Moab is a little city that exists thanks to the tourism that comes to the local national parks – Arches and Canyonlands. Here you can find any of the extreme sports from rafting, to driving a hummer through the desert, and especially mountain biking. But the city has a cool vibe to it kind of like a ski resort where you can tell the people are there to have some serious fun! We offered ourselves a bit of luxury and stayed at an awesome campsite with all the amenities including a pool and a hot tub. The first day we spent just relaxing at the campsite and going in the pool. We ended up meeting this really nice family from Nancy, France who were on a 16 month bike trek from Canada to Buenos Aires in Argentina! Their only transportation being by bicycle and camping along the way. Each of the bikes were tandem with a seat in the front for two of the kids and the third riding his own bike. Well to say the least we were very impressed by this ambitious feat! We ended up having them over to our campsite for dinner that night, which was fun for the kids who played in the tent.
The next day we went to Arches National Park which had some really cool features including the famous arches that are created from erosion of the sandstone over the years. The heat was overbearing so we didn’t go crazy with the hikes, but we did do a few 2 mile hikes out to see the arches.
Our favorite was actually the last hike that we did which led out to the Sand Dune Arch. This was a very cool hike and my favorite part of the park. The hike leads through this narrow canyon with fine Sahara sand cushioning our feet. It was a real little oasis in the shade and fun to explore! That night we went back to the campground to chill out in the pool and we had dinner with our friends again while the kids played.
We had a day to relax before going to Canyonlands the day after. We took our friends advice and went out to Mill Creek that was a recreation area just behind Moab. It is not very well-known but is a great place to walk around and cool off in the afternoon sun. The creek runs between the canyon walls which has created an oasis of jungle like plants and conditions. We walked along the creek and found a little spot to have our picnic. Elisabeth waded in the creek a little and I made her a little boat out of sticks to sail down the creek. We jumped in the pool before heading into town to have a pizza at a local restaurant. It was perfect weather to sit out on the patio for dinner and there was an awesome ambiance!
The next day we tried to get an early start out to Canyonlands which was about an hour drive away. The park is naturally separated by the Green River and the Colorado River into three sections including The Maze, The Island in the Sky, and The Needles. We went to the part of the park that is the most accessible by car which is the Island in the Sky. The Needles require a three hour drive to get to and the Maze is accessed only by backcountry hiking. We went around to the various vista points to check out the amazing views. We saw some cool stuff including a suspended boulder that was on top of a hoodoo. After lunch we took a hike to overlook Upheaval dome which looks like a giant crater. Scientists have various theories on how this was formed including the existence of a salt bed under the ground eating away at the landscape and also the theory that a meteorite had come crashing down here. We then headed down to Grand View overlook that was awesome because you could see for hundreds of miles in the distance. It was very cool. That night we headed back to the campsite to jump in the pool and have dinner. We went out for an ice cream dessert in town and to walk around a bit. We discovered this awesome little used book store where we bought a few books.
The next day we would head out of here towards Rocky Mountain National Park! On the way there we stopped at a dinosaur museum that was on the way. Elisabeth was kind of freaked out by the robotic dinosaurs but we had fun looking at the fossils and learning about the dinosaurs. We just had to keep reassuring Elisabeth that they were not real!
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