of the wash on a slickrock slope [6-8] and follows a sandy trail to another slickrock mass [7.1]. The trail continues on uninterrupted slickrock to a trail junction near the base of a sandy hill [7.6]. Turn right for a spectacular rim overlook [8.3]. Although a trail continues a couple of miles to the north beyond the overlook, it leaves the rim and becomes hard to follow. After returning to the junction at the base of the sandy hill [9.9], continue the loop up the hill where it alternates between loose sand and sandstone. When you reach one large sand hill that has three established paths down, you will see why the recommended loop direction was chosen to go down the sand. The trail continues on sand and sandstone to close the large loop [10.6] begun at mile "5.6" and retraces the earlier trail back to the highway.

 

Shafer Trail/Long Canyon Road Loop

At the end of CR 279 the route turns to dirt road, and starts climbing up terraces along the Colorado River. The road passes the evaporation ponds of the potash plant, and then reenters public land, in an area known as Shafer Basin. The road is now directly under Dead Horse Point State Park, and above the Colorado River (mile 10). This is where the crash scene for the movie Thelma and Louise was filmed.

The road enters Canyonlands National Park not far from the White Rim Road. The Shafer/Long Canyon Loop ascends the Shafer Road in a series of long, stunning switchbacks(beginning at mile 15.5). These switchbacks provide scenic views of the Colorado River basin and the LaSal Mountains. The road ascends to the mesa top, joining the paved road in Canyonlands National Park (mile 19). Turn right (north), and travel approximately 5 miles to the intersection with Highway 313.

Turn right (east) on Highway 313 toward Dead Horse Point State Park. Go about two miles to a left hand turn onto an improved dirt road. This is the Long Canyon Road. Follow the Long Canyon road across the mesa top to a spectacular view of the red rock fins surrounding Moab.

The Long Canyon road then descends steeply into Long Canyon. You will have spectacular views down the entire canyon, but remember to keep your eyes on the road, as it is steep and somewhat rubbly. The Long Canyon Road rejoins Utah Highway 279. Turn left (north) on this to return to Moab.

Both Shafer Basin and Long Canyon are desert bighorn sheep country.