Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Moab
I combined these destinations as I think many people visit these places on one trip. This area is a beautiful desert landscape with great hiking and site seeing.
Arches National Park – We did a lot of hiking and site seeing on multiple visits to Arches. It was extremely hot when we were there and some of the trails were not marked well so the hiking was a little challenging at times. Despite this, we loved the park. The Windows Section and the Park Avenue area were our favorite parts of the park. The stature of the formations is impressive and special to experience in person.
Canyonlands National Park – The views in this park are stunning. Mesa Arch is iconic, and the hike is easy. The park is vast with multiple districts, and the Island in the Sky District is the most popular and accessible for those who do not drive four-wheel drive/high clearance vehicles. There are tons of overlooks to soak up the beauty there.
Dead Horse Point State Park – The park is situated right next to Canyonlands NP and well worth the time. The story of the park is sad, but the views are amazing and rival those in Canyonlands NP.
Moab – The town of Moab is a perfect base for seeing Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, and Dead Horse Point SP. We stayed in a rental for the first part of the trip, went to Capitol Reef for a long weekend, and then stayed at the Element Hotel. Our rental was a little outside of town, and the star gazing was amazing. Some of the places we enjoyed in Moab were Spanish Vallery Winery, Branding Iron, Spoke on Center, and Moab Brewery. Apparently, there are a lot of movies and tv shows that are filmed in the area, and as we were taking a walk one day, we stumbled upon one. There are a lot of trails in the area to enjoy that are not in the national parks, but as a note, many require four-wheel drive, high clearance, or off roading vehicles. You will see a lot of off roading vehicles in the area, and there are places that rent them or you can take a tour with guides.
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